Annual Student Performance

                        Photo: Credit:Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet Siamese Dance in Les Orientales, 1910

The day had finally come for the students of the Imperial Theatrical School. The students had been practicing and rehearsing for The Annual Student Performance. Both Vaslav Nijinsky and his sister Bronislava Nijinska performed. Nijinska recounts that memory here.

"The day of the Annual Student Performance came: April 15, 1907. We were expecting  Father again, but he was late and missed the reception. He arrived only just in time for the evening performance, explaining that his train had been delayed."

"The first ballet was Salanga, described in the program as "A Fantastic Ballet, " in one act, to the music of Peter Schenck and choreographed by Klavdia Kulichevskaya. Even though I was dancing in it, this ballet did not impress itself on my memory, neither the libretto nor the choreography. Nor did I care for the music, which seemed to to unsuitable for ballet."

"In Salanga Vaslav danced the leading male role, Prince Sing, partnering the graduating student Lydia Soboleva, in addition to his own variation from the ballet Bluebeard, also by Peter Schenck."

"The second ballet was L'Animation des Gobelins, a tableau from Le Pavillon d' Armide, music by Nikolai Tcherepnine and choreography by Mikhail Fokine. Again Vaslav had the leading role, Le Marquis an danced a short pas de deux in the "Grand Pas d'Action" with Yelizaveta Gerdt, who had the role. of Armide. I liked Tcherepnine's music from his suite for the ballet, Le Pavillon d'Armide; it was both melodic and original."

"For this Student Performance there was no special scenery. Black drapes served as the wings and the backdrop was a light blue sky. Deep at the back, across the full width of the stage was a large wide platform about three to four feet high, covered at the front with black linen. This long black strip stood out unpleasantly, forming an unattractive background to the stage and cutting off the figures of the dancers. The costumes were all provided from Theatre's wardrobe."

"All the variations were effective and proved a success with the audience. Tchumakova distinguished herself in her virtuoso variation sur pointe, which was full of playful sparkle. Even more effective was the "Danse des Bouffons." Rosai was an immediate success with the difficult character pas, as he had expected . For Nijinsky, Fokine mounted a new rendering  of the classical ballet pas, changement de pieds."

"Nijinsky surprised everyone when, after jumping straight up in the air from fifth position, he did not return  to the same spot instead leaped sideways  across the stage. Immediately he repeated this amazing sideways pas, changement de pieds that had never been executed in this manner before jumping from side to side several times. With each pas he covered a wider span of the stage until his fourth and last jump he flew more than fifteen feet."

"The audience was amazed by this new rendering of an old classical pas couru [the gliding or running steps that usually impart force to any wide leap]. For his sideways changement de pieds, Nijinsky used a demi-pointe preparation."

You can read the excitement that Bronislava felt as well as the audience when her brother danced and amazed everyone when he flew across the stage. Once again her descriptions let you picture the very thing and what that might have felt like. You can just feel her enthusiasm in her words.

"After L'Animation des Gobelins came the Divertissement, in which Frossia and I danced the pas de quatre with Rosai and Erler. We were well applauded but I was disappointed in our pas de quatre, feeling that Rosai had been saving himself for his Hungarian dance with Inna Neslukhovskya."

When Bronislava Nijinska danced herself with Rosai she is very disappointed that their dancing isn't what she had hoped. This could be perfectionism coming out of her since she does put some blame on Rosai stating that he was saving his best dancing for his character dance with a different partner.

"That evening after the performance, Father joined us at home for supper and complimented me, but again he did not have much to say about Vaslav's performance. He simply commented,

"They showed you in the program as a jumper, but you must work to become a dancer."

Nijinsky's sister being complemented by their father and Nijinsky getting those words from their father probably didn't feel good since all the trials and tribulations Nijinsky went through to get where he was. He already considered himself a dancer. I think that remark from Nijinsky's father probably struck a nerve, but because Nijinsky learned to control himself from getting angry, he didn't let his father's words bother him, and he even changed the subject to what he danced that evening. 

"Vaslav told us that the variation he had danced in Salanga was originally mounted for Pavel Gerdt by Petipa in his ballet Bluebeard, first performed in the Maryinsky Theatre on December 8, 1896 on the occasion of Maestro Petipa's fifitieth anniversary of his work with the Imperial  Theatres. Vaslav also told us that the music for both Salanga and Bluebeard was written by the same composer, Peter Schernck, who had begun composing as early as the age of seven, when he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Conservatory."

"Father commented in the coincidence that he himself has also staged a pantomime ballet-- in an Opera Bouffe, Barbe Bleue, music by Offenbach- which was performed in St. Petersburg in August of 1896, at the Zoological Gardens' Theatre."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on the Annual Student Performance

Nijinsky's father, though, brings up his dancing when Nijinsky is speaking passionately about Pavel Gerdt, Petipa, and Perter Schenck's ballets and music.  As a child, Nijinsky saw his father as a phenomenal dancer and his idol. He even wanted to dance just like his father. That was his childhood dream.

 Since Nijinsky has gotten older that admiration he had to want to become a dancer like his father had faded and now he had new role models and new goals but his father had not been present to witness those changes. 

His father felt a bit of competition and wanted the same attention from his son he had when Nijinsky was a child. I think it hurt his pride, and that is why he brought up his ballet in the same year Nijinsky said to his family but most importantly, he wanted Nijinsky to hear that his father was still a dancer he should look up to and be proud of.