Nijinsky's Graduation

Photo Credit: Vaslav Nijinsky in the uniform of the graduating class of 1907 from Bronislava Nijinska's Early Memoirs

Bronislava Nijinska describes her brother Vaslav Nijinsky preparing for his graduation from the Imperial Theatrical School and to the Graduation day and what that was like and how her brother felt about it in her own words.

 

 "Before leaving St. Petersburg Father gave Vaslav one hundred rubles. This made us very happy, since now it would be possible to make plans for the summer and order the rest of Vaslav's equipment in time for his graduation."

"Vaslav and Mama, whenever Vaslav was home on a Saturday or Sunday, had already made up a list of what he would need, both for his graduation and as an artist, Vaslav's first concern was not his everyday clothing but for his dancing clothes. He wanted everything ordered early enough so as to be sure that on the very day of his graduation he would be ready to start his work as an artist."

"With some of the money saved from his dancing lessons he already had his dancing clothes, and had in fact begun to wear them at the School in the rehearsals for the Student Performance. Mama had brought some fine Holland linen and had his dancing shirts sewn by a seamstress. Vaslav had ordered three pairs of black dancing pants."

"On our days off from the School we had gone to various stores and had looked over shirts, ties, hats, and gloves and had found out the price of everything. Vaslav loved good and elegant things. He preferred the shop on Nevsky Prospekt called the Jockey Club, where the clothes all came from London. Though they were expensive, Mama did not object as she herself had taught us that it was important for an artist to be well dressed."

"Already in the School Vaslav had become very conscious of how he was outfitted, and he dressed impeccably. He had given his School uniform to a tailor to alter for a better fit. He wore his own boots, of fine kid leather, and his own white, well- starched collars and cuffs under his jacket. Every day all his clothes were freshly brushed, and on Saturdays they were well pressed by a servant in the School, who also polished Vaslav's boots daily.  Naturally Vaslav gave him an extra tip for this."

"We knew that on graduation each student was to be given one hundred rubles for outfitting, and Mama and Vaslav had been waiting for that to order a summer suit, coat, hat, and shoes. Father's gift meant that these clothes could be ordered now and be ready for the summer. When Vaslav and Mama went to choose the material for his first grown- up outfit, Vaslav asked me to go too because he trusted my taste. We ordered a light beige summer suit that would be appropriate for the summer season at Krasnoe Selo."

"My teacher, Kulichevskaya, had already promised Vaslav that he would dance there that summer, and Vaslav was hoping  that the extra money he would earn there would go towards his autumn and winter outfits. He had learned that the Artists of the Imperial Theatres had their own tailor who fortunately allowed the Artists to pay over several months."

 

"After the Student Performance there were final examinations, and then graduation day. The graduation ceremony, the Akt, was very forma. Behind a long table, placed beneath the portrait of the Tsar, sat the Director of the Imperial Theatres, Vladimir A. Telyakovsky, the members of the Administration of the Imperial Theatrical School, the Inspector, the Inspectrice, and our professors."

"The graduation awards in the Ballet Division of the Imperial Theatrical School were not given for dancing alone but were also based on success in academic subjects and on conduct marks. Though Nijinsky in Dancing, Art and Music had the highest possible grade, a 12, his overall average grade was 11, and so he was second in the graduating class."

"He received his diploma, the New Testament in Polish, and the complete works of L. N. Tolstoy, also the one hundred rubles given to each graduating student; and then to his joy Vaslav received an additional one hundred rubles from his Didelot Scholarship."

"At the end of the ceremony the young men and women, no longer students, left the School, and in their elegant graduation outfits got into the waiting cabs to be driven around St. Petersburg to show themselves off before returning home to a gathering of friends and a celebratory meal, which in our small, two-room apartment got rather crowded."

"Vaslav was filled with joy and feeling magnificent. He submitted his application to the Imperial Theatres and on May 25, 1907, he was accepted as an Artist of the Imperial Theatres, as a coryphe, one rank below soloist, at a salary of seven hundred and eighty rubles a year."- Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on her brother Vaslav Nijinsky's graduation.

You can definitely tell Nijinsky plans things out so everything runs smoothly which lessens the need to worry. He knew he wanted to have his dancing clothes bought and prepared and his graduation uniform altered so on the day of his graduation he didn't have to worry about clothes it was already done and he focus on other things and enjoy his graduation which I believe he did as his sister said he was filled with joy. He was definitely a planner and didn't wait until the last minute to do things. I think had he that would have filled him with unneeded anxiety for both him and his family. Thankfully everything went smoothly because of his planning ahead.

I think  the place he has dreaded for so long the school he now is finally free from and now can begin the new chapter in his life as an artist the moment he has always waited for.