Nijinsky's New Responsibilities

Photo Credit: Vaslav Nijinsky in "Le spectre le de la rose." Paris, 1911

Vaslav Nijinsky now an Artist of the Imperial Theatre moves his family into an apartment bought where he also can walk to the Theatre. Bronislava Nijinska recounts this memory in her own words.  

 "The new apartment that Vaslav and Mama found for us in St. Petersburg was on Torgovaya Ulitza. It was a three- room apartment on the third floor. I was worried that this would mean a lot of stairs for Mama to climb but Vaslav proudly told me that they had chosen an apartment in a newly built house that had an elevator. "

"In the very small apartment that Mama had taken the year before, Vaslav had  to sleep in the living room whenever he came from the school, but now that he was living at home all the time he had a room of his own."

"It was quite a small room, but he arranged it very well. He placed his desk under the only window. with one of our black lacquered bookcases on one side and, on the other, the wardrobe with a mirrored door, where he kept his new outfits as an Artist of the Imperial Theatres."

"His bed was along the wall facing the window, leaving just enough room for a chest of drawers and washstand."

"Vaslav loved to walk through the streets of St. Petersburg and had been very happy to find an apartment that was within easy walking distance of the Maryinsky Theatre. That would mean he could walk to the Theatre and stand in the wings to watch the ballets and operas even when he was not participating in a performance."

"The walk to Teatralnaya Ulitza, was not participating where he would have to go every day for both the morning classe de perfection for the Artists, and also for rehearsals, was quite a long one, but it was only short walk to Sadovaya Ulitza  where he could catch a streetcar to take him quite near to Teatralnaya Ulitza.”

“In all our time living in St. Petersburg, Vaslav had never been able to get used to the cold, damp weather and had often caught colds. Though he loved to walk to the Maryinsky, he was not accustomed to having to walk there in bad weather, for as students in the School we had always been taken special carriages. “

“Mama was continually concerned during the fall and winter that Vaslav be dressed warmly and that he always wear his galoshes, Vaslav couldn’t stand galoshes and was forever leaving them someplace.”

“On we days she did not like Vaslav to walk to the Theatre and would persuade him to take a cab. But this ate into his budget so that at the end of the month he would have to borrow from Mama.”

“Now that Father was no longer sending us money, we had only Vaslav’s earnings to live on. In addition to his salary of sixty-five rubles from the Imperial Theatres he was getting about a hundred rubles from the classes he was teaching. However, his expenses as an Artist were considerable, and so he and Mama both balanced their budgets carefully.” - Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on moving into the new apartment he bought them and how things were different in their life since their Father had cut them off financially. 

I think you hear in Bronislava Nijinska words how much her brother treasures his family. He used his money to move them all to a safer and better location. She makes the remark that he spends his time at home so she gets to see her brother more which is contrast when they were students. 

Nijinsky not liking the cold I think could be foreshadowing that he will move somewhere else. However he appreciates walking to the Maryinsky Theatre. 

I found it interesting how Nijinsky hated goulashes but Pavlova started a trend with wearing them. 

You also see how much they depend on Nijinsky now since the Father isn’t an option any more which I can see was added pressure to Nijinsky and more likely is going to push him even more to pursue his dreams as a dancer.