A Brother And Sister Having Opposite Views

Photo Credit: Bronislava Nijinska Graduation photos in 1908

Bronislava now in her last year of the Imperial Theatrical school describes how her current days go and how her and her brother Vaslav Nijinsky have completely different opinions when it comes to the school. Bronislava Nijinska recounts this memory in her own words.

 

 "At the beginning of September I had returned to the Imperial Theatrical School for my last year there, my graduation year. Now I was to share the room for graduating students. Though there were seven of us who were to graduate that year, Yelizaveta Gerdt was not a resident student, so there were only six of us sharing the room, which was very comfortable and enjoyable in it's privacy after the long narrow dormitory of fifty students."

"We each had our own table with drawers beside our beds. We could study and read in our room, were allowed to stay up later than the younger students, and could have a half hour longer in bed in the mornings."

"And we were able to use our room to change into our practice dresses for our dancing for our dancing classes or rehearsals."

"I recall that I often helped Lubov Tchernivheva, "Luba." who now shared my desk with me since Zina Puyman had been promoted to Class V. Luba and I spent a lot of time together, studying and reading aloud to each other. We became close friends, and I even helped her compose her love letters to Sergei Leonidovitch (Grigoriev,) whom she was to marry in 1909, a year after our graduation."

"Luba was also my partner when we were taken for our daily walks in the School courtyard and on the Sunday walk along the Nevsky Prospekt, whatever there was a Sunday performance in the Maryinsky Theatre and we were kept in the School."

"Whenever we were not assigned to a Sunday performance we could go home like the other students on Saturday, when we were allowed to leave at five o'clock in the afternoon. I would quickly change out of my uniform and into my own clothes, then wait impatiently for my mother. Unlike the boys, we girl students were never allowed to leave the School unaccompanied. But soon a maid would call, 

"Bronislava Forminitchna, you mother is here."

"I then had to stop by the governess's desk to pick up my pass card, dated and stamped valid until eight o'clock on Sunday evening, before I could run down the wide staircase toward Mama. We would embrace and immediately hurry out to the street, for I was always so anxious to away from the School and it's strict rules,  away from the watchful eyes of the Inspectrice and the governess and even the maids."

"Usually we walked home, but if Mama was tired or if it was raining, we rode part of the way on the streetcar. The ballet rehearsals for the Maryinsky always ended by five o"clock on Saturdays, so Vaslav arrived home about the same time as Mama and I did. We all had dinner together."

"Mother never skimped on food, no matter how carefully she was trying to balance her budget. She wanted to be sure Vaslav always had the right food to give him strength for his dancing. She cooked steaks and vegetables and avoided macaroni and kasha, for though Vaslav liked such starchy foods he would gain weight if he ate them. For dessert we either had a compote of fresh fruits or French pastries; Vaslav's favorite was mille-feuille."

"Now that Vaslav was an Artist and no longer a student in the School, I was eager to share with him my experiences there. But whenever I mentioned anything concerning the School he would invariably stop me quite abruptly, saying he found it unpleasant to hear anything about the School as it reminded him of his own stay there."

 

"I was always surprised by his antagonistic attitude towards the School because however much I looked forward to my weekend and enjoyed coming home I still loved being student of the Imperial Theatrical School."

"Vaslav explained to me that in the School he had always been bored and lonely among other boys he did not have a really close friend. He had felt confined and imprisoned.-  Quote from Bronislava Nijinska on her last year at the Imperial Theatrical School and her brother's opposition to it.

"Only when I was dancing, did I  feel free."- Quote from Vaslav Nijinsky on his feelings of being a student of the Imperial Theatrical School 

 

 I think it's very apparent how differently the siblings view the school. Nijinska finds the school fascinating and loves it while her brother Nijinsky found it to be a prison and a place of boredom and lonliness. It's such a strong opinion of distaste by her brother that Nijinska can't even share about her day there because it upsets him so much.

I think things would have been different had he had a better experience in school and friends he could trust and rely on. I think that probably would have made a big difference in his perception of the school but because he was blamed for pranks and used as a scapegoat and almost died from a childish prank while attending it's pretty understandable why he feels that way about the school. Hopefully now that he is an Artist he will find more like minded people that he can trust and not feel alone like he did in the school.