On this date in 1890 Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian Ballet dancer, was born. 10 facts about him:
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He was born in Kyiv, in what is is now Ukraine. His parents were of Polish extraction and so Nijinsky identified as Polish, even though he could barely speak the language.
He was exposed to ballet from an early age as his parents were both dancers with a touring company. His mother Eleanora was orphaned as a young girl and only survived by becoming a full member of a ballet company at the age of 13. At age nine, Nijinsky was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg, the pre-eminent ballet school in the world.
Needless to say, he excelled at dance while at school, but his grades in subjects which didn’t interest him were poor. The fact that he was often chosen to perform small roles in productions didn’t help as he would miss lessons for rehearsals. He was warned that his dancing talent was the only reason his poor grades didn’t get him expelled. He wasn’t popular with other students, who teased him for being Polish and for looking vaguely Japanese. Chances are they were jealous of his talent, as well. In 1901 a classmate deliberately caused him to fall. He suffered a concussion and was in a coma for four days.
That said, he must have made some friends, as when he did get expelled, it wasn’t for bad grades but for an incident where he and other students shot catapults at people’s hats from the carriage driving them to the Mariinsky Theatre. Nijinsky got a beating for that and had to undergo a probationary period as a non-boarder when re-admitted.
On Sunday, 9 January 1905, Nijinsky was caught in the Bloody Sunday massacre in St. Petersburg. Soldiers fired on the crowd, and Nijinsky was among the injured, suffering a head wound. His friend’s sister, however, disappeared in the riot and was never found.
In 1907, he graduated and became a member of the Imperial Ballet, and in 1909, he joined the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company started by Sergei Diaghilev, who became his lover. It seems likely Nijinsky was bisexual although his first experiences were with men. It’s likely he lost his virginity to Prince Pavel Lvov, a wealthy fan. Nijinsky’s mother tried to discourage his heterosexuality and even approved of his relationship with Prince Lvov. This may have been because married dancers were often dropped from the ballet companies and she did not want that to happen to her son.
Nijinsky’s relationship with Diaghilev was already on the rocks when the company went on a tour of South America. Diaghilev didn’t go, citing that he had been told that he would die at sea, although it is more likely he preferred to go on holiday in Venice and have dalliances with other men. Travelling with the company was an obsessive fan called Romola de Pulszky, the daughter of a Hungarian Count. Having seen Nijinsky perform she had immediately broken off her engagement and become obsessed with Nijinsky. On tour, she would book cabins near to his and even made friends with his masseuse. She attended every performance and although he initially took her to be a Hungarian ballerina and was friendly, when he found out she was just a fan he started ignoring her. Undeterred, Romola managed to get herself into a dancing class with Nijinsky, which annoyed him because he didn’t want to teach people who were not professional dancers. Somewhere along the line, though, Nijinsky must have warmed to her, because he eventually got a colleague to propose marriage to her on his behalf. She thought it was a cruel joke and ran away crying until Nijinsky proposed in person in broken French and mime. The couple were married on 10 September 1913 and the event was announced to the world's press, much to the distress of Diaghilev, who reportedly sobbed uncontrollably and went on a bender.
The marriage got off to a rocky start. Nijinsky offered to teach Romola to dance but she refused, which told him she wasn’t as into ballet as he’d thought she was. This meant she didn’t love what was most important to him. Romola must have had cold feet as well, since she later said that she "almost cried with thankfulness" when her husband didn’t try to have sex with her on their wedding night. Still, things must have thawed out and improved over time as the couple had two daughters in due course.
When he reached his late 20s, Nijinsky became mentally unstable. At performances, he would throw tantrums, and audiences noticed that he “no longer danced like a god”. He kept a diary for a few months in which he wrote of his fear of being institutionalised and drew unsettling sketches, of unblinking Eyes, because he was sure he was being watched. He also drew Spiders with Diaghilev’s face. Romola and her family forced him to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with schizophrenia. His worst fears were realised and he spent the next 30 years in mental hospitals. Some light shone into his life, though, when he met a group of Russian soldiers in an encampment. They were playing traditional folk tunes on a balalaika and other instruments. Inspired by the music and hearing the language of his youth, he started dancing, astounding the men with his skills. Drinking and laughing with them helped him start to speak again after long periods of silence during his treatment.
He was the only male dancer of the time who could perform routines en pointe. Most male dancers never bothered to learn as they saw it as too girly for them. Nijinsky, however, wanted to master and be the best at every dance related skill.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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