Meet The Artists
Biography
Bronislava Nijinska
Ballets Russes / modernist choreography / gender-related themes
(1891-1972)
Bronislava Nijinska was one of the most important female choreographers of the early 20th century. Like her older brother, Vaslav Nijinsky, Nijinska was associated with Les Ballets Russes, the company started by Serge Diaghilev that presented modernist and revolutionary dance.
One of Nijinska's most important works for Les Ballets Russes was Les Noces (1923). Set to music by Igor Stravinsky, Les Noces tells the story of the wedding of two Russian peasants. Les Biches (1924) (literally “does” (female deer) or “darlings” but usually called The House Party in English) featured costumes and sets reflecting upper class fashions. It also explored the taboo themes of gender transgression and lesbian relationships, and presented female characters with sexual confidence.
Another 1924 work, Le train bleu (The Blue Train), depicted a beach scene on the French Riviera. It was a collaboration between Nijinska and several key artists of the period. French playwright Jean Cocteau provided the scenario, fashion designer Coco Chanel created the bathing suits and sportswear worn by the performers, and Pablo Picasso created a large curtain for the proscenium arch with a painted scene of two figures leaping across a beach.
After she left Les Ballets Russes, Nijinska started several ballet companies and was hired to create or revive her choreography for other groups such as the Markova-Dolin Ballet. She eventually retired in the United States. In the 1960s, the Royal Ballet's Frederick Ashton invited Nijinska to stage Les Biches for his company, thereby launching a period of renewed interest in her choreography.
Learn more:
Nijinska, Bronislava. Early Memoirs. Trans. and ed. Irina Nijinska and Jean Rawlinson. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981.
