5 Reasons to see Nijinsky

Vaslav Nijinsky was a prodigy whose astonishing leap and provocative choreography gave him the status of a rock star in early 20th-century Paris. But he was essentially a shy and awkward man. After a disastrous marriage and an acrimonious break-up with his lover Serge Diaghilev, which ended his career with the Ballets Russes, he descended into years of madness from which he never recovered.

The Ballets Russes turned the art form upside down with its groundbreaking collaborations with artists like Bakst, Picasso and Chanel – and captivated Europe with its style. Neumeier evokes this heady era with costumes and sets of his own design, based on Ballets Russes productions.

Rather than recreating Nijinsky’s most famous roles (like the Golden Slave, the Rose, the Faun, and Petroushka), Neumeier evokes them with fragments of choreography in the style of the ballets. Seven men dance Nijinsky at various points of the ballet, showing off the breadth of male talent in the company.

Neumeier has set his “biography of the soul” to a collage of music from great composers: Chopin, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schumann. As well as an emotional journey and a grand spectacle, this will be a feast for the ears.