Nijinsky - A ballet by John Neumeier

„Nijinsky“ is the title of this „choreographic approach“ to a dance phenomenon that has been part of Neumeier‘s life ever since the beginning of his career.

During his approximately ten years as a dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky set a new standard both technically and expressively, while in his choreographic work he pointed the way towards modern dance.

His personal fate and mental illness that forced him to spend the last 30 years of his life in various asylums and in the keeping of his wife gave his short artistic career an even more aweinspiring and sensational quality. All three aspects - the dancer, the choreographer and the person Nijinsky - form the starting point for John Neumeier‘s latest creation.

Neumeier, who as early as 1979 presented a short ballet „Vaslav“, is regarded as one of the leading Nijinsky experts worldwide. Nevertheless, it was not without reluctance that he took up the task of honouring through dance a dance legend: „In creating a work about a historical person, what aspect should we concentrate on? Who was he truly: The man? The artist? Which witness, what information can we trust, which theories should one follow? What point of view can we take towards the complex puzzle Nijinsky? An instinctive choice must be made...“

Original title Nijinsky - A ballet by John Neumeier
Genre Ballet
Recording location Staatsoper Hamburg, May 2017
Duration 132 mins (+ 18 mins Interview with John Neumeier available)
Production Company A Co-Production of C Major Entertainment, NHK, NDR/arte, The Hamburg Ballet, Hamburgische Staatsoper
Director Thomas Grimm
Composer Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dmitri Shostakovitch
Choreography by John Neumeier
Dance Company The Hamburg Ballet
Costumes John Neumeier
Soloist Alexandre Riabko, Carolina Agüero, Alexandr Trusch, Carsten Jung, Lloyd Riggins, Anna Laudere,