A description of Nijinsky by Moira Shearer

A description of Vaslav Nijinsky by Prima-Ballerina, Actress, Author, Balletmaster Moira Shearer.

And a not very flattering one, I must say.

Writing about Les Ballets Russes and Diaghilev Moira incidentally describes Nijinsky. I like her courage in speaking quite openly about things that are normally unspoken - not to destroy a “legend” that none of us has ever seen dancing.

Do you remember Mikhail Baryshnikov on Fred Astaire at the AFI Gala? He said “We dancers have our legends: “Nijinsky did this and that”. But it is all from Photos… that don’t move”

Anna Pavlova & Vaslav Nijinsky in “Pavillon D’Armide”

Well, Miss Shearer cuts it short saying (quote): “ He became known as “The God of the Dance”, but in reality, he was a rather short young man with a badly proportioned body and the heaviest of legs who happened to possess a phenomenal jump, the grace of a woman in ballet (Note: also in the book by Richard Buckle - which I highly recommend - one can read a lot about Nijinsky’s femininity dancing ) and a matchless facility for the ballet”.