The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950), the "God of Dance," was on the verge of a mental breakdown when he wrote this diary as an outlet for his views on religion, art, love, and life. The diary provides unique insight into the inner life of a highly gifted but mentally disturbed creative genius.
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This diary, which Nijinsky kept in four notebooks over six weeks, is Nijinsky's confession and his prophecy, the only sustained, on-the-spot, account we have by a major artist of the experience entering psychosis. Library Journal This is a thought-provoking look at the life of a man who has been called the "god of the dance." The famous Russian ballet dancer went insane in 1917, and this diary, written in six and a half weeks, records his ever more erratic thoughts, thoughts that at times become almost poetic: "I am an artist whose voice is dance," in conjunction with the more aberrant: "I am God, I am a man, I am man in God." Nijinsky documents his daily routine and carefully notes random thoughts, feelings, suspicions, and occasionally an accurate view of his true reality: "people will think I am insane because I speak of things I do not understand." Actor John Rubinstein's powerful presentation turns this audio into a one-man show, with an amazing job affecting a slight Russian/Polish accent. Nijinsky gave his last public performance when he was 29; he lived to be 61. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
\ Library JournalThis is a thought-provoking look at the life of a man who has been called the "god of the dance." The famous Russian ballet dancer went insane in 1917, and this diary, written in six and a half weeks, records his ever more erratic thoughts, thoughts that at times become almost poetic: "I am an artist whose voice is dance," in conjunction with the more aberrant: "I am God, I am a man, I am man in God." Nijinsky documents his daily routine and carefully notes random thoughts, feelings, suspicions, and occasionally an accurate view of his true reality: "people will think I am insane because I speak of things I do not understand." Actor John Rubinstein's powerful presentation turns this audio into a one-man show, with an amazing job affecting a slight Russian/Polish accent. Nijinsky gave his last public performance when he was 29; he lived to be 61. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Times Literary SupplementIn her exemplary introduction to The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky, Joan Acocella ...writes:"Other important artists have gone mad...but none of them left a record like this." Nijinsky had been an icon, and his dancing represented many things...Reading the unexpurgated text of diary and letters id like being lashed to Moby-Dick. Nijinsky feels himself possessed by vast powers; he is God, he is Dance, he is Love, he is a wretched sinner, imprisoned, unhappy with his wife. These volte-face sometimes take place in the space of a single paragraph...\ \
