'Nijinsky' Nails the Dancer's Stunning Spin Into Madness

From: The Washington Post | Date: February 27, 2004| Author: Sarah Kaufman | Copyright information

The legendary Vaslav Nijinsky was known as the God of the Dance, but as choreographer John Neumeier makes clear in his ballet inspired by the Russian dancer, his life was ruled by distinctly mortal forces: love, sex, creativity and deep, unglamorous pain.

But Neumeier's "Nijinsky," which the Hamburg Ballet performed Wednesday at the start of a five-day run at the Kennedy Center Opera House, does not exploit the salacious aspects of the dancer's life. Nor is it morbid. It is, in fact, a...

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