Nijnsky & Diaghilev

Crazy of Dance’

Theatre / Dance performance

Pieter van de Waterbeemd: script
Peter de Baan & Floor Maas: direction
Toer van Schaijk: choreografy, decor and costumes
Uri Rapaport: light
Producer: Felicitas Speth von Schülzburg

Michel van Dousselaere: Serge Diaghilev
Vincent Croiset: Vaslav Nijinsky
Saskia Temmink: Romola (Nijinsky's vrouw)
Benito Marcelino dancer/actor (he was solist with Stuttgarter Ballet): (Serge Lifar, choreograph and successor of Nijinsky)

Jorrit Ruijs actor/dancer (Leonid Massine, choreograph / successor of Nijinsky)
Alexandra Leys actrice/dancer, (Bronislava Nijinsky, dancer and Nijinsky's sister)
Kees Wieringa pianist: Igor Stravinsky.

Who were Vaslav Nijinski and Serge Diaghilev? Why are nowadays Nijinsky’s ballets heading on the repertoire of the big ballet companies in Amsterdam, Istanbul, London and Paris? Why this fascination? What is the secret of Nijinsky and what is the passion of Diaghilev and which role plays Romola, the wife, between these men?

“Nijinsky and Diaghilev – Crazy of Dance’ is a new Dutch play, written in authority by Pieter van de Waterbeemd, with parts from the authentic choreography of Nijinsky and fragments from the ballet ‘Petruschka’.

The legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, his wife Romola de Pulsky and the impressario Serge Diaghilev were part of the famous artist scene at the beginning of recent century.

Diaghilev, impressario of the ‘Ballet Russe de Diaghilev’, discovered Nijinsky, made him wolrd famous and became his lover. The Ballet Russe was very renewing and stood creative and spiritual on a lonely top in a conservative and exhausted Europe. At the moment that Nijinsky chooses Romola above Diaghilev and marries her, Diaghilev fires Nijinsky, the man who meant so much for him, commercially and personally. Nijinsky looses his (live) source – he can’t dance anywhere else at the level of the Ballet Russe- gets out of control and becomes more and more introvert. Romola begs the former lover of her husband to save him from complete lethargy. Again the dance, the binding agent for all of them, plays a central role.

Will Diaghilev persist in his hate and jealousy towards his rival and ex-lover or will his love for the genius and human being Nijinsky overcome his personal struggle?

The Story

Paris, after the first world war.
In a sloppy studio Diaghilev after the request of Romola eventually puts at her disposal three dancers of the Ballet Russe: Bronislava, Nijinsky’s sister, with whom he danced a lot, Massine, successor of Nijinsky as dancer, choregrapher and lover of Diaghilev and choreographer/dancer Lifar, also successor of Nijinsky. They dance parts from the ballets that made Nijinsky worldfamous and which turned him in an almost mythological figure
Igor Strawinsky, the composer with his sour comments, is playing the piano.

In the background Nijinsky is writing like mad. Every now and then he quotes from his famous, pre-manic psychotic diary.
All only have one goal: how to pull Nijinsky out of his cage of madness?

During the performance we see 7 persons on stage, three actors, three dancers and the pianist.

Vaslav Nijinsky, Serge Diaghilev, Romola Nijinsky (Nijinsky’s wife), Leonid Massine (successor to Nijinsky), Bronislava Nijinsky (Nijinsky’s sister and dancer), Serge Lifar (choreographer and successor to Nijinsky), Igor Stravinsky (Kees Wieringa - pianist).

• www.groningermuseum.nl

• www.diaghilevfestival.nl

• www.hermitage.nl