NIJINSKY REAPPEARS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 73, 30 March 1929, Page 16

NIJINSKY REAPPEARS

TRAGEDY OF THE BALLET

Among famous dancers, Nijinsky, tho creator of Debussy's "L'Apres-midi dun Jfaunc," assuredly has a place, writes the London correspondent of the Melbourne "Argus," His curious angular movements, based upon Hellenic vase drawings and Egyptian bas-reliefs, at first seemed to be mere freakishness, but a fascinating school of ballet arose froni his theories, and it has long been apparent that he led a revolution in stage dancing akin to that- which other post-impressionists caused in painting, sculpture, and poetry. Nijinsky has not been seen on the stage since his triumphs at Drury Lane in 1913, when lie was the leader in a famous season of Russian ballet, introducing such Works as "Le Sacre dv Printemps," "Scheherazade," and "Prince Igor." The war came before most people realised Nijinsky's absence, and when questions were asked it was assumed that Nijinsky had been killed. Only after several years was it known that Nijinsky was a lunatic. The most famous mental specialists in Europe tried in vain to restore the dancer to health, but for 12 yeara he has been the victim of a strange mental disease. Recently Nijinsky made a brief reappearance in the Paris Opera House during a performance of Russian ballet, iiot. as a dancer, but. as a spectator. Serge.'DiaghileuV the ballet producer, conceived the:hbpe that Nijinsky might be cured if he once more looked upon some of the works in which he.became famous. Accordingly, Diaghiloff and a Russian scenic artist, Alexandre Benois, brought Nijinsky to a. box in the Opera House. The ballet . chosen was ".Petroushka." by Igor Stravinsky and IJenois. The story! is concerned with the puppet Petroushka, who is endowed with human vitality by a magician and falls in love with a dancer. In a memorable last scene Petroushka is killed, and the magician reveals to the angry crowd that he was only a puppet, with a wooden head and a body stuffed with sawdust. Nijinsky, the Petroushka of earlier. days, watched the story develop without showing tho least inrrorest or recollection, and at last turned his eyes from the stage. The crowded opera houso, with its tiers of spectators, had not aroused a glimmer of understanding, nor did the story. Diaghileff and Benois realised that they had failed. They led Nijinsky to a waiting motor-car, and he was driven, back to the asylum, which has been his home for the last 12 years.