Bronislava Nijinska

Bronislava Nijinska (; Polish: Bronisława Niżyńska [brɔɲiˈswava ɲiˈʐɨj̃ska]; Russian: Бронисла́ва Фоми́нична Нижи́нская, romanized: Bronisláva Fomínična Nižínskaja; Belarusian: Браніслава Ніжынская, romanized: Branislava Nižynskaja; January 8, 1891 [O.S. December 27, 1890] – February 21, 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers.

Her own career began in Saint Petersburg. She soon joined Ballets Russes which ventured to Paris and triumph. She then met war-time difficulties in Petrograd and revolutionary turbulence in Kiev. Back in France with Ballets Russes, public acclaim for her works came quickly, cresting in the 1920s. She later enjoyed continuing successes in Europe and the Americas. Nijinska played a pioneering role in the broad movement that diverged from 19th-century classical ballet. Her introduction of modern forms, steps, and motion, and a minimalist narrative, prepared the way of future works.

Following serious home training, at the age of nine she entered the state ballet school in the Russian capital. In 1908 she graduated as an 'Artist of the Imperial Theatres'. An early breakthrough came in Paris in 1910 when she became a member of Diaghilev's ballet company, Ballets Russes. Nijinska for her dance solo created the role of Papillon in Carnaval, a ballet written and designed by Michel Fokine.

She assisted her famous brother Vaslav Nijinsky as he worked up his controversial choreography for L'Après-midi d'un faune, which Ballets Russes premiered in Paris in 1912. Similarly, she aided him in his creation of the 1913 ballet The Rite of Spring.

Surviving in Petrograd and Kiev during the First World War, the Revolution and Civil War, she worked in dance and struggled to independently develop her own artistic vision. Performing in dance halls, then in theaters, Nijinska soon designed and staged her first choreographies. She started a ballet school on progressive lines also in Kiev. Her writings on the art of movement were published. In 1921 she fled Soviet authorities who had closed her school.

Rejoining Ballets Russes which had continued in France, Diaghilev appointed Nijinska the choreographer of his company. She thrived, creating several popular, cutting-edge ballets to contemporary music. In 1923, with a score by Igor Stravinsky she choreographed her iconic work Les noces [The Wedding].

Starting in 1925, with a variety of companies and venues she designed and mounted ballets in Europe and the Americas. Among them were Teatro Colón, Ida Rubinstein, Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra Russe à Paris, Wassily de Basil, Max Reinhardt, Markova-Dolin, Ballet Polonaise, Ballet Theatre, the Hollywood Bowl, Jacob's Pillow, Serge Denham, Marquis de Cuevas, as well as her own companies.

Due to war in 1939 she relocated from Paris to Los Angeles. Nijinska continued working in choreography and as an artistic director. She also taught at her studio. In the 1960s for The Royal Ballet in London, she staged revivals of her Ballets Russes-era creations. Her Early Memoirs, translated into English, was published posthumously.