Vaslav Nijinsky: A Leap into Madness

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Nijinsky (1890-1950) remains, by reputation, the outstanding male dancer of at least one century, and a pathbreaking choreographer as well. Yet his life dramatically demonstrates the uncertain line dividing genius and madness, as psychiatrist Ostwald ( Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius ) here shows. The ``god of dance'' spent 30 of his 61 years in the grip of infantile rages and catatonic withdrawal; neither Freud, institutionalization, sedation nor countless insulin shock-treatments could halt his increasing derangement. Using Nijinsky's own notebooks to augment the existing medical evidence, Ostwald examines the dancer's family history, the effects of his personal and professional subjection to Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev--his Svengali-like mentor and lover--and Nijinsky's troubled marriage to a woman perhaps nearly his equal in self-destructiveness. Medically thorough Ostwald undeniably is; his account is interesting at many points. Regrettably, though, this portrait of a savagely intense, erotically charged danseur is written with all the excitement of a doctor's report. (Nov.)

Library Journal

Unlike previous biographers, who focused primarily on Nijinsky's early and most creative years, Ostwald gives equal weight to the 30 years this great artist spent in mental institutions. With access to previously untapped medical records and archival documents, the author (himself a psychiatrist) provides a clinical insight into Nijinsky's troubled life and relationships. This emphasis is timely: since the Joffrey Ballet's stunning 1987 revival of Nijinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps , there has been an explosion of interest in the mind behind its choreographic genius. The text is a bit disjointed at times, perhaps because it contains information gleaned from so many varied sources, but Ostwald provides a heartbreaking view into the darker aspects of Nijinsky.-- Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.