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Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

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Abstract

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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2014 

Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky is renowned as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. His divisive choreography of hyper-extended wrists in Jeux, turned-in feet in Le Sacre du Printemps, and twisted necks in Till Eulenspiegel hint at the pathological movements he witnessed at his brother’s asylum. Nijinsky’s own mental deterioration in 1919 was documented in a revealing diary, which remains one of the only on-the-spot accounts made by a renowned artist while experiencing the onset of psychosis. Bleuler diagnosed him as a ‘confused schizophrenic with mild manic excitement’, marking the end of his illustrious career.

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