Vaslav Nijinsky


Photograph

Vaslav Nijinsky and Flore Revalles in the ballet L’Aprés-midi d’un Faune. Photograph by Karl Struss, New York City, 1916. Howard D. Rothschild Collection. b MS Thr 414.2 (130). Bequest, 1989.

L’Après-Midi d’un Faune

The first choreographic effort by Nijinsky, L’Après-Midi d’un Faune signaled a change in choreographic aesthetic of both the Ballets Russes and the dance world as a whole and heralded the waning of Fokine’s influence within the company.  With movements based on classical bas-reliefs and ancient Greek vase paintings, Nijinsky challenged the imitative realism of Fokine to present a ballet that was more modern, immediate, and wholly realized as a complete art form than anyone had ever seen.