Volume 28, Number 19 · December 3, 1981
Pas de deux
By John Russell
Bronislava Nijinska: Early Memoirs
translated and edited by Irina Nijinska, by Jean Rawlinson, with an introduction by Anna Kisselgoff
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 546 pp., $22.50
The early memoirs of Bronislava Nijinska have been highly praised, and rightly so. Even by the standards of the Russian nineteenth century into which she was born, they are remarkable for their charm, their substance, and their transparent integrity. They deal with a period in the history of dance that has yet to be surpassed for creativity. As autobiography, they impress by their modesty, their lack of malice, and their panoramic recall. As an index to the formation of the future choreographer of Les Noces (1923), Les Biches (1924), and Le Train Bleu (1924), they are clearly invaluable; and those three works are, after all, as fundamental to the dance history of their time as are the paysages animés of Fernand Léger to painting or the Diable au corps of Raymond Radiguet to the novel.
Review, 4214 words
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