19. A Great Ballet Dancer’s Secret Habit
Born in the Russian Empire, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 – 1950) grew up to become one of history’s greatest ballet dancers. His ability to dance en pointe – on tippy-toes – was rare for male dancers in his day, and he captivated audiences with his spectacular leaps and sensitive interpretations. He got his start in classical ballets such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, before he joined the Ballets Russes – a ground breaking company of that era. His talents were so remarkable that special ballets were created just for him, to showcase his skills. The man was a revolutionary force in dance, until his career was cut tragically short.
The first blow was World War I, which broke out while he was in Budapest. He was Russian, which made him an enemy alien, so he spent the conflict interned. Soon after the war ended, he was forced to retire from the stage in 1919, at age twenty-nine, because of a nervous breakdown caused by schizophrenia. He was also an addict, whose drug were women of the night. After his passing, Nijinsky’s wife published his diary, but years later, researchers discovered that Nijinsky’s widow had edited out some interesting stuff. Apparently, there were some aspects of the marriage that she did not want to share with the public: to wit, that her husband had a strong working woman habit.