Bronislava Nijinska

Bronislava Nijinska (8 January 1891 [old style 27 December 1890] – 22 February 1972) was a Russian ballerina, choreographer, and teacher of Polish descent. Her parents were dancers. She was one of three siblings and the sister of the famous ballet dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky. 

When she was very young, Nijinska learned to dance at home. Her parents taught her Polish, Hungarian, Italian, and Russian folk dances. Her father also taught her some acrobatics. This helped her later with her choreography.Makaryk, Irena Rima, and Virlana Tkacz, eds. Modernism in Kiev: Kyiv/Kyïv/Kiev/Kijów/Ḳieṿ: Jubilant Experimentation. University of Toronto Press, 2010. 

She was only four years old when she made her debut in a Christmas program with her brothers in Nizhny Novgorod.Nižinska, Bronislava. Bronislava Nijinska: Early Memoirs. Duke University Press, 1992. Nijinska trained with the Italian dancer, Enrico Cecchetti, before joining the Imperial Ballet School in 1900. She was a student there until 1908. Her teachers were Nicolai Legat and Mikhail Fokine.Sanders, Lorna. "Les Noces (Svadebka/The Wedding)." The Dancing Times. Oct. 2004: 48-53. Print. 

She danced with the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg and the Ballets Russes. She was a choreographer for the Ballets Russes, with important modernist dance titles to her credit: Les Noces (1923), Le Train Bleu (1924) and Les Biches (1924). She guided the re-creation of these works in modern times.

She died in Pacific Palisades, California. She was twice married and had two children.

 References 

Category:Russian ballerinas
Category:Russian choreographers
Category:1891 births
Category:1972 deaths