IN: Vaslav Nijinsky (also Vatslav; Russian: Vatslav Fomich Nizhinskii; Russian: ['vatsl@f f@'mjitc njI'zinskjIj]; Polish: Waclaw Nizynski; 12 March 1889/1890 - 8 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreographer cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.

Nijinsky spent his summer after graduation rehearsing and then performing at Krasnoe Selo in a makeshift theatre with an audience mainly of army officers. These performances frequently included members of the Imperial family and other nobility, whose support and interest were essential to a career. Each dancer who performed before the Tsar received a gold watch inscribed with the Imperial Eagle. Buoyed by Nijinsky's salary, his new earnings from giving dance classes, and his sister Bronia's employment with the ballet company, the family moved to a larger flat on Torgovaya Ulitsa. The new season at the Mariinsky theatre began in September 1907, with Nijinsky employed as coryphee on a salary of 780 roubles per year. He appeared with Sedova, Lydia Kyasht and Karsavina. Kchessinska partnered him in La Fille Mal Gardee, where he succeeded in an atypical role for him involving humour and flirtation. Designer Alexandre Benois proposed a ballet based upon Le Pavillon d'Armide, choreographed by Fokine to music by Nikolai Tcherepnin. Nijinsky had a minor role, but it allowed him to show off his technical abilities with leaps and pirouettes. The partnership of Fokine, Benois and Nijinsky was repeated throughout his career. Shortly after, he upstaged his own performance, appearing in the Bluebird pas de deux from the Sleeping Beauty, partnering Lydia Kyasht. The Mariinsky audience was deeply familiar with the piece, but exploded with enthusiasm for his performance and his appearing to fly, an effect he continued to have on audiences with the piece during his career. In subsequent years, Nijinsky was given several soloist roles. In 1910, Mathilde Kschessinska selected Nijinsky to dance in a revival of Petipa's Le Talisman. Nijinsky created a sensation in the role of the Wind God Vayou.

Did he teach?

OUT: Buoyed by Nijinsky's salary, his new earnings from giving dance classes, and his sister Bronia's employment with the ballet company,

IN: The Waterboys are a Scottish/Irish folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland and Ireland with Edinburgh, Dublin, Spiddal, New York and Findhorn, serving as homes for the group. Mike Scott has remained as the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of Celtic folk music with rock and roll.

At the invitation of new member Steve Wickham, Mike Scott moved to Dublin and quickly became influenced by the traditional Irish music there as well as by country and gospel. The band's line-up changed once again with Scott, Wickham and Thistlethwaite now joined by Trevor Hutchinson on bass and Peter McKinney on drums. The new band, which the official Waterboys' website refers to as the "Raggle Taggle band" line-up, spent 1986 and 1987 recording in Dublin and touring the UK, Ireland, Europe and Israel. Some of these performances were released in 1998 on The Live Adventures of the Waterboys, including a famous Glastonbury performance in 1986. In 1988 Scott took the band to Spiddal in the west of Ireland where they set up a recording studio in Spiddal House to finish recording their new album. Fisherman's Blues was released in October 1988 and showcased many guest musicians that had played with the band in Dublin and Spiddal. Critics and fans were split between those embracing the new influence of Irish and Scottish folk music and others disappointed after hoping for a continuation of the style of This Is the Sea. World Music: The Rough Guide notes that "some cynics claim that Scotsman Mike Scott gave Irish music back to the Irish... his impact can't be underestimated", but Scott himself explains that it was the Irish tradition that influenced him; "I was in love with Ireland. Every day was a new adventure, it was mythical... Being part of a brotherhood of musicians was a great thing in those days, with all the many musicians of all stripes we befriended in Ireland. I still have that connection to the Irish musicians and tap into it..." Owing to the large number of tracks that were recorded in the three years between This Is the Sea and Fisherman's Blues, The Waterboys released a second album of songs from this period in 2001, titled Too Close to Heaven (or Fisherman's Blues, Part 2 in North America), and more material was released as bonus tracks for the 2006 reissue of the remastered Fisherman's Blues album. After further touring the band returned to Spiddal to record a new album. The Waterboys now consisted of Mike Scott, Steve Wickham, Anthony Thistlethwaite, Colin Blakey on whistle, flute and piano, Sharon Shannon on accordion, Trevor Hutchinson on bass and Noel Bridgeman on drums. Their fifth album, Room to Roam was released in September 1990. One of the album's tracks was a recording of the traditional ballad "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy". Just before Room to Roam was released, Wickham left over a disagreement with Scott and Thistlethwaite regarding the future direction of the band's sound. Scott and Thistlethwaite wanted to move the band back to a more rock and roll style, and Wickham disagreed. His departure started the band's dissolution, and in his wake Shannon and Blakey both left. Scott, Thistlethwaite and Hutchinson recruited Ken Blevins on drums to fulfil the group's tour dates.

What changed

OUT:
The band's line-up changed once again with