Lynn Garafola's La Nijinska

[akh]

On 20/06/2022 at 01:29, miliosr said:

My copy of Lynn Garafola's magisterial new biography of Bronislava Nijinska (titled La Nijinska) has arrived.

 

I skipped ahead to Chapter 16 where Garafola discusses the Royal Ballet's major revivals of Les Biches and Les Noces in the mid-60s. In Garafola's retelling, Frederick Ashton comes across as the real hero of these revivals as he commissioned them at a time when Nijinska's fortunes were at a very low ebb. Garafola quotes this lovely communication from Ashton to Nijinska in 1964 before she arrived in London to restage Les Biches:

 

"It has always been one of my favourite ballets and I look forward with extreme pleasure to seeing it again, and to having you among us . . . To my way of thinking it is essential that the Royal Ballet should have a masterpiece in its repertoire from one of the greatest choreographers of our time."

 

Ashton signed it, "Your ancient pupil, Freddie."

 

The source notes for Chapter 16 mention that Les Biches was programmed with Les Patineurs and Marguerite and Armand at the first performance. At subsequent performances, Les Biches appeared on the same bill as Les Sylphides and The Dream. How about those as mixed bills at the ballet?

You may be interested to check out www.avadancecompany.com/nijinska.html.

Avatara Auyso 's new choreography will premiere in Santiago in July. She is working with the Ballet de Santiago and creating a full length work entitled " Nijinska, secrecto de la vanguardia"