By Will Cox
In the early 20th century, Vaslav Nijinsky was considered the finest dancer of his generation. During the conservative era in which he lived, his wild, sexually adventurous life that spilled from his private sphere and into his choreography fascinated the public. But his career was cut short, and he ended his days in an institution.
Nijinsky helped shape ballet as the art form we know today, and his life and legacy come together in a rare performance that will open the 2025 season for The Australian Ballet.
Callum Linnane will perform in The Australian Ballet’s returning Nijinsky.Credit: Simon Schluter
Last performed by the company in 2016, Nijinsky will be performed in February at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre before heading to the Sydney Opera House in April. Casting has yet to be done for the 2025 production, but principal artist Callum Linnane, who shared the title role in the 2016 production, will take part.
Australian Ballet artistic director David Hallberg says he is frequently asked about restaging the piece after the successful 2016 run.
“The word of mouth has carried eight years on,” he says. “It created this buzz of shock and hunger and excitement. Energy like that is worth bringing back for audiences.”
The ballet’s creator, American choreographer John Neumeier, has a lifelong fascination with Nijinsky. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with limited access to ballet, Neumeier discovered books in his local library on dance, including a biography of Nijinsky. “[The book] showed me that those magic people on stage were also human beings,” Neumeier told the Vienna State Ballet in an interview in 2017. Neumeier has recently retired as director of the Hamburg Ballet, and will be in Melbourne to choreograph the latest iteration of his work.
With film cameras rare in the early 20th century, no footage of Nijinsky’s performances is known to exist.
Neumeier is selective about who he allows to perform Nijinsky. The Australian Ballet was only the third company to stage the work. In a 4½-star review in The Age in 2016, critic Jordan Beth Vincent praised the company’s powerful performance.
Hallberg says: “What’s amazing about John is he completely yanks the artistic life out of the dancer and brings them to a completely different artistic level. He’s very specific about what he wants: emotional intention and instinct.”
Vaslav Nijinsky in the role of Le Dieu Bleu.
Born in Russia to Polish parents, Vaslav Nijinsky took the dance world by storm in his nine-year career, paving the way for the modern male dancer. As the star performer of the legendary Ballets Russes, Nijinsky became an enduring sensation. His impact on dance has been compared to that of Picasso on visual art. He has been the subject of numerous biographies and films, including Australian director Paul Cox’s The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2001).
Nijinsky’s choreography was said to be scandalously sexual, and his performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring once caused the audience to erupt into what was described as a riot. Hallberg says Nijinsky’s celebrity was akin to that of a rock star.
“If you look at photos of Nijinsky, you can see the intensity behind his eyes,” he says. “That’s what people were attracted to – his absolute intensity as a performer. He was like an animal. A panther.”
Like that of any rock star, Nijinsky’s private life drew attention as well. He had relationships with men and women, including a marriage, and an affair with Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev. He struggled with his mental health and suffered a breakdown that ended his career.
Australian Ballet’s artistic director, David Hallberg.Credit: Justin McManus
Nijinsky draws on this confluence of performance and personal life, dramatising his final performance, weaving in his mental illness, and his life story through memory and hallucination.
With film cameras rare in the early 20th century, no footage of Nijinsky’s performances is known to exist. His reputation is entirely built around his mystique. Hallberg says this void leaves the Australian Ballet’s dancers room for interpretation.
“These dancers are really hungry for what Nijinsky can offer,” Hallberg says. “This isn’t a fairytale, it’s biographical. The dancers take that on with such interest and passion, and the audiences are drawn into that sheer commitment.”
Many of the 2025 season’s dancers weren’t in the company eight years ago, and Neumeier works closely with the dancers to shape the piece, so this iteration promises to be distinct from the 2016 staging.
The rest of the 2025 program is a mix of more challenging, contemporary works and audience favourites.
Nijinsky will be followed by Johan Inger’s Carmen, a dark and contemporary take on the classic opera, which will be staged in Melbourne and Canberra, after which Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s much-loved romantic tragedy Manon will come to Melbourne and Sydney.
Callum Linnane will perform in the acclaimed ballet Nijinsky, which will open in Melbourne on February 21.Credit: Simon Schluter
Prism: A Triple Bill (Melbourne and Sydney) presents a triptych of works from three acclaimed choreographers. Appearing alongside work by Americans William Forsythe and the late Jerome Robbins will be a new piece from Australian Ballet’s resident choreographer Stephanie Lake.
“This is pure dance, amazing physicality and artistry,” says Hallberg. “We’re presenting three very different voices, and this is a really weighty example of different styles.”
The season will be rounded out by David McAllister’s The Sleeping Beauty, which will be staged in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney.
“It’s about finding a balance,” Hallberg says of the program. “We want to cater to many different tastes, and we want the audience to feel satiated.”
The Australian Ballet’s performance of Nijinsky will be at the Regent Theatre from February 21 to March 1, 2025. It will then perform at the Sydney Opera House from April 4 to 22.
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