1890-1950

Dance prodigy, sex symbol, gay pioneer, cultural icon---Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame as the star of the Ballets Russes in Paris before mental illness stole his career and the last thirty years of his life. A tragic story of a great genius gone mad, this compelling work of narrative nonfiction chronicles a life of obsessive artistry, celebrity, and notoriety. With one grand leap off the stage at the 1909 premiere of the Ballets Russes's inaugural season, Nijinsky became an overnight sensation and the century's first superstar, in the days before moving pictures brought popular culture to the masses. Perhaps the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, Nijinsky captured audiences with his sheer animal magnetism and incredible skill.

The Kirov Ballet performs a series of selections from ballets originally made famous by dancer Waslaw Nijinsky and choreographer Mikhail Fokine.

Describes how the renowned Russian ballet dancer found an outlet for his childhood unhappiness through dance and was eventually called to perform for the Tsar.

A biography of the author and foreign correspondent who spent more than 10 years in China where she became one of the first outsiders to interview Mao Tse-tung and travel with units of his guerilla armies.

Describes the ballet collaboration of dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and composer Igor Stravinsky.