Why Nijinska is Important with Lynn Garafola

Launched on the international stage by Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes, Bronislava Nijinska – best known as the sister of the celebrated Vaslav Nijinsky – was widely regarded as belonging to international modernism’s choreographic elite. She was also a woman, and this had a profound influence on the development of her career and the fate of her ballets. This talk spotlights Nijinska’s most important works and examines why so many of her ballets have disappeared, and reflects on the impact of gender on her career and legacy – evident in the roles she crafted, the sexism she experienced, and the guilt she felt at pursuing a career while being a mother and family breadwinner.

Find Lynn Garafola's book, "La Nijinska: Choreographer of the Modern" here: https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...

Videos shown during the presentation that are available on YouTube:
1. Francis Poulenc: Les Biches -    • Francis Poulenc: Les Biches  
2. Rosella Hightower - On Stage -    • Rosella Hightower - On Stage  

Lynn Garafola is Professor Emerita of Dance at Barnard College, Columbia University. A historian and critic, she is the author of "Diaghilev's Ballets Russes," "Legacies of Twentieth-Century Dance," and most recently "La Nijinska: Choreographer of the Modern." In addition to editing several books including "José Limón: An Unfinished Memoir" and "The Diaries of Marius Petipa" (which she also translated), she has organized numerous symposia and public events about all aspects of dance. The founder of the Columbia University seminar “Studies in Dance,” she has curated three major New York-centered exhibitions: Dance for a City: Fifty Years of the New York City Ballet, New York Story: Jerome Robbins and His World, and Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer. Although retired from classroom teaching, she continues to work with graduate students both in the United States and abroad, and to review manuscripts for journals and academic presses. A former Getty Scholar, she is a recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

Cover photo credit: Lynn Garafola by Philip Anema - Christian Oth Studio