Bronislava Nijinska: Early Memoirs (English and Russian Edition)

This is an extraordinary book, I read it twice through, as it is 'unputdownable.' It is a remarkably vivid account of childhood and growing to maturity in a bygone era at a time of great cultural and social changes. The humanity of the writer shines through and it is a gripping story from beginning to end. Nijinska's narrative shows how difficult it was to be Nijinsky's sister and still retain her own identity and develop her own talent. Dare I say it, I would rather read about her than her brother? Though it may seem a quibble, once Nijinska has graduated from The Imperial Theatre School I start to 'hear' two voices in this book, Nijinska's and an editor's padding out the narrative with sometimes debatable information and facts which are easily verified elsewhere, especially with regard to Diaghilev's production plans in 1914, that flatly contradict Nijinska's writing. Likewise the dating of the New Style Western dates as opposed to the Russian dates, 13 days behind the rest of Europe prior to the Revolution, gets muddled at times, most notably in the news of Nijinsky's marriage. One picture is wrongly captioned, leading me to wonder about others. However, in such a great work, these are but small quibbles. [Check the group photograph of a celebration for Matilda Kschessinska, there is a circle around the face of a sweet, affectionate looking lady, meant to depict Kschessinska, but it is the sparkling eyed, dark haired lady directly below her who is actually Kschessinska.] Bronislava Nijinska's memoir covers the early years of her long creative life, leaving one longing for more, what a pity, a very great pity that a second volume detailing her later work throughout the world has never been published.