Vaslav Nijinsky
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![Nijinsky as Armide's slave in Le Pavillon d'Armide. The middle act was originally choreographed by Michel Fokine as L'animation de Gobelins for the 1907 Imperial ballet school student show, and was performed by the new Ballets Russes on its opening night in Paris, 1909](/Images/godic/202501/29/NIJINSKI_demi-arabesque_Pavillon_de_L´Armide1128.jpg")
![Nijinsky in Le Festin, a suite of classic dances performed on the opening night of the Ballets Russes in Paris, May 1909. The company's courier later described the audience's reaction to Nijinsky's performance with Tamara Karsavina in the Bluebird (ballet) pas de deux: when those two came on, good Lord! I have never seen such a public. You would have thought their seats were on fire.[14]](/Images/godic/202501/29/Nijinsky_Le_Festin_Michel_Fokine1128.jpg")
Vaslav Nijinsky (also Vatslav; Russian:Ва́цлав Фоми́ч Нижи́нский; Russian pronunciation: [ˈvatsləf fəˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj]; Polish:Wacław Niżyński; 12 March 1889/1890 –8 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps.