Nijinsky's Choreographic Method: Visual Sources from Roerich for "Le Sacre du printemps"
Author(s): Millicent Hodson
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Dance Research Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, Russian Folklore Abroad (Winter, 1986-1987),
pp. 7-15
Published by: Congress on Research in Dance
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478047 .
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Nijinsky's
from
Roerich
Method:
Choreographic
for
Le
Sacre
du
Visual
Sources
printemps
Millicent Hodson
NicholasRoerich,the scenaristand designerof LeSacreduprintemps
for the originalproduction,by Diaghilev'sBalletsRusses, in 1913,
builtthe balletaroundthe sacrificeof a youngmaiden.As the climax
to a seriesof ritualtasksby membersof an archaictribe,the Chosen
Maiden dances herself to death to assure the returnof Spring.In
the logic of the rite her sacrificeis seen as a marriagewith Yarilo,
the sun deity of pre-ChristianSlavicmythology.The composerof
the ballet,IgorStravinsky,claimedfromthe outsetthathe had conin 1910.Butan
ceived the idea for Sacreas he was finishing Firebird
interview with Roerich in the St. Petersburgpress and other
documentationshow thathe had alreadywrittena scenariowhen
Stravinskyapproachedhim with the notionof a balletaboutarchaic
Russia. Roerich'sscenariowas entitled "TheGreatSacrifice,"and
it survives as the second act of what we know as Le Sacredu
Contrastedwith the sombertasksand gravetone of the
printemps.
second actarethe vigorousgames and ceremonieswhich Roerich
and Stravinskytogetherplannedforthe firstact.Stravinskymarked
the score for ActI "Day"and ActII "Night,"a polaritythat is carried out in all aspects of the music, decor and choreography.
Much of what Roerichcontributedto the collaborationon Sacre
was based on his extensive archaeologicalbackground.The purpose of this articleis to indicatesome of the sourceshe sharedwith
Nijinsky which helped to shape the strangely introverted
movementsof the dance. The use of primitivistmodels was a critique of contemporaryculturefor progressiveartistspriorto World
WarI, and the exampleof Gauguin,Picassoand othersstimulated
the Russiansto mine the rich ore of their mythologicalpast; they
did not have to look to Oceaniaor Africafor sources, as elements
of paganculturehad persistedin Russia,partlybecause of late industrializationand partly because of the protractedstrugglebetween adoptedEuropeantraditionsand indigenouscustomssince
the time of Peterthe Great.
How RoerichintroducedVaslavNijinskyto visual sourcesfrom
the early Slavsis hinted at in an articleby Henri Prunieres,editor
memorial
of the RevueMusicalein Paris.The articlecoses the Revue's
issue afterthe deathof SergeDiaghilevin 1929and the disbanding
of his company.The greatachievementof the BalletsRusses, accordingto Prunieres,was the unityof danceand decor,and he cited
Sacreas a particularlyeffectivecollaboration:
SergeDiaghilevasked paintersnot only for models of decors
Atbase the great
andcostumesbut ideasforplastic-realization.
revolutionaccomplished with Le Sacredu printempswas indocuments,primitiveSlavic
spiredby lookingat archaeological
paintingscollectedby Roerich,in which the characterswere
contorted,the knees turnedin, the armstwisted back. Nijinsky followedsuit by reversingthe "positions"of the academic
dance.In "first"the dancer,insteadof placinghimselfwith the
toes turned out, turned them in.5
As reconstructorof the choreographyforthisballet,I askedmyself,
what could these "archaeological
documents"have been?The only "primitiveSlavic paintings"were those on the walls of caves.
Roerichcouldnot havecollectedthem, of course,but he couldhave
shown Nijinskyphotographs.When Nijinskyset the solo for the
Chosen Maidenon his sister,Bronislava,he askedher to visualize
certainRoerichpaintingsand told her that "thebeautyof the tinted
stones and the wall paintings of the cave dwellers have inspired
In her memoirsNijinskarecallsthe discussions
Roerich'sown art."6
between Roerichand Nijinsky,which her brotherreportedto her
at length. Among the canvaseshe asked her to visualize was The
IdolsofAncientRussia.In this and otherworksof the period,Roerich
featured the brightly painted, carved wooden idols that were
characteristicof pre-ChristianSlavicsettlements. Quite possibly,
as the RoerichscholarKennethArchersuggested to me, the "archaeologicaldocuments"referredto by Pruniereswere Roerich's
own paintings on such subjects, although earlierhe could have
shown Nijinsky small idols in his collection.
The wooden idols are the most probablesource of Nijinsky's
postures and gestures. Indirectly,LeonideMassine says as much
in writing about his version of the ballet, the so-called "second
Sacre,"which
Diaghilevcommissionedin 1920,seven yearsafterNijinsky'sdeparturefromthe company.Massine defended his own
use of parallelinsteadof invertedfootpositionsby pointingout that
the ancientcarvedfigures did not reallyhave turned in feet.8His
point was well taken, which only serves to underscoreNijinsky's
originality in pushing the postures, and the gestures as well,
beyond the limits of his visual sources. That Nijinsky communicated to the dancers in Sacrethe concentratedfocus of the
carvedfigures is evident in one critic'scomment on the maidens
and youths in the first act:
Theireyes have the fixity of those of wooden fetishes; their
cheeksarepaintedred liketheirdresses;they hoverawkwardly, heavily, with movements which still belong to animal
ism... .9
In Roerich'sIdolsof AncientRussia(Illustration1), parts of the
carvedfigures areaccentuatedwith red paint, a detailwhich may
have motivatedthe stylized make-upfor the dancersin Sacre.The
sage, laterin the firstact, appearswith his face paintedlike an idol
too, but with long blacklines, probablyto denote his extremeage.
A photographof a typical Slavicidol (Illustration2) revealsstriking similaritiesto the originalSacremovements, as preserved,for
3). The
example,in a backstagephotoof the youngmen (Illustration
as his assissinglemostimportantfactorin Nijinsky'schoreography,
tant for Sacre,MarieRambert,emphasized to me in an interview,
is the basicposture of the dance and the creativelimitationsit imposes on all aspects of movement.?0In the introductionto her
choreographicnotes on a piano scoreof Sacre- what RobertCraft
has calledRambert's"promptbookscore"- she specifiesNijinsky's
fundamentalprinciple,simple movement from a restrictedbase:
DanceResearch
Journal 18/2 (Winter1986-87) 7
Illustration
1. PaintingbyNicholasRoerich,Idolsof AncientRussia.( t-iants
ofthiswork
aredatedfrom1901-1910.)
andother
to
visualize
this
asked
his
Bronislava,
sister,
Nijinsky
Roerich
thevocabulary
paintingsas theysetthesolooftheChosenMaiden,whichestablished
of Sacre.
2. Slavicwoodenidol.Notethehorsetalismanlocated
Illustration
betweenthelevelofthearmsandlegs,thusseemingtohangfrom
a beltat thewaist,as in someoftheRoerichcostumesforSacre.
andtheeditorsof Time-Life
Credit:RobertWallace
Books,The
Riseof Russia(Nederland:
International,
1967),p. 16.
Time-Life
8 DanceResearchJournal 18/2 (Winter1986-87)
Fromthe point of view of steps (in the academicsense), Nid'un
jinskylimitedhimselfin allthreeof his ballets(IApres-midi
to the simplestvocabulary;
faune,Jeux,and Sacreduprintemps)
mostly plain walking, running and simple jumping. But for
each ballethe fixed a basic position of the body which made
the executionof these simple steps extremelydifficult2
Nijinsky'schoreographicmethodbeganwith a definitiveposture
whose design he extendedto gestureand then to the shapes made
by groupsas well as the groundpatternsthey describedin the stage
space. Workingfromthe individualto the crowdis a characteristic
of modem choreographywhich probablyderives from the artist
creatingin solitudeforhis orher own body.Itis not an opera-house
method of devisingmaterialfor soloists or corps de ballet,and implied in the methodof spinningmovementout of oneself is the notion of discovery- findinga new idiomforeach danceratherthan
rearranging academic steps. No doubt Nijinsky adapted this
method fromwhat he knew of IsadoraDuncan'sways of working,
and certainlyhe triedout the method in embryowhen he created
Fauneon his sister in the front room of their apartmentin St.
Petersburg?3
Nijinsky'smethod is sculptural,and quitepossibly it
was further developed by his experience of being sculpted by
Auguste Rodin, in the aftermathof Faune.4In any case, Nijinsky
workedwith the body in Sacreas a kind of block,as JacquesRiviere
explainedin his seminalessay severalmonths afterthe premiere.
Thebody, he says, "movesonly as a whole, it forms a totalityand
its manner of speaking is to leap suddenly with arms and legs
outspread,or to move to the side with knees bent and the head on
the shoulder."15
Riviere'sdescriptionclarifiesboth the wooden feeland
the
fetish-like
focus of the dancers,which Nijinskyseems
ing
to have developed from the idols:
Ratherthan glide over things in his flight the dancercomes
down on them with the full weight of his body, he accounts
for every one with his heavy and complete attack.He jumps
with both feet onto every idea that he comes upon which he
wishes to express;with a quickleap he turns to it, covers it,
and staysfor an instantto copy it. He forgetseverythingelse
to make himself one with it for a moment ... 16
In the sculpturalformof the idols Nijinskyfound, I think, a visual
model for the more ephemeral qualities of ritual dance, which
Roerichsurelydiscussedwith him as well. Self-abnegation,absorption in a ritualresponsibility- these qualitiesof archaicreligion
arefossilizedin objectslikemasksand idols, which, forthe generation afterGauguin,exemplifiedwhatwas missingfrommodem life.
Towardthe end of Riviere'sessay he gives a sort of stylistic
checklistfor Sacre,declaringthat it adds up to a radicalredefinition of grace:
If one can, foronce, stop confusinggracewith symmetryand
the arabesque,he will find it on every page of Le Sacredu
in the sightof profilesof facesposed upon full-front
printemps,
shoulders, in the elbows glued to the body, in the horizontal
forearms,the rigid and open hands, in the tremblingwhich
descendslikea wavefromthe head of the dancersto theirfeet,
in the obscure, sparse, and preoccupied march of the
adolescents in the second act?
It is useful to read Riviere's check-list while looking at the
photographsof the Slavic idol and the Sacredancers. The right
angles of the carvedfigures on the idol createmuch the same effectNijinskyachievedwith his profilepostures.Forinstance,note
the second man from the left in the backstagephoto, for the profile of a face "posed upon full-frontshoulders."All the men, except the one on the farright, have their elbows close to the ribs if
of the carvedfigures
not "gluedto the body'"a distinctcharacteristic
on the idol. This closure of the elbows breaksa cardinalrule of
classicism,the framingof the torsoor head with open arms.Even
when a Sacredancermaintainsthe three-quarterview preferredin
ballet- likethe manon the farleft- closureof the elbowsobstructs
the line of the torso, reinforcingthe block-likeimpression of the
body,as does the bundlingof the costumes.WhatRivierecalls"the
horizontalforearms"are not demonstratedin the photo, but the
readercanfollowthe line of movementand see how "gluedelbows"
requirethat some movementswould be made from that joint instead of from the shoulder, causing the forearmsto jut out from
the waist in a stunted port de bras. If one looks again at the idol
and studies the gesture of the top figures, it would seem to lead
into anyof those forthe Sacremen, even the danceron the farright.
Fromthe position of one hand angled up and one hand down "elbowsglued" - slide the "rigidand open hands" to the waist,
and thatis the Sacregesture,movingfromthe shoulderwith elbows
now released. Yetnone of the closure is lost, because of how the
hands areheld flat and how they adhere to the body ratherthan
float in space.
Slavicidols were typicallycarvedatrightangleson the foursides
of a wooden column.Thesamefigureswereoftenrepeatedon each
side, so thatan identicalimagewas projectedto the fourdirections,
a result perhaps of the placementof idols at crossroads.Nijinsky
may have been struckby this visual repetitionas an analogue to
the obsessivelyrepeatedrhythmsof Stravinsky'sscore,a legacyof
Russianfolkmusicand shamanisticrites?8Thetitlesforthe various
scenes of Sacre,such as the fifth scene of ActI, "TheProcessionof
the Sage,"orthe thirdscene of ActII, "Evocationof the Ancestors',
call attentionto the importanceof ritualstructureto the original
ballet. Roerich was clearly the collaboratorwho imparted this
knowledge to the others. When I interviewed the artist'sson,
SvetoslavRoerich,he recalledhis father'sinterestin the vitalityof
old Slaviccustoms in Russiaeven in this century.One occurrence
near the artscolony at Talashkino,where Roerichworked on his
Sacresketches,particularlyfascinatedhim, as his son remembered:
Princess Tenisheva built a big idol at the crossroads in
Talashkino,where severalroads met - a big idol, carvedin
wood. Reallyit was to show the directiontowardsthe estate.
So it was standingthere, a verybig figurecarvedand painted.
Whatis interestingis that the local villagerswould bring offeringsto it. Youcould find eggs with figures on them. They
would bringtowels and hang them on the projectionsof the
wood. So that idol had become part and parcelof the life of
the people.9
The destructionof a wooden idol providesthe climaxto the Bolshoi
Ballet'sversionof LeSacreduprintemps,choreographedby Natalia
Kasatkinaand VladimirVasiliovin 1965(Illustration4). Thisaction,
which demonstratesthe deathof the old gods, reversedthe meaning of the originalballet.
When Sacrewas firstcreated,all the collaboratorswereintrigued
with the cultureof pre-ChristianRussia. Roerichreturnedto this
theme forpaintingsthroughouthis life, and Stravinsky,thoughhis
interestlasteda shorterperiod,made extensiveformaluse of traditional material.The Slavic scholar Simon Karlinskyhas written
about the pagan survivalsin Stravinsky'smusic:
to TheSoldier'sTale,Stravinskyseems deterFromPetrushka
mined to compile a sort of register of archaic Russian
ceremonies and entertainments. The Rite of Spring(Vesna
svyashchennaya,1913)which followed Petrushka,fits quite
naturallyinto this register,having as its theme an enactment
of a pre-Christianrusaliaor a Yarilaceremony?0
Karlinskynoted, as few writers on Sacrehave done, that there is
no clear precedent in Slavic mythology for the sacrificeof the
maiden.In Karlinsky'sdiscussionaboutthe authenticityof the rite,
he suggests the sacrificemay derive from Mexicanmythology:
DanceResearch
Journal 18/2 (Winter1986-87) 9
llustration3. Thegesturesofthefigureson thewoodenidolsarestrikinglysimilarto thoseNijinskygavetotheyoung
men,as indicatedin this backstage
photofromthe 1913Sacre.Credit:PhotoGerschel,Paris.
4. Destruction
Illustration
oftheoldgods:Photograph
ofthefinal
scene from the Bolshoi Ballet productionof Le Sacre du
printemps (1965).
Eraof the RussianBallet(London:
Credit:NataliaRoslavleva,
Gollancz,1966),p. 265.
10 DanceResearch
Journal 18/2 (Winter1986-87)
The final sacrificeof a chosen virgin, it is true, is an invention
thathas no historicalSlavicantecedents.It seems to be Aztec
and not anything connected with native Russianreligion or
folklore.2
Even though some historians recognized a synthesis of ritual
traditionin Sacre,few specify the possible originsof the sacrificial
ceremony,an exceptionbeing CyrilBeaumont.He discussed the
end of LeSacrein his early book on Nijinsky:
Just as the Aztecs sacrificed the handsomest young man
among them in honour of the god, Tezcatlepoca[sic], so one
spring evening, after initial ceremonies, we see the fairest
maidenof the tribeforcedto danceuntilshe dies fromexhaustion... 22
Roerichwrote an essay on the Stone Age, which does not relate
directlyto Sacre,but in it he associatesthe rites of Slavicand Scandinavian tribes with those of Mexico.3So he may have found a
precedentforthe danceof the ChosenMaidenin eachof these traditions, but he left no documentationof it. Given Roerich'scommitment to archaeological
authenticityand the encouragementhe gave
both Stravinskyand Nijinsky to use their Slavic heritage, it is
curiousthathe rewrotemythologyforthe climaxof Sacre.I wonder
if the decision enabled him to resolve the desireto use an archaic
subjectwith whathe consideredan appropriateway to end a ballet.
Death of a young woman, or apotheosis of her spirit, is, afterall,
the cruxof Romanticballet.In a sense AlexandreBenois made the
same decisionin Petrushka,
combininga folksubjectwith the pathos
of loss, the death of the most vulnerablecharacter.I also wonder,
though, whetherRoerichperceivedthe impendingdestructionof
war, like VassilyKandinskyand other artistsrethinkingcultural
values throughprimitivistmodels?4Sacrificeof the young is still
the image that shrouds the generationof 1914,and it was the subject Nijinskychose to dance in the solo that concluded his career
in 1919.25
Roerichmade sacrificethe climaxof all the ritualactions
in Sacre,and it was this emphasis which, in retrospect,gave contemporaryrelevanceto the archaicrite.JeanCocteau,amongothers,
laterregardedthis balletas a predictionof what was to him and his
peers, "the GreatWar."26
In the Stone Age essay Roerichaffirmedhis faithin the aesthetic
development of primitiveman:
The caves in the South indicate beyond any doubt the true
sense of artin ancientman;theybeartracesof the firstmineral
paintsand sometimeshavecomplexdesigns on theirceilings.
Such dwellingsaresureto havebeen lightedwith suspending
lamps, especiallyas the discoveredobjectsof thatperiodreach
the qualities of jewelry:finest needles, bridles for deer, ornaments made of pierced sea-shells and of the teeth of
animals?7
Such objects were Roerich'smodels for the accessories to the
costumesforSacre:greatloop earringsforthe women, ornamented
headbandsandbelts,some with a charmattached- a horse,which
is associatedwith divinationceremoniesof the early Slavs- and
forthe men, belts with decoratedweapons?8"Thereis something
refined about their ornamentation,"Roerichcontinued, "which
reminds you of India and Japan,"and as he narratedwhat was
known of a festivalfor "thevictoryof the SpringSun,"it is possible to imagine his conversationwith Nijinsky:
Quick, alertdancingis going on, to the piping of wood-andhorn pipes. Manyof the variousgarmentsamidthe crowdare
trimmedwith furs and with touches of coloredneedle-work
.... The youngergenerationformingrings for dancing and
singingwearsamberornaments,embroidery,stonebeads and
the talismanteeth.9
Roerichconcludedthat "thedaywill come yet when we shalllearn
much about the Stone Age ... and learn a lot fromit too,"adding
"only the Indian and the Shaman wisdom has kept some
reminiscences of it" a statementthat articulatedthe thought of
many artistsin his generation.
Nijinsky's choreographicmethod started with the design of
posture and gesture on the individual dancer.In Sacrehe seems
to have had a directvisual model in the wooden idols thatwere of
particularinterestto Roerich.Othervisual sourcescame through
Roerichas well, probablyinfluencing the shapes of groups and
groundpatterns.Nijinskyandhis sister,Nijinska,evolveda method
of choreographythat freed the body of classicalrestrictionsbut
channeledits energythroughequallyrigorousdisciplinesof design,
such as the invertedposturesof LeSacreduprintemps
and the parallel
movement en pointein Nijinska'sLesNoces.Their choreography
unifiedpostureand gestureforseparatedancerswith the organization of ensembles and their configurationson the stage. Forboth
of the Nijinskysthere seems to havebeen an attemptalso to coordinatethe design of the movementwith formsin the decor.In Sacre
the figures are huddled together in clumps on the ground,
repeatingin successiveplanes the roundedhills of Roerich'sdrop
- with a group in red repeatingthe shape and colorof the sacred
stone, a large reddish rock painted at the center of the drop.30
Likewise,the pristineposturesand gesturesand groupformations
of LesNoceswere relatedto the decor;the piling up of dancersin
doublelines and pyramidsis comparableto the multiplelevelsand
realvolume in the Constructivist-inspiredset designed by the artistNataliaGoncharova31
NijinskaregardedLesNoces,choreographed for Diaghilevand the BalletsRusses in 1923,as her companion
piece of Russian ceremonyto Nijinsky'sSacre32
ThatNijinskytookRoerich'splans forcostumingintoconsideration in his choreographyis clearfrom Stravinskycorrespondence
duringthe earlyrehearsalperiod. On December14,1912,the composer wrote from Clarens, in Switzerland, to Roerich in St.
Petersburg:
I have just returnedfrom Berlin and receivedyour costume
designs for our "Spring"I am pleased they were sent to me
first so that I could see them - they are a real miracle,and I
only hope the realizationof them will be good! - but I regret
the delay beforeNijinskyreceives them, which is the reason
that my telegramsaid, "Send to Nijinsky."I am forwarding
them to him today.33
Stravinskyalso told Roerichthat "Nijinskystartedhis staging of
the 'Spring'only yesterday"which would havebeen December13,
and probablymeans the first rehearsalwith dancers,other than
his sisterforher solo as the ChosenMaiden?4Diaghilevtelegraphed
Stravinskyon December18,advisingthatneitherhad arrived,nor
rehearsalsstarted.5The rehearsalon the 13thwas only, it would
seem, foracquaintingsmallgroupsof the castwiththe music,rather
than for setting movement. The timing of the communiquesis of
interestbecauseSergeGrigoriev,the companyregisseur,wrotealso
on the 18th,reportingthat "Nijinskyhas not startedthe rehearsals
of our new ballet;he is waitingforthe drawingsof the costumes"36
Presumably,the drawingswere those Stravinskyjust sent, which,
as an earlierletterfromRoerichindicated,were in two books, accompaniedby twenty-fourfinished costumes.37It may be that Nijinsky simply wanted to have a visual sense of the whole production beforeembarkingon the ensemble dances. Or, he may have
been concernedaboutthe bulk of the garments,as it would affect
the movement.Buthe mayhavewantedto constructthe Sacregroup
work and ground patterns in a way directly connected to the
costumes.
The two books of designs thatRoerichmentionedarenot known
to survive,althoughseparatedrawingsmaybe amongthose in collectionsin the SovietUnion, United States,and WesternEurope.38
DanceResearch
Journal 18/2 (Winter1986-87) 11
Mostof the seventy-ninecostumeshe createdhavebeen preserved,
and the largegroup of them housed at the TheatreMuseum of the
Victoriaand AlbertMuseum, London, are in good condition, so
thatI was ableto studythemfirst-hand.Becauseof Roerich'slifelong
interestin iconographyand systems of ritualsigns, I attemptedto
analyzethe costumemotifsfortheirmythologicalreferences.In the
courseof this analysis,I beganto noticecorrespondenceswith the
choreography.It stood to reason that Roerichmight use motifs
associatedwith Yarilo,the solar deity who was the subjectof the
rite.One malecostume,whichhad a labelforthe dancerAlexander
Gavrilov,was notableforthe emblemsthatranup fromthe border
at the hem; the emblemslook likeladderssurmountedby wheels,
and they may representthe wooden wheels that were threaded
with dry twigs, placed atop ladders or poles, and set afire to
celebratethe returnof the sun.39A photographof the costumes,
from the sale of the collectionat Sotheby's,featuresthis garment
with the firewheels40The colors Roerichused supported the interpretationof these emblems as firewheels for Yarilo- the ladder and wheel were orange, and the spaces between the spokes
on the wheels were dark aqua, as though the sky were showing
throughthem. On the sleeveof the samecostumewas a figurestencilled in orange and dark aqua with magentaadded. It occurred
to me that it might be a totem of Yarilo,such as are shown on the
wooden idols of the earlySlavs.At the same time, it remindedme
of BronislavaNijinska'sdescription of the dance of the Chosen
Maiden, which she wrote in a letterto the Soviet ballet historian
VeraKrassovskaya.Detailinga section towardthe end of the solo,
Nijinska suggested that "the movements give the image of a
prehistoricbirdwhose wings try to raisethe body, which is clumsy and not yet ready to fly."41When I met Svetoslav Roerich,I
showed him my study sketchfor the costume (Illustration5), and
I askedhim what he thought it signified. 'A bird,he said without
hesitation,and I queriedwhetherornot it mightbe a totemof some
The leaps of the young
deity,but he repeated, "Anancientbird."42
men who wear the firewheel costumes adumbratethose of the
Chosen Maiden in her awkwardeffortto join Yariloin the sky.
Beyondthe symbolicreferencesof the costume motifs,I hoped,
if possible, to decode dance movements from them. On the
firewheel costumes the border print included circles with a
darkenedcirclein the center,and outside the circumferenceof the
circleswere the curvesof brokenor incompletecircles.According
to my cross-referencingof sourcesfor the reconstruction,a ground
patternvery like this concentriccirclemotifappearsin the second
actof LeSacre;once the ChosenMaidenhas been selectedby a trick
of fateand surroundedby the otheryoungwomen, the eldersbegin
to close in aroundthem (Illustration6). A numberof ground patternsfamiliarfrommy researchwere identifiable,perhapsby coincidence, on the costumes. It may well be impossible to prove any
relationshipbetweenthe dancers'garmentsand the dancedesign,
but suchcontinuityexistsin ritualtraditionsfromvariouscultures.
That Roerich and Nijinsky may have planned specific correspondences in the choreographyand costume motifs is consistentwith the mannerin which they workedtogether.Nijinskydoes
not seem to have put any of the ensembles togetheruntil mid-tolate January1913,by which time he had receivedRoerich'sdrawingsandcostumes.Manyof the groundpatternsin the originalSacre
have antecedents in the ritual dance of shamanistictraditioncircles, concentriccircles, squares, and the circle-in-the-square.
SurelyRoerichpassed on to Nijinskythe importanceof such patterns in the archaicrites of the Slavs. As designer,he would have
alreadyincorporatedthem as motifs on the costumes, which Nijinsky insisted on seeing before his preparationof the ensemble
movement.So it is reasonableto suppose thatthe groundpatterns
of the ballethave this derivationfromRoerichand ritualtradition.
On January27, Nijinsky wired GabrielAstruc, directorof the
12 DanceResearch
Journal 18/2 (Winter1986-87)
Th6etredes Champs-Elysees,forthe dimensionsof the stage,which
meansthathe was workingon the relationshipsof the groups,their
proximity,the time it would takeforone groupto pass anotherand
other ensemble questions44Two days earlier,Nijinsky wrote to
Stravinskyfrom Leipzig, where the company was still touring
before the London season. The letter is such a comprehensive
reflectionson LeSacre
reporton rehearsalsand the choreographer's
that it makes all the more enticing the fact that similar correspondencewith Roerichdid exist, althoughits whereaboutsare
now unknown.45Nijinsky also wrote regularlyto his mother in
Petersburgduringhis travelswith the BalletsRusses,and those letters, too, would have disclosed much about his creativeprocess,
but they were lost in WorldWar .46 What Nijinsky expressed to
Stravinskyon January25, 1913,summarizedthis process.
Dear Igor,I have been able to make five rehearsalssince our
departurefromVienna.Thisis not very many,of course,consideringhow much remainsto be done, but with the burden
of workthat we have, and with these tiringmoves fromtown
to town, wherewe stayonly two orthreedays,it was not possible to do more. I squeezed as much out of these rehearsalsas
I could, and if I am able to continue this way, I will possibly
have enough time for everything - without damaging my
healthand at the same time dancingwell atthe performances.
Wehavecomposed almosteverythingthroughthe games and
dances in the ring, and the game of abduction47
Nijinskymaymean thatin less than threeweeks he completedthe
firsttwo scenes of ActI, Augursof Spring (which climaxesin the
gamewith the twigs)and the continuationin Danceof the Maidens
(whichincludeschainmovementthatbecomecircles,orrings)plus
RitualAbduction- seven minutes of the thirty-fiveminuteballet.
This rateof productivityis high by any companystandards,if Nijinsky'sperformancesas a principalarebornein mind. Buton the
otherhand, he maymean thathe has finished the firstfour scenes
of Act I, Augurs of Spring/Danceof the Maidens; RitualAbduction; SpringRounds (possibly the "dancesin the ring");and the
Gamesof the RivalTribes,which would mean a thirdof the whole
work. Accordingto Nijinska,her brotherwent over every accent
with everydancer,and he " would not proceedin his compostion
untilhe obtainedthe exactexecution,"which "createdthe impression that Nijinsky himself was proceedingat a slow pace"in his
TheLeipzigletterhelps establishthe factthat,given
choreography48
the complexitiesof Sacreand the touring schedule, Nijinskywas
proceedingapace.Partof the purpose of the lettermay have been
to demonstrate as much to Stravinsky,who had already proThatidea, together
mulgatedthe idea Nijinskywas a slow worker49
with Stravinsky'sverdictthatNijinskywas unmusical,went a long
wayto discredithis dancein the yearsbeforethe composerretracted
his interimviews and declaredthat the originalchoreographywas
the best of any for Sacre.?The lettercontinued with Nijinskyfull
of hope and excitementover his creation:
I am very pleased with the way everythinghas turned out. If
the workcontinueslike this, Igor,the resultwill be something
great. I know what Le Sacredu printempswill be when
everythingis as we both want it: new, and, for an ordinary
viewer, a jolting impression and emotional experience. For
some it will open new horizons flooded with differentraysof
sun. People will see new and differentcolors and different
lines. All different,new and beautiful.I go to Dresden today,
where it will be impossibleto rehearsesincewe areonly there
for one day. FromDresden we go to London. A bow to your
wife. I kiss your hand. Vaslav.1
When the BalletsRussesarrivedin Londonatthe end of January,
1913,Stravinskyjoined them for Sacrerehearsals.Nijinskyconfided to his sisterhis frustrationoverwhat he consideredtime lost in
rehearsalswith the composer's"lectures"concerning"thebegin-
r
Y"
w\
I..
^
\
Illustration 5. Costume by Nicholas Roerichfor Young Man in Sacre.
Reconstruction
drwing andcostumestudybyMillicentHodson,ActI, Scene
4, Gamesof the Rival Tribes,a sudden leapwith arms and legs outspread,
basedon observationsin JacquesRivire's essay on Sacre, 1913.
4
d
Illustration6. Detailsfromcostume:"theprehistoric
bird"andtheconcentric
circles.Groundpattern:ActI, Scene
2, Glorificationof the Chosen Maiden. Drawings by Millicent Hodson.
Dance ResearchJournal 18/2 (Winter1986-87) 13
ning theory of music.52 Nijinsky said, "I only wish I could hear
the music without so many unnecessary breaks," and he added,
'I wish he would talk more about his music for Sacre... "53He also
spoke at that point of how he was inspired by the libretto and how
he "was being greatly encouraged in his creative work by Roerich,"
which again suggests communication about the relation of dance
to design in Le Sacreduring the actual period of its construction.54
Anatole Bourman, Marie Rambert, and other Ballets Russes dancers
have described how the tensions mounted during the rehearsal
period for Sacre,but Nijinska, with her unique perspective on Nijinsky, best explained the causes and effects for her brother. Much
of the problem she attributed to his perennial isolation from the
rest of the dancers, due to his relationship with Diaghilev. When
he most needed the company's solidarity, there was no bond to
strengthen and intensify, and instead the alienation between
choreographer and cast grew ever greater.55Although Roerich had
been connected with the Ballets Russes off and on since its first
season, he did not have the familiarity with the company that, for
example, Bakst had. When Roerich came to Monte Carlo for the
Sacrerehearsals, according to Nijinska, he focused his attention on
the choreographer:
Only Roerich supported Vaslav. He often came to the rehearsals and encouraged Vaslav,who would listen attentively. The
only time Vaslavappeared relaxed during rehearsals was when
he was with Roerich.56
At the end of the London rehearsals or beginning of those in
Monte Carlo, Nijinsky was working on the final scenes of Act I, the
Games of the Rival Tribes and Procession of the Sage/Dance of the
Earth, about which Roerich wrote to Diaghilev: "The wisest ancient
is brought from the village to imprint his sacred kiss on the newflowering earth. During his rite the crowd is seized with a mystic
terror,and this our excellent Nijinsky has stylized for us admirably
well."57During the early spring rehearsal period, Roerich came to
Monte Carlo, where the company resided from mid-March, staying on through their April season there, until they left in early May
for Paris. Still at this stage in the construction of the dance, conversations continued between the scenarist-designer
and
recalled:
choreographer. Nijinska
Vaslav often told me how much he liked to listen to Roerich
talking about his studies of the origin of man, describing the
pagan rites and the prehistory of the tribes "that roamed the
land we now call Russia."58
The collaboration with Nicholas Roerich thus seems to have been
a constructive experience for Nijinsky. Not only were the wooden
idols a potential source of posture and gesture but also the motifs
on the costumes - with all the mythological references embodied
in them - created options for the shape of the whole dance on the
stage. Although Nijinsky began working toward his choreographic
method with Faune,it crystallized in Sacre.In ritual tradition a votive
design is thought to contain the energy of whatever it signifies. A
circle, like the sun, is potent in and of itself because of its correspondence to that source of energy. So the continuity of design
from a shaman's rattleto the steps of his dance is a form of incremental repetition which multiplies the impact of the rite. Some magical
systemizing of this sort pervades Nijinsky's movement for Sacre.
What remains to be explored choreographically is whether this
system, or method, of extending the design of movement for a
single dancer to the configurations of a full cast requires a ritual subject. Neither Nijinsky nor Nijinska exhausted the creative
possibilities of this method.
14 Dance ResearchJournal 18/2 (Winter1986-87)
NOTES
1. RobertCraft,"Genesisof a Masterpiece,"introductionto IgorStravin1911-1913
sky andRobertCraft,TheRiteofSpringSketches,
(London:Boosey
and Hawkes, 1969),p. xvi-xvii.
2. BronislavaNijinskaquotes the St. Petersburg
Gazetteinterviewin which
Roerichdescribeshis scenario,in Bronislava
Nijinska:EarlyMemoirs,edited
and translatedby IrinaNijinskaand JeanRawlinson,introductionby Anna Kisselgoff(New York:Holt, Rinehartand Winston,1981),p.448.A letterfromSvetoslavRoerich,the artist'sson, gaveme fulldetailson theoriginal
scenario(August22, 1981).The issue is discussed in E. Polyakova,Rerikh:
ZhiznIskusstvo
(Roerich:
LifeinArt),(Moscow:Iskusstvo,1973),pp. 168-170.
3. This articledevelops materialfrom my doctoralthesis, Nijinsky'sNew
Dance:Rediscovery
ofRitualDesignin "LeSacreduprintemps"
(Universityof
California,Berkeley,1985). The thesis is not published but parts were
theJournalof the SocietyforDance
adaptedfortwo articlesin DanceResearch,
Research,London,Vol.3, No. 1 (Autumn,1985)and Vol.4, No. 1 (Spring,
1986).I would liketo acknowledgethe help and interestof my thesis chairandcommitteemember,
man,Prof.BertrandAugst,Comparative
Literature,
Prof. RobertHughes, SlavicStudies.
4. Usefulreferenceson primitivistmodelsof Russianartin the late19thand
inArt,1863-1922
early20thcenturyareCamillaGray,TheRussianExperiment
(London:Thamesand Hudson, 1962),reissuedin new format(New York:
Backwards:
RusHarryN. Abrams,1971)and Susan P.Compton,TheWorld
sianFuturist
Books1912-1916
(London:TheBritishLibrary,
1978).Moregeneral
workson the socialbackgroundof RussianartareRobertAutyand Dimitri
toRussianArtandArchitecture
UniverObolensky,AnIntroduction
(Cambridge
sity Press, 1980,paperback,1981)and MikhailAlpatov,RussianImpacton
Art (New York:PhilosophicalLibrary,1950).
5. "Conclusion,RevueMusicale,
XI(December,1930),p. 103.Unlessindicated
otherwise, translationsin this articleare by the author.
6. Nijinska,p. 449.
7. Interviewwith KennethArcher(London,April 3, 1981).
8. MyLifein Ballet,editedby PhyllisHartnolland RobertRubens(London:
Macmillan,1968),p. 152.Also, interviewwith LeonideMassine(Berkeley,
May 12, 1977).
9. EmileCottinet,"LeSacredu printemps,"LeFeu,Paris(July,1913),p. 831.
10.Interviewwith MarieRambert(London,April20, 1979).
11."Nijinskyand 'LeSacre'"NewYorkReview
ofBooks(April15,1976),p. 39.
12."Introduction
to Typescriptof NotesforLeSacreduprintemps,
PianoScore
for Four Hands" (Introduction, 1967; Notes, 1913). I would like to
acknowledgeJanePritchard,archivistof the BalletRambert,who madethis
materialavailableto me.
13. Nijinska,pp. 315-316.
14. Ibid.,p. 443.
15.JacquesRiviere,"LeSacredu printemps,"LaNouvelleRevueFrancaise,
Vol.VII(November1, 1913),p. 723.The translationof this passageis from
the doctoralthesis of TrumanC. Bullard,TheFirstPerformance
ofIgorStravinduPrintemps"
sky's"Sacre
(Universityof Rochester,EastmanSchoolof Music,
June6, 1971).In additionto his writtentext, which is VolumeI, Bullardincludeda collectionof contemporaryreviews,which is comprehensiveif not
complete,his translationof them comprisesVolumeII and the reviewsin
the originalFrenchconstituteVolumeIII. His translationis direct,often
literal,and I have found it useful for searchingout choreographicclues.
Anothertranslationwhich readswell but is less helpful for dance datais
the selectionof excerptsby MiriamLassman,included as an appendixin
LincolnKirstein,NijinskyDancing(New York:AlfredKnopf, 1975).The
Rivierequote given here is from Bullard,Vol. II, p. 296.
16. Ibid.
17.Ibid.,p. 300.
18.Informationon YarilocultsandnorthernSlavicritesI havegatheredfrom
suchsourcesas the following:E. LouisBackman,Religious
Dancesin theChristianChurchandin Popular
Medicine(London:Allen and Unwin, Ltd.,1952),
a generalbook which deals with paganantecedents;JamesBillington,The
IconandtheAxe(New Yorkand London:Vintage,1966);R.W.Ralston,Rus-
sianFolktales
(New York:Arno Press, 1927);"SlavicMythology,"Standard
andMythology(New York:Funkand Wagnalls,
Legend
Dictionary
ofFolklore,
in particular;B. Unbegaun, "Lareligiondes an1949,1972),pp. 1025-1027
ciens Slaves,"Mana,Vol.II, 3 (Paris,1948).
19.Interviewwith SvetoslavRoerich(Bangalore,India,September14,1983).
41. VeraKrassovskaya,RusskiiBaletnyiTeatrNachalaVeka(RussianBallet
Theatreatthe Beginningof the 20th Century(Leningrad:Iskusstvo,1971),
p. 438.SusanCookSummerin New Yorkand LudmillaBibikovaMatthews
assisted me with the translationof Krassovskaya's
work.
42. Interviewwith SvetoslavRoerich.
RussianTheatre,"a chapterfroma book20. SimonKarlinsky,"Preliterate
in-progress,which the authorsharedwith me duringa conversationon Le
Sacreduprintemps
(Berkeley,May20, 1982).Thequoteis fromthe typescript,
p. 23.
43. Contemporaryresearchneeds to be done on the relationshipbetween
ritualdance patternand talismanicdesigns on musicalinstrumentsand
votive objects.Whatis availableto read is either out-of-dateor restricted
to a single discipline,such as musicologyor mythology.Probablythe best
resultscouldbe attainedby combiningmethodsof danceanthropologywith
those fromthe historyof design. The necessity of combiningmethods no
doubt results from the integrationof ritualdance in social, culturaland
metaphysicalsystems which draw upon consistentvisual symbolism. A
numberof availabletextstouchon this subject.Amongthose I found most
useful are:JaneBelo,Trance
in Bali(New York,ColumbiaUniversity,1960);
FranziskaBoas, TheFunctionof Dancein HumanSociety(1944;reprintedin
New York:DanceHorizons,1972);ErikaBourguigon,'TranceDance"Dance
35 (Autumn,1968);MayaDeren, DivineHorsemen
(New York:
Perspectives,
Thamesand Hudson, 1953);JoanHalifax,Shamanic
Voices
(New York:Dutton, 1979;London:Penguin, 1980);JohnT. Hitchcockand RexL. Jones,
in theNepalHimalayas
ArisandPhillips,
editors,SpiritPossession
(Warminster:
andCalligraphy
1976);LaszloLegeza,TaoMagic:TheSecret
ofDiagrams
Langauge
(London:Thamesand Hudson, 1975).
44. RichardBuckle,Diaghilev(New York:Atheneum, 1979),p. 242.
21. Ibid.
22. CyrilBeaumont,VaslavNijinsky(London:Beaumont,1932),p. 19.
23.NicholasRoerich,"TheStoneAge, "Adamant
1923,
(Paris:Franco-Russe,
in French;New York:CorunaMundi,1924,in English,a translationwhich
seems to have been by Roerichhimself), pp. 125-139.
24. For discussion of the issue of rethinkingculturalvalues, see Gray,
especiallypp. 110-130,and Compton, pp. 18-19,26-31,and 92-95.
25. RichardBuckle,Nijinsky(London:Weidenfeldand Nicolson, 1971),pp.
406-408.Bucklequotes RomolaNijinsky'saccountof the dance and puts
it in context.
in MinnaLederman(editor),Stravinsky
26.JeanCocteau,"Reminiscence,"
in the Theatre(New York:Pellegriniand Cudahy,1949),p. 13.
27.Roerich,pp. 131-132.
28.The informationaboutthe horse as a sign of divinationis from"Slavic
Mythology,"StandardDictionaryof Folklore,
MythologyandLegend,p. 1027.
On Roerich'scostumes forthe women and men the horse charmand the
decoratedweapons can be seen in a photo of Sacrecostumespublishedin
AlexanderShouvaloffand VictorBorovsky,Stravinsky
on Stage(London:
Stainerand Bell, 1982),p. 69.
29. Roerich,p. 136.
30.ThisdesignforActI is reproducedin "NicholasRoerichandhis Theatrical
Designs: A ResearchSurvey"by KennethArcherin this issue, p. 4. During the week of the Sacrepremiere,the artistValentineGross made many
sketchesof the ballet, includingfive pastels which demonstratethe relationshipof the choreographicgroupsandtheircostumesto the shapesand
colormasses of the decor.The series of pastels will be reproducedin the
present author'sbook on Sacreat the time of her reconstructionof Nijinsky's choreographywith the JoffreyBalletin 1987-1988.
45.ThecorrespondencebetweenRoerichandNijinskyI learnedaboutfrom
Sina Fosdick,who was then directorof the NicholasRoerichMuseum in
New York.She quoted an articleby Roerichin which he reflectedon the
life of an emigreand the dispersionof treasuredpossessions. In the article
he asked, "Andwhere are the lettersfrom Nijinskynow?"Mrs. Fosdick,
a Russianemigreeherself,was then in her nineties,havingworkedin New
Yorksinceherarrivalin the early1920s,shortlyafterwhich she metRoerich
and began a lifelongassociationwith him and his culturalprojects.In our
discussion she could not rememberthe name, date, or title of the article,
or whetherit had been published,but she could visualizethe typed page,
which was in Russian.Interviewwith SinaFosdick(New York,October15,
1982).
46.Conversationswith IrinaNijinska.BronislavaNijinskatoldher daughter
of a wickersewing basketin which she had kept Vaslav'slettersto their
mother;it was left for safekeepingwith a Moscow friend when Nijinska
left the SovietUnion in 1921,and contactwith the friendceasedduringthe
31.ThedesignforLesNocesis publishedin MaryChamot,Gontcharova
(London: Oresko,1979).
war.
32. Conversationswith IrinaNijinska(LosAngeles, December17-18,1979).
48. Nijinska,p. 460.
in PicturesandDocuments
33. VeraStravinskyand RobertCraft,Stravinsky
(New York:Simon and Schuster,1978),p. 92.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.,p. 93.
49. Stravinskyand Craft,pp. 92-94.This view is clearfromthe lettersduring the earlyrehearsalperiod, December1912,throughJanuary1913.
50. Krassovskaya,and MarieRambert,Quicksilver
(London:Macmillan,
1972).p. 59.
36. Ibid.
51. Stravinskyand Craft.
37.Ibid.,p. 90.
52. Nijinska,p. 458.
53. Ibid.
38.Thesecollectionsincludethe BakhrushinTheatreMuseumin Moscow,
the Stravinsky-DiaghilevFoundationin New York,the Bibliothequede
l'OperainParisand the TheatreMuseum,currentlyhoused at the Victoria
and AlbertMuseum in London.
39. See note 18.
40. Photographsof the costumessold at Sotheby'sarein the sale catalogue
andCurtains
andDeBasilBallets(London:Sothebyand
Costumes
forDiaghilev
Co., December19, 1969).
47. Stravinskyand Craft,p. 94.
54. Ibid.
55. Nijinska,pp. 460-461.
56. Ibid.
57.Theletteris publishedin SergeLifar,SergeDiaghilev(London:Putnam,
1940),p. 200.
58. Nijinska,p. 461.
Dance ResearchJournal 18/2 (Winter1986-87) 15