Fresh from the Grahamstown National Arts Festival having won a 2017 Standard Bank Ovation Award in excellence, and the SATMag Award for Best Cutting Edge Production 2017, Leftfoot productions offers NIJINSKY’S WAR.
Through adapting The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky (1953), NIJINSKY'S WAR offers a subjective view into Nijinsky's life and his ongoing struggle with mental illness, through a combination of theatre, film and dance.
Nijinsky, who is cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century, was celebrated for his virtuosity and depth of characterizations. Tragically he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to various asylums for the last 30 years of his life. The production reimagines Nijinsky after he has been committed to a mental asylum. In this state of limbo, Nijinsky re-lives his best moments in dance, from L'après-midi d'un faune (1912) to the controversial Jeux (1913), and finally the sacrificial ritual Le Sacre du Printemps (1913). NIJINSKY'S WAR parallels Nijinsky and Ignatius Van Heerden’s life; growing up as a farm boy in South Africa, and his journey becoming a dancer and choreographer.
