Arts & Entertainment
Remembering Nijinsky
Troubled ballet legend honored in biographical show
Primoz Bezjak as Vaslav Nijinsky in ‘Nijinsky’s Last Dance.’ (Photo courtesy Mladinsko Theatre and CulturalDC)
‘Nijinsky’s Last Dance’
Aug. 26-30
Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint
916 G Street N.W.
culturaldc.org
Powerful, brilliant and gay, Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev famously started the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1909, smartly bringing together the best artists, composers, choreographers, dancers and fashion designers to create the most revolutionary dance company of its era.
The unstoppable Diaghilev is equally well known for fostering the career of his much younger lover, the legendary Nijinsky (1889-1950). Roundly considered the 20th century’s greatest male ballet dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky is remembered for dancing and choreographing daring new sexually charged works like “Afternoon of a Faun,” “ Jeux” and “Rite of Spring.” Without Diaghilev’s support, it wouldn’t have happened.
“Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music,” an exhibition currently at the National Gallery of Art (through Oct. 6) explores the man and his achievement. CulturalDC is joining the fun in presenting the Slovenia-based Mladinsko Theatre’s production of local playwright Norman Allen’s one-man play “Nijinsky’s Last Dance” at Flashpoint, D.C.’s downtown arts space.
“When I began to see pictures of Nijinsky (advertising the National Gallery show) on the sides of buses running up and down 16th Street, I knew that I wanted to be a part of this,” says Allen, who is gay. So he approached both the National Gallery and CulturalDC (part of whose mission is to match spaces for performances) and told them about this Slovenian production of his play. He suggested bringing it to D.C. would be one more way to help celebrate the exhibition. All agreed.
At 80 minutes without intermission, “Nijinsky’s Last Dance” mixes text, movement, music and sound. The piece is biographical, but rather than being strictly chronological, it’s more of a poetic, dramatic wash of his life. And though a one-man show, the actor slips in and out of other characters.
“Nijinsky was a great mimic which was a god send for me as a playwright,” Allen says. “He goes into Diaghilev for a half page. Then he’s his wife Romola Pulszky (an obsessed fan he unexpectedly married), or Tamara Karsavina (the great prima ballerina with whom he was occasionally paired).”
A longtime balletomane, Allen’s play premiered at Arlington’s Signature Theatre in 1998. It was reprised at the Kennedy Center in 2003. More recently as a guest artist in Slovenia, Allen saw the Mladinsko version.
“It’s an amazing production. A very powerful actor named Primož Bezjak plays Nijinsky,” he says. “It’s performed in Slovenian with English surtitles. And the company stipulates that no more than 60 tickets can be sold for each performance regardless of the size of the theater. The stage is encircled with just one row of chairs. Fortunately, because Flashpoint is such an intimate space, this won’t feel odd.”
Obviously well built but rather static in photographs, Nijinsky was reportedly athletically explosive and incredibly sexy and provocative on stage, as was his work.
“Nijinsky’s choreography for ‘Jeux’ was a response to Diaghilev’s desire for them to have a threesome. The ballet is choreographed for a man and two women and structured around a tennis match, but sex is at its core,” Allen says. “But it’s ‘Afternoon of a Faun,’ though, that is truly a sexual experience. Nijinsky shocked the audience at the premiere when he placed a nymph’s veil on the stage and lowered himself onto it, rubbing his crotch against it, imagining it to be her. By all accounts his astounding stage presence was sexual in nature. In ‘Faun,’ he created a role that gave him a direct means to express that.”
Around the time when the First World War broke out, Nijinsky began to show signs of schizophrenia, an illness that would soon after effectively end his career. Allen believes Nijinsky’s professional and personal crackup mirrored the war.
“Nothing would ever be the same. Everything fell apart. The world view changed. And he couldn’t make that transition,” he says.
One of Nijinsky’s last dances, says Allen, was an improvisational piece performed at a ballroom in Saint Moritz before an invitation-only audience. Already mentally ill but still traveling Europe with his wife and children, Nijinsky’s intention was to dance the war, physically expressing horror and disillusionment. Reviews weren’t great.
Allen recommends making a trip to the National Gallery before seeing the show. A section of the exhibit is dedicated to Nijinsky. Unfortunately there is no footage of Nijinsky dancing — not a single frame exists. “It’s a shame in way,” Allen says. “But it also contributes even more to Nijinsky’s status as a legend.”
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian marked International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
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The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
Miss Kitty tackles classical mythology in ‘Metamorphoses’
Folger production seen through the lens of the African diaspora
‘Metamorphoses’
May 7-June 16
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Miss Kitty’s words are thoughtful and measured, occasionally punctuated by flamboyant flourishes and uplifting proclamations. Her tried and tested tagline is “live in fierce not fear.”
She describes herself as “AMAB (assigned male at birth), nonbinary, genderqueer, transfemme” as well as “chanteuse, noble blacktress, and dancer.”
Currently, Miss Kitty is testing her talents in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill.
At 90 minutes, “Metamorphoses,” is made up of interwoven vignettes from classical mythology including the tales of Midas and his daughter, Alcyone and Ceyx, and Eros and Psyche.
“It’s all stories that relate to the human condition: the follies, the happiness, the love, the loss,” Miss Kitty explains. “And a thorough knowledge of mythology isn’t a requirement for enjoyment.”
The language is contemporary and with its 11-person ensemble cast – comprised exclusively of Black or indigenous people of color – they’re adding their own spin to its present-day feel, she adds.
In Zimmerman’s famously staged premiere production, the actors performed in and around a pool of water. At Folger, director Psalmayene 24 has ditched actual aquatics; instead, he suggests the element by introducing Water Nymph, a new character constructed around Miss Kitty.
Water Nymph doesn’t speak, but she’s very visible from the opening number and throughout the play on stage and popping up in unexpected places around the venue.
“It’s a lot of dancing; I haven’t danced the way Tony Thomas is choreographing me in a very long time. At 40, can she still make theater with just my body as her instrument?
The name “Miss Kitty” was born over a decade ago.
Miss Kitty recalls, “She was still presenting as male and going by her dead name. Someone commented that with the wig she was wearing for a part, she looked like Eartha Kitt whom she deeply admires.”
Her penchant for illeism (referring to oneself in third person) isn’t without good reason. She explains, “It’s to reiterate that however she might look, she’s always there; and if you misgender, she will let you know.”
Initially, the moniker was a drag persona at Capital Pride or the occasional fabulous cabaret performance at a nightclub.
But as time passed, she realized that Miss Kitty was something she couldn’t take off. She had always been a part of her.
“She’s helped me to grow and flourish; she’s given me the strength that I never would have had before. I’m so proud of myself for realizing that before it was too late.”
Bringing Miss Kitty into her theatrical career presented some concerns. Would theater folks be open to the new her, especially those she’d worked with before?
Not always, but she’s found new companies who’ve welcomed Miss Kitty with open arms including Avant Bard, Spooky Action Theater, and now Folger.
Last fall, Miss Kitty appeared in Spooky Action’s Agreste (Drylands), a stunning queer story penned by gay Brazilian playwright Newton Moreno.
After being invited to audition and reading the script, Miss Kitty was determined to be a part of the production.
A work dealing with love and being trans, and transphobia, and how people can turn on a dime once they learn the truth about someone, resonated deeply with the actor.
“The play speaks to the idea that if people just let people be who they are and love who they want to love we’d all be a lot happier,” she says.
For her sublime efforts, Miss Kitty nabbed a Helen Hayes Award nomination in the Outstanding Lead Performer category (winner to be determined on Monday, May 20 during a ceremony at The Anthem).
It’s her first time nominated and first time attending. She’s thrilled.
Miss Kitty grew up in Oxen Hill, Md., and now lives near Washington Harbor. Her entry into performance was through music followed by high school plays. She graduated from Catholic University with a degree in music/concentration in musical theater, and from there dove directly into showbiz.
Looking back, Miss Kitty says, “being a person of color AND queer can be a double whammy of difficulty. You have to live in light and do the things you’re afraid to do. That’s the game changer.”
Presenting “Metamorphoses” through the lens of the African diaspora (the cast also includes Jon Hudson Odom and Billie Krishawn, among others) helps us to realize that every story can be universal, especially for marginalized people — South Asian, Native American, or fully queer perspectives, she says.
“Having an all-Black ensemble opens all new worlds for everyone.”
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