Nijinsky

By now you probably realize my affection for cemeteries. I did grow up next to one, but beyond that Parisian cemeteries to me have always seemed almost like an index in the back of a really good history book. When you come across one that's interesting, it invites you in for a closer look. I'm including four pictures from the tomb of Vaslav Nijinski. Although born in the Ukraine and buried, originally, in London, Paris was where he did his most famous work, particularly the choreography that he did for Stravinsky's Rites of Spring (which caused riots in Paris) and Debussy. His memorial in Cimetiere Montmartre is an amazing piece of art. The first time I walked up to it I really did think that some live person was resting on the tomb. Nijinski suffered from depression and schizophrenia late in his life, and the statue seems to have captured his mental condition amazingly well.