Page:The Art of Nijinsky.djvu/63

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THE BALLETS

a flock of white swans, vanishing over the water.

Nijinsky, of course, impersonates the prince—the slim and debonair young prince of the fairy tale. In the first scene of eager reconnaissance, and in the final tragic tableau by the water-side, we have his genius for pantomime splendidly exhibited. While, in the middle scene—the dance and courtly festival—he demonstrates the full resources of his virtuosity, performing the rarest and most difficult figures with the ease that can belong to no one but the born technician. In some other ballets Nijinsky's style becomes so free and unconventional that one is tempted to forget the years of study out of which it has evolved. But his supremacy in this ballet of Le Lac des Cygnes is perfect proof, if such be needed, that Nijinsky has undergone and mastered every phase

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