Eno Peci – Landgraf on Dance

24. October 202624. October 2026

It Is What It Is

“Nijinsky”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
October 20, 2026 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

The insight I gained from the Vienna State Ballet’s premiere of Nijinsky hit me at the curtain call when choreographer John Neumeier took his bow. He looks back on an oeuvre of more than 180 pieces, and though his foundation’s website announces a new choreography for 2027, his career is nearing its end. He held on past his prime and missed the right time to hand over his company. On stage, another career was over: Nijinsky’s. But he certainly hadn’t yet realized his full potential.

I saw Nijinsky several times in 2009 and 2011, always danced by Neumeier’s home company, The Hamburg Ballet, and each time Nijinsky’s misery preoccupied me. What was the final straw that shattered his mental health? That both his wife, Romola, and Diaghilev used him? The brutality of World War I? The untimely death of his older brother, Stanislav? Although Nijinsky does not show the hero’s stay at the sanatorium, I wondered what harm the high insulin doses he received there might have done to him.

Fifteen years later at the premiere in Vienna, these questions have become secondary. To ruminate on the wherefore of Nijinsky’s sad fate is pointless. Nothing can be fixed anyway. And when watching the eighty-seven-year-old Neumeier, visibly touched and gratefully acknowledging the applause, I recognized that the same applies to Neumeier. He has done his best. The time for changes is over.

Nijinsky (2000) is one of his strong pieces. It recaps key moments of Nijinsky’s career in a flashback that lasts from the first bars of his 1919 farewell performance at the Suvretta House, St. Moritz, to its last. He remembers his famous roles and choreographies—L’Après-midi d’un faun, Jeux, Le Sacre du Printemps, and Till Eulenspiegel—the blossoming romance with Romola and her later betrayal, the romantic and professional entanglement with Diaghilev, his brother’s fatal decline, and the relentless approach of a crushing war. Countless associations and thoughts run through his mind, which Neumeier merged into two cleverly constructed acts.

Back in 2000, he drew on a broader choreographic palette that allowed fascinating characterizations: Nijinsky’s Marriage to God solo, for example, his and Romola’s sultry encounter on a ship to South America, and Diaghilev’s power plays in which seduction and repulsion alternated at whim. I was mesmerized by the Golden Slave’s sensuality, suffered with Petrushka, and shared Nijinsky’s horror at Stanislav losing his mind. But being familiar with the works that followed Nijinsky and the movements and poses Neumeier increasingly used until they became hackneyed is a red rag to me. It’s like spoiling a fine menu with a stale ingredient.

Compared with Hamburg Ballet’s doyen, Alexandre Riabko, who frequently danced the title role and set the standard high, Alessandro Frola’s performance in Vienna was impressive. A former principal of Hamburg Ballet, Frola has grown tremendously since he joined the Vienna State Ballet one year ago. Also, Ketevan Papava’s stony-faced Romola was convincing. Nijinsky’s erotically charged roles enamored her more than the man himself, but she deserves credit for taking care of him when his psyche cracked. (Let’s disregard that she later neglected him for years while pursuing her ambitions in the U.S.) Why she would cuckold Nijinsky with the aloof Doctor Frenkel of all people (Masayu Kimoto) was incomprehensible to me.

Ionna Avraam portrayed Nijinsky’s sister, Bronislava (Avraam’s sculpted features made her a perfect cast). Tamara Karsavina (Madison Young) joined her in the dance scenes of Nijinsky’s choreographies and Bronislava’s Les Noces. Karsavina also appeared as the sylph, reminding Nijinsky of his role as the poet. Davide Dato crossed his mind as the Harlequin and the Spirit of the Rose, and Rinaldo Venuti scampered as the tragic Petrushka (but couldn’t match his Hamburg colleagues, Ivan Urban and Lloyd Riggins). Jerking as if electrocuted, António Casalinho’s Stanislav died a terrible death.

The impenetrable facade and rigidity of Eno Peci’s thin-lipped Diaghilev made it hard to believe that Nijinsky—and later Massine (Laurids Seidel)—gave in to his sexual desires voluntarily. Victor Caixeta’s Faun convinced, but the way his Golden Slave switched between eye-dazzling speed and sensual wriggles looked calculated and lacked the eroticism that Hamburg’s Otto Bubeníček oozed.

The pretentious posturing of the Suvretta House’s audience reminded me of modern-day realities. Nijinsky is, in fact, highly topical. War today feels as close as then, and Nijinsky’s empty glance made me think of a shop owner in last week’s riot-battered Paris. He hunkered on the doorstep of his demolished shop with exactly the same look.

Links:		Website of the Vienna State Ballet
		Introductory matinée
		Nijinsky—rehearsals
		Nijinsky—trailer
Photos:	1.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky) and ensemble, “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	2.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky) and ensemble, “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	3.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	4.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky) and Madison Young (Tamara Karsavina), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	5.	Victor Caixeta (Faun), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	6.	Davide Dato (Spirit of the Rose), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	7.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), Olga Esina (Eleonore Bereda, Vaslav’s mother), and ensemble, “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	8.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), Olga Esina (Eleonore Bereda, Vaslav’s mother), António Casalinho (Stanislav Nijinsky), and Ionna Avraam (Bronislava Nijinska); “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	9.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky) and ensemble, “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	10.	Ketevan Papava (Romola Nijinska), Victor Caixeta (Faun), Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), and Masayu Kimoto (Doctor Frenkel); “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	11.	Eno Peci (Sergey Diaghilev) and Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	12.	Laurids Seidel (Léonide Massine), Eno Peci (Sergey Diaghilev) and Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	13.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky) and ensemble, “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	14.	António Casalinho (Stanislav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	15.	Ketevan Papava (Romola Nijinska) and Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	16.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	17.	Rinaldo Venuti (Petrushka), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
	18.	Alessandro Frola (Vaslav Nijinsky), “Nijinsky” by John Neumeier, Vienna State Ballet 2026
		all photos © Vienna State Ballet/Ashley Taylor
Editing:		Kayla Kauffman

26. November 20252. December 2025

Mockery

“Die Fledermaus” (“The Bat”)
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
November 21, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

For Johann Strauss II’s bicentennial, the Vienna State Ballet revived Roland Petit’s 1979 ballet adaptation of Strauss’s famous operetta, Die Fledermaus (The Bat). It’s accompanied by a “best of” selection of compositions by Johann Strauss II, his father, Johann Strauss I, and his brother, Josef. The score’s oomph and gaiety are infectious. Strauss’ music, particularly the Viennese waltzes (of which Die Fledermaus has plenty), is part of the DNA of the Vienna State Opera’s orchestra, and under Luciano Di Martino’s baton, it fizzed like champagne. Melodies rose boisterously to a tipping point, balanced provocatively on the edge, and rippled down with relish as if on a rollercoaster ride. Continue reading “Mockery”

27. October 202514. November 2025

Reborn

“Callirhoe”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
October 19, 2025 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

The title of Martin Schläpfer’s farewell choreography, Pathétique, summarized the condition of the Vienna State Ballet he left behind after five years as its artistic director. His successor, Alessandra Ferri, restructured the company. Some dancers left, and others joined, some of whom were returnees. Last weekend, she presented the first premiere under her reign, Alexei Ratmansky’s Callirhoe (which he choreographed for ABT in 2020 under the title Of Love and Rage). It felt like the rebirth of the company. I cannot remember when I last saw the Vienna State Ballet perform with such force. Congratulations! Continue reading “Reborn”

29. March 202424. April 2024

Incomprehensible

“The Lady of the Camellias”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
March 24, 2024, (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

Shouts of “Bravi!” mingled with enthusiastic applause after the curtain closed on John Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias last Sunday at the Vienna State Opera. I, who was following the performance on screen, was less happy. Being familiar with this piece as it was performed by other companies, I felt that this premiere left a lot to be desired.

To begin with, the choreography—almost forty-five years after its creation—suffers from the same mannerisms present in large parts of Neumeier’s oeuvre. The tools that he uses to express his protagonists’ inner life are repetitive. For example, books, confectionery, and bunches of flowers slipped from the dancers’ grip to signal astonishment or absent-mindedness. The number of people who stumbled, fell, barged into one another, and ran around precipitously was remarkable. As in other Neumeier-ballets, the buffoon (in this case, Count N., whom Géraud Wielick turned into an especially silly specimen of jealous lover) wore glasses. That Neumeier intertwined Marguerite and Armand’s fate with that of Manon Lescaut—a connection that is inherent in Alexandre Dumas’s novel—would be ingenious if the relevant scenes were less mawkish and didactic. Continue reading “Incomprehensible”

26. May 201721. April 2020

Wasted Effort?

“Gala des Étoiles”
Grand Théâtre
Luxembourg
May 20, 2017

Luxembourg, one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, has no ballet tradition. To change this is the aim of former dancer Natascha Ipatova and Georges Rischette, both founders of the Luxembourg dance school DanceXperience. This year’s two galas on May 20th and 21st mark the fifth year in succession trying to wet the Luxembourg audience’s appetite for the art form. Unlike the suggestive title of the event, no étoiles of the Paris Opera Ballet were involved. Instead, there were leading principals and their colleagues from various international companies. Continue reading “Wasted Effort?”

18. May 201721. April 2020

Real Life and Ideals – Nureyev’s “Swan Lake”

“Swan Lake”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
May 14, 2017

“French and Russian style differ, so everything is a bit new at the moment,” Semyon Chudin told me in an interview a few weeks before his premiere in Rudolf Nureyev’s “Swan Lake” in Vienna. He and Olga Smirnova, both figureheads of the Bolshoi, guested in the leading roles with Manuel Legris’s company. I saw the first of two performances. How did they do?

Nureyev’s version differs in style, choreography and the weight given to several characters in comparison to other traditional interpretations of “Swan Lake”. The role of Benno, Prince Siegfried’s friend, is gone and, unlike in Russian productions, there is no fool either. Instead the focus shifts towards Siegfried, whom Nureyev danced more than fifty times himself; his last performance was in 1988 a few days after his 50th birthday. Nureyev’s Siegfried has more to dance – a formal Pas de cinq at his birthday party followed by a melancholy solo, for example – and allows deeper insight into his psyche. At the end he falls victim to Von Rothbart’s revenge and drowns in the floods of the lake, whereas Odette, still alive, stands at the lakeside like the idealized female. However desperately Siegfried stretches his arms towards her she is unattainable. He is doomed to die. Continue reading “Real Life and Ideals – Nureyev’s “Swan Lake””

6. November 201622. April 2020

Premiering Next to a Genius

“Balanchine / Liang / Proietto”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
November 01, 2016

Vienna State Ballet’s new mixed bill traces an arc from a piece capturing Balanchine’s pure classicism to a new, multi-art form work honoring the tradition of romantic ballets. The fascination of flying and the idea of weightlessness unites the three pieces. Edwaard Liang’s “Murmuration”, 2013 choreography for Houston Ballet, deals with the flight formation of flocks of birds. For “Blanc”, the evening’s world premiere, Argentinian choreographer Daniel Proietto took inspiration from Michael Fokine’s flying sylphs. The opener, George Balanchine’s “Symphony in C”, doesn’t involve aviation but leaves one in the most elevated of moods when it is danced well. And so it was. The company was in sunniest form on opening night.

Natascha Mair and Jakob Feyferlik led the first movement of “Symphony in C.” Both were precise, swift and conveyed an infectious good mood. Í liked Liudmila Konovalova and Vladimir Shishov, the second movement’s main couple. Konovalova, blessed with a refined technique, subtly nuanced between composed grief and almost playful cheerfulness. Her tender fragility was met by Shishov’s caring look and fine partnering. Continue reading “Premiering Next to a Genius”