1914 – Vaslav Nijinsky appears at Palace Theatre, London, with his own company

Russian Dancer and choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky was a legendary performer in the history of dance. Born in Kiev, he was a brilliant graduate from the Imperial Ballet School, St Petersburg in 1907, studying under Nicholas Legat and Enrico Cecchetti. In 1908 Serge Diaghilev became his mentor and lover, and in 1909, from the opening of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes season, Nijinsky took Paris by storm. He left Russia for good in 1911. Nijinsky married Romola de Pulsky on tour in South America in 1913 and was subsequently dismissed by Diaghilev from the Ballets Russes. He briefly formed his own company in 1914, and performed in London, but re-joined the Ballets Russes in 1916 during a tour in of the United States of America.