Posted by on Mar 13, 2017

Oxford Dance Writers:

….The Chosen Maiden “novel captures the artistic and personal development of an exceedingly courageous, talented and sensitive woman – a woman way beyond her time in ideas about dance. It also portrays an entire period of rich artistry, complex shifts in political and international affairs and the men and women who to this day are legendary in the world of ballet, music and production design…”

 

Ballet To the People:

The Chosen Maiden – the title taken from the lead role of Vaslav Nijinsky’s Sacre du Printemps, created for his sister Bronia – is very much about surviving unreal times. About finding the strength to continue on after everything is lost. It is about the duty of artists and the revolutionary power of grassroots movements. “The Chosen Maiden, my brother once told me, is a warrior, not a dying swan. She dances to make life possible again.”

 

Wonders and Marvels interviews Eva Stachniak:

How did you come across this story?  What inspired you to write about it?

The Chosen Maiden was born out of my fascination with Ballets Russes, a Russian dance company which, in the summer of 1909, took Paris by storm. Bronislava (Bronia) Nijinska –the intended Chosen Maiden from the 1913 production of The Rite of Spring choreographed by her famous brother Vaslav–was my inspiration. A brilliant dancer and a ground-breaking choreographer, herself, Bronia lived a life fuelled by art and made possible by the fierce loyalty of the Nijinsky women who stood by each other through thick and thin. The Chosen Maiden is what I like to call an archival fantasy, a historical novel weaved together from facts and imagination, an intimate portrait of a woman whose art and life helped to define what it means to be modern.

 

Wandering Educators on The Chosen Maiden:

NEVER have I been so entranced with a book, so reluctant to leave the world the author has created, so INTO a subject I previously knew little about.

The World Dances:

The Chosen Maiden, is pure gold. Every dancer, choreographer, mother of a dancer, or lover of a great story will be immediately immersed in this enticing historical novel ….

 

Cosmopolitan Review:

The Chosen Maiden, rescuing Nijinska from her brother’s shadow, reveals an artist, one who knows that “to excel, I have to be strong, resilient, see more, understand what is hidden to others”, and also, as her brother told her, that “Art is all that matters, Bronia. Everything else is distraction. 

 

Portland Book Review on writing The Chosen Maiden. The Curse of the Archives. 

       

Having written two novels based on the life of Catherine the Great I know how challenging it can be to write historical fiction, but I’ve never heard of the curse of the archives! At least not until I began working on The Chosen Maiden.

Bronislava Nijinska, the inspiration for The Chosen Maiden, was a prominent dancer and choreographer. She was also the younger sister of Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the greatest male dancers in history, and a genius choreographer as well. Unlike her brother whose career ended when he was institutionalized with schizophrenia at 23, Bronislava, or Bronia as she was called, lived a long and productive life. She was one of the first female choreographers employed by a ballet company – as the legendary impresario Sergey Diaghilev hired her as a choreographer for Ballets Russes in 1921. She had her own dance company and worked for others. She also kept exhaustive records of her life which eventually found their way to the Library of Congress.

 

Kris Waldherr: “It’s a wonderful read—Eva’s writing is tender, evocative, and immersive.”  

from: Interview with Eva Stachniak.