Posted by Eva on Oct 29, 2017

The brilliant, internationally-acclaimed Polish dancer Vaslav Nijinsky had a sister. As children, Vaslav and Bronia danced together. As adolescents, they both won places to hone their art at the prestigious Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg. As adults, they danced with the Ballets Russes throughout Europe and choreographed groundbreaking work. Vaslav eclipsed his younger sister in renown, but Bronia was a gifted dancer, choreographer and beloved teacher in her own right.

In The Chosen Maiden, Eva Stachniak brings Bronia out of Vaslav’s shadow. As Vaslav’s star was ravaged by devastating mental illness and the First World War sparked revolution in Russia, Bronia continued to work with grit and determination, creating dance that broke with tradition and challenged the expectations of what female dancers were allowed. In her fifth novel, Stachniak gives us an affecting portrait of a woman who was “strong enough to dance alone.”

Christine Fischer Guy: What drew you to the world of the Ballets Russes?

Eva Stachniak: It was not the Ballets Russes but the brilliant Nijinskys, Vaslav and Bronislava, brother and sister.

After my second Catherine the Great novel, I wanted to look at the end of Catherine’s Russia. At first I searched for an inspiring character among her descendants, but no one at the Imperial Russian court captivated me. Then I looked at the Artists of the Imperial Theatres, and I knew I’d found my people.

I have to confess I didn’t know of Bronislava Nijinska’s existence until I started researching her famous brother, Vaslav. Only then I learned that he had a younger sister Bronislava (or Bronia as she was often called) who was not only a talented dancer and a groundbreaking choreographer, but also a writer of Early Memoirs, a book that captivated my imagination. So it was Bronia’s voice — strong, powerful, inspiring — that led me to the world of Russian ballet and to the Ballets Russes. She was my inspiration, my muse, my guide and my teacher.

More: Christine Fischer Guy interviews Eva Stachniak

Posted by Eva 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.