Book to Art Club

READ. TALK. MAKE.

Create hands-on projects while discussing the book of the month with the Book to Art Club.

Follow us on Goodreads and Pinterest!.  See what is happening with other Book to Art Clubs around the world on the Book to Art Club Blog.  The Book to Art Club was created by the Library as Incubator Project.  Club copies of the books are available for pickup at the library's first floor help desk.  Digital book copies may be available through Overdrive/Libby or Hoopla.

The Great Nijinsky: God of Dance by Lynn Curlee

Dance prodigy, sex symbol, gay pioneer, cultural icon--Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame as the star of the Ballets Russes in Paris before mental illness stole his career and the last thirty years of his life.

With one grand leap off the stage at the 1909 premiere of the Ballets Russes's inaugural season, Nijinsky became an overnight sensation and the century's first superstar, in the days before moving pictures brought popular culture to the masses. Perhaps the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, Nijinsky captured audiences with his sheer animal magnetism and incredible skill.

He was also half of the most famous (and openly gay) couple of the Edwardian era: his relationship with Serge Diaghilev, artistic director and architect of the Ballets Russes, pushed boundaries in a time when homosexuality and bisexuality were rarely discussed. Nijinsky's life was tumultuous--after marrying a female groupie he hardly knew, he was kicked out of the Ballets Russes and placed under house arrest during World War I. Unable to work as he once did, his mental health deteriorated, and he spent three decades in and out of institutions.