Nijinsky's images of homosexuality: three case studies

Many choreographies created by the Ballets Russes defied and disrupted conventional gender norms, thus helping to redefine methods of sexual presentation on stage. Drawing on material from gender and queer theory, including Judith Butler’s work, this interdisciplinary paper explores how the male dancer, notably Nijinsky, was used to portray three different types of homoerotic imagery. Fokine’s Le Spectre de la rose, Nijinsky’s choreography for L’Après-midi d’un faune, and Fokine’s Legend of Joseph are analysed against the backdrop of early twentieth-century research in sexual science and the literary reception of the male dancer by German-speaking authors.