ROMANCE

The Chosen Maiden

by Eva Stachniak
Doubleday. Jan. 2017. 464p. ISBN 9780385678568. pap. $18; ebk. ISBN 9780385678551 F
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Bronia outlived and outperformed Vaslav Nijinsky, her famous brother, but did not attract the world's spotlight. The children of itinerant Polish dancers, both had important careers with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the turn of the 20th century. Vaslav became the God of Dance with his choreography for The Rite of Spring but fell from grace and into madness. Bronia is the subject of Stachniak's exquisite fictionalized memoir. She learned to tap dance at age three and became a respected classical ballerina before advancing wholeheartedly into ballet's modern idioms. She was a noted choreographer, teacher, and dancer whose turbulent life mirrored the catastrophic first half of the 20th century.
VERDICT Enjoying best-selling success with her novels about Catherine the Great (The Winter Palace; Empress of the Night), Stachniak could well see a similar success with this deep dive into ballet culture. Drawing on her thorough research into Bronia's archives, the author has teased out revealing insights into the art of the dance, and she writes skillfully about the emotional truths that arose from Bronia's ambitions, family relations, and deep anxieties. Dance fans will welcome this graceful and entrancing foray into the recent past.
Reviewed by Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA , Jan 06, 2017
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