Nijinsky as choreographer

The experiment of appointing Nijinsky as chief choreographer seems to have been generally regarded at the time as disastrous.  Diaghilev's motive was to find a talent responsive to new ideas, and one which he could mould according to his own theories, which at the time included an inordinately high regard for the music-visualization theories of Dalcroze and his method of eurhythmics.  Curiously, there seems little evidence of the effect of these theories in Nijinsky's one surviving work, L'Après-midi d'un Faune; and curiously also, that work shows an exceptionally strong plastic and atmospheric sense, suggesting that maybe Nijinsky was a better choreographer than he gets credit for.  Massine in his autobiography expressed great admiration for the meticulous way Nijinsky explained each small detail when rehearsing Faune and said categorically that in different circumstances Nijinsky would have been a great choreographer.  His Sacre du Printemps also, although difficult and unappreciated, was thought by some to have a quality of pathos which Massine's later, better-organized version lacked.

World of Diaghilev by John Percival.  1971. Pages 62-4.