Wacław Niżyński (or Vaslav Nijinsky) was the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.
Born in Kiev in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) on 12 March 1889, his parents introduced him to dance and, aged just 9, he enrolled in the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg, the best ballet school around.
In 1909, he joined Ballet Russes, which aimed to take Russian ballet to Paris where its like had never been seen.
Nijinsky became the group's star male dancer, captivating audiences with every performance. His virtuosity, strength and characterisation were astounding, his gravity-defying leaps legendary, and he was one of very few male dancers to be able to dance en pointe (on tip-toe with wooden blocks in his ballet shoes).