 Jun 16 - Jun 19

The 2nd international dance festival Ballet Nights at Ljubljana's Cankarjev Dom will pay tribute to the celebrated choreographer and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

The festival will see ballet productions by ensembles from Croatia, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia, as well as an exhibition on Nijinsky, which will run beyond the festival, until 20 August.

As a member of the Ballets Russes, Nijinsky (1889-1950) created choreographies that are still considered revolutionary and contemporary today, Uršula Cetinski, director of Cankarjev Dom, said at the presentation of the festival.

In the run-up to the festival, a documentary reflecting Nijinsky's artistic genius and his gradual descent into mental illness will be shown at Cankarjev Dom on 13 June. Directed by Elisabeth Kapnist, Nijinsky, A Soul in Exile, the film focuses on the artists' his artistic rise and his relationships with his closest family members and colleagues, including his wife Romola and his impresario and lover Sergei Diaghilev.

The Ballet of the Romanian National Opera from Bucharest will make a guest appearance with Raymonda, directed and choreographed by Maki Asami based on the last great masterpiece of Marius Petipa (1818-1910), one of the world's most influential choreographers best known for The Sleeping Beauty.

The latter ballet will be performed by the Ballet Ensemble and Orchestra of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, choreographed by Irek Mukhamedov.

Latvian National Ballet will perform Nijinski, a choreography by Marco Goecke which Cankarjev Dom says transcends biographical aspects and addresses fundamental issues, reflecting the magic and value of art and underscoring the huge sacrifice it requires of all creative minds.

The festival will wrap up with Romeo and Juliet, a production of the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc from Rijeka choreographed by Jiri Bubeníček.