Ballet
Afternoon of a Faun
There are actually two famous ballets with this name set to the same Debussy music, and both are worth knowing. Nijinsky's 1912 original scandalized Paris with its flat, friezelike mythological faun. Robbins then reimagined it in 1953 as two young dancers in a sunlit studio, and that quiet, mirror-gazing version is the one you'll usually see today.
Fast facts
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Choreographer
- Originally Vaslav Nijinsky (1912, Paris); the widely performed version is Jerome Robbins (1953, New York)
- Premiere
- 1912, Paris (Nijinsky); 1953, New York (Robbins)
- Structure
- One act
- Running time
- About 10 minutes
The story
Robbins's version relocates the dreamy, sensual mood of Debussy's music to a ballet studio on a lazy afternoon. A young male dancer stretches and dozes, a young woman enters, and the two share a hushed, half-awake duet, dancing as much to their own reflections in the imagined mirror (the audience) as to each other. It ends as quietly as it began, with a single stolen kiss and the dancers drifting back into their private worlds.
What Afternoon of a Faun is famous for
- Two legendary versions to the same Debussy score
- Nijinsky's scandalous 1912 original
- Robbins's intimate studio reimagining
- The dancers performing toward an imaginary mirror
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there two versions of Afternoon of a Faun?
Vaslav Nijinsky made the original in 1912 for the Ballets Russes, about a mythological faun. Jerome Robbins created a completely different 1953 version set in a dance studio, using the same Debussy music. Both are still performed.
What was so shocking about Nijinsky's original?
Its flat, angular, friezelike style broke every classical rule, and its frankly sensual ending caused an uproar at the 1912 premiere in Paris.
What is the mirror in Robbins's version?
The dancers perform as if looking into a studio mirror, which is really the audience. It gives the duet a strange, self-absorbed intimacy, as if they are watching themselves more than each other.
Who composed Afternoon of a Faun?
Afternoon of a Faun was composed by Claude Debussy.
How long is Afternoon of a Faun?
Afternoon of a Faun runs about 10 minutes.