Dance prodigy, sex symbol, gay pioneer, cultural icon---Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame as the star of the Ballets Russes in Paris before mental illness stole his career and the last thirty years of his life. A tragic story of a great genius gone mad, this compelling work of narrative nonfiction chronicles a life of obsessive artistry, celebrity, and notoriety. With one grand leap off the stage at the 1909 premiere of the Ballets Russes's inaugural season, Nijinsky became an overnight sensation and the century's first superstar, in the days before moving pictures brought popular culture to the masses. Perhaps the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, Nijinsky captured audiences with his sheer animal magnetism and incredible skill.

Prologue: Wonder of wonders -- Born to dance -- The world of art -- The Ballets Russes -- Celebrity and adulation -- Petrushka -- The Afternoon of a Faun -- Games and rituals -- Romola -- The war years -- The last dance -- A leap into madness -- Epilogue: Legacy and legend.