Упражнения уровня IELTS по английскому языку. № 22.

Vaslav Nijinsky was arguably the greatest dancer of the twentieth century. From an early age, he was trained by his Polish parents, both famous dancers themselves, and was sent to the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg at the age of ten. In 1907, he joined the Marinsky Company and was an immediate success. He danced the great classical roles with the most famous ballerinas of the time, and he gained a reputation for grace of movement and the great athleticism of his jumping.

It was here in 1909 that he was noticed by the great impresario, Sergei Diaghilev, who took him on a highly successful tour to Paris. In 1911, he left the Marinsky Company and joined Diaghilev's Les Ballets Russes. Here he continued to dance and also choreographed a number of ballets himself, most notably Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. His choreography was very different from the classical style that was popular at that time. It was powerful and dramatic rather than beautiful, and not everybody liked it.

In 1913, he married a wealthy Hungarian. As a result, his relationship with Diaghilev collapsed and he was told to leave the company. For the next six years he tried without much success to set up his own company. Tragically, his career ended suddenly when in 1919 he became mentally ill and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. From then on, he spent much of the time in psychiatric hospitals in Switzerland, France and England. He died in London in 1950 and his body was moved to France three years later.

(1) Nijinsky started learning to dance…
a) when he was ten. /
b) in 1907. /
c) before going to ballet school. /

(2) Diaghilev discovered him…
a) when he was dancing in Paris. /
b) when he was with the Marinsky Company. /
c) in 1911. /

(3) Nijinsky's choreography…
a) was very popular. /
b) was very beautiful. /
c) was very unusual. /

(4) Nijinsky left Diaghilev's company because…
a) he got married. /
b) he wanted to start his own company. /
c) he was becoming less popular. /

(5) Nijinsky didn't dance after 1919 because…
a) his company was unsuccessful. /
b) he became unwell. /
c) he stopped enjoying it. /