ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky)

"Afternoon of a Faun" is a ballet that was first performed a long time ago in 1912. It was choreographed by a famous dancer named Vaslav Nijinsky. This ballet tells a story about a mythical creature called a faun.

Okay, so let's pretend that you are the faun. The faun is half-human and half-goat, just like a creature from a fairy tale. They live in a magical forest and have lots of friends like animals and other mythical creatures. The faun loves to dance and play in the forest, and that's exactly what they do in the ballet.

The ballet starts by showing the faun waking up from a nap. They stretch and slowly start to move their body, just like when you wake up and stretch in the morning. The music that plays while the faun wakes up is very peaceful and soft, making you feel like you are in a dream.

As the faun starts to wake up, they notice something shiny and golden on the ground. It's a beautiful scarf left behind by a nymph, which is another mythical creature. The faun is enchanted by the scarf and starts to dance with it. They twirl and leap, gently floating around the stage, just like how a fairy might dance.

While the faun is dancing with the scarf, they start imagining that the nymph is dancing with them. They pretend that they are holding hands and moving together, even though the nymph is not really there. It's like pretending to dance with an imaginary friend.

The faun gets lost in their imagination and dances with so much joy and excitement. They feel free and happy as they move around the stage. It's like when you are playing make-believe and have so much fun pretending to be someone or something else.

As the ballet comes to an end, the faun realizes that the nymph is not really there. They stop dancing and slowly come back to reality. They are a little bit sad because they were having so much fun dancing with the nymph, but they know that it was just a pretend game.

So, the ballet "Afternoon of a Faun" is a beautiful story about a magical creature called a faun who wakes up from a nap, finds a shiny scarf, dances with it, and imagines dancing with a nymph. It's like going on an imaginary adventure through the forest and having lots of fun along the way.