Rudolf Nureyev

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Rudolf Nureyev in 1961

Rudolf Nureyev (Tatar form Rudolf Xämät ulı Nuriev, Russian Рудольф Хаметович Нуриев) (March 17, 1938 – January 6, 1993), Tatar-born dancer, is regarded as one of the greatest male dancers of the twentieth century, alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Nureyev captivated audiences with spectacular leaps and turns, while his passionate temperament and flamboyant behavior both onstage and off made him a cultural icon.

Nureyev grew up in Moscow and Ufa, where he studied ballet and was an apprentice with the Ufa Ballet. Later, after graduating from the Leningrad Ballet School, Nureyev bypassed the corps de ballet and went directly to dancing solo roles with the Kirov Ballet.

On June 17, 1961, Nureyev eluded Soviet security guards while on tour with the Kirov in Paris, and requested asylum from officials. Using his newfound freedom during the following months, Nureyev performed in Paris, New York City, London, and Chicago. However, in 1962 he reached a turning point when he he began partnering the British Royal Ballet's acclaimed ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, who was 19 years his senior. Their opposite styles perfectly complimented each other.

Although Nureyev was "permanent guest artist" with the Royal Ballet for 20 years, it was not a formal affiliation with the dance company. Yet Nureyev found endless work as a guest artist around the world, both as a dancer and later as a choreographer. In the 1970s, he also performed on television, in film, and on the Broadway stage.

In 1989, he danced in the Soviet Union for the first time since his defection. Nureyev made his last public appearance in October 1992, taking a bow at the Paris premiere of his new production of La Bayadere. The artist died from AIDS/HIV in 1993, in Paris, France.

Early life and career at the Kirov

Map of the Russian Federation with Bashkiria (Bashkortostan) highlighted in red

Nureyev was born 1938 on a train near Irkutsk, while his mother was travelling across Siberia to Vladivostok, where his father, a Red Army political commissar was stationed. Rudolf was raised in a Tatar family in a village near Ufa, in Soviet Bashkiria. As a child he was encouraged to dance in Bashkir folk performances and his precocity was soon noticed.

Due to the disruption of Soviet cultural life caused by World War II, Nureyev was unable to enroll in a major ballet school until 1955, when he was sent to the Vaganova Choreographic Institute, a branch of the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad. Despite his late start, he was soon recognized as the most gifted dancer the school had seen for many years. Although an exceptional student, his rebellious temperament was already evident.

Nevertheless, within two years Nureyev was one of the Soviet Union's best-known dancers, in a country which revered the ballet and made national heroes of its best dancers. Soon he enjoyed the rare privilege of travel outside the Soviet Union, when he danced in Vienna at the International Youth Festival. Not long after, however, he was told he would not be allowed to go abroad again. He was thus limited to tours of the Soviet provinces.

Defection to the West

In 1961, Nureyev's luck turned. The Kirov's leading male dancer, Konstantin Sergeyev, was injured, and at the last minute Nureyev was chosen to replace him on the Kirov's European tour. In Paris, his performances electrified audiences and critics. However, he broke the rules about mingling with foreigners, which alarmed the Kirov's management, and the KGB—had been investigating him for some time for being a homosexual—reportedly wanted to send him back to the Soviet Union immediately.

Nureyev was told that he would not travel with the company to London because he was needed at home to dance at a special performance in the Kremlin. He correctly suspected that if he returned home he would likely be imprisoned. Thus, on June 17, 1961, at the Paris Airport, Rudolf Nureyev defected.

Within a week after defecting, Nureyev was signed up by the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and was performing The Sleeping Beauty with Nina Vyroubova. Nureyev was an instant celebrity in the West. His dramatic defection, his outstanding technique, his good looks, and his astonishing charisma on stage made him an international star.

Nureyev's defection also gave him the personal freedom he had been denied in the Soviet Union. On a tour of Denmark he met Erik Bruhn, another dancer 10 years his senior, who became his lover and protector for many years. Bruhn was director of the Royal Swedish Ballet from 1967 to 1972 and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1983 until his death in 1986.The relationship was a stormy one, for Nureyev was highly promiscuous.

Although he petitioned the Soviet government for many years to be allowed to visit his mother, to whom he remained very close, Nureyev was not allowed to do so until 1989, when his mother was dying and Mikhail Gorbachev consented to the visit.

During this visit, he was invited to dance once again with the Kirov Ballet at the Maryinsky theater in Leningrad (now renamed Saint Petersburg). Sadly, it was too late; he was too old, his technique was by then defective, and his performance disappointed. Nonetheless, the visit gave him the opportunity to see many of the teachers and colleagues he had not seen since he defected, including his first ballet teacher in Ufa, where his mother lived.

Fonteyn and Nureyev

Nureyev's first appearance in England was at a ballet matinee organized by Margot Fonteyn in aid of The Royal Academy of Dancing, at which he danced Poeme Tragique, a heavily symbolic solo choreographed by Frederick Ashton, and brought the house to its feet in the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake. He formed a partnership with Fonteyn which became perhaps the most famous in modern dance-theater history. Their first performance together was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Giselle on February 21, 1962, when the applause of the audience lasted longer than the ballet itself.

Nureyev's fiery style perfectly complemented Fonteyn's refined elegance. Their long professional relationship would revive her career and while firmly establishing his. Together, Nureyev and Fonteyn forever transformed such cornerstone ballets as Swan Lake and Giselle. The also premiered Sir Frederick Ashton's ballet Marguerite and Armand, set to Liszt's B minor piano sonata, which became their signature piece. They inevitably filled the house. Films exist of their partnership in Les Sylphides, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and other roles.

Offstage, Fonteyn and Nureyev became lifelong friends, even after her retirement to Panama. Although their relationship was stormy, many who knew them said Fonteyn was the dearest person to Nureyev's heart, and Fonteyn in turn was especially loyal to Nureyev. When she was suffering from cancer, Nureyev paid many of her medical bills and visited her constantly despite his busy schedule.

Towards the end of Nureyev's life, when his body was wracked by AIDS, Fonteyn urged him to start a career conducting, which he did with some success.

Later career

In 1964 Nureyev came to the Vienna State Opera, where he remained as a dancer and chief of choreography till 1988.

Although Nureyev was "permanent guest artist" with the Royal Ballet for 20 years, it was not a formal affiliation with the dance company. Yet he found endless work as a guest artist around the world and in several other fields, as well.

Nureyev was immediately in demand by film-makers, and in 1962 he made his screen debut in a film version of Les Sylphides. In 1977 he played Rudolph Valentino in Ken Russell's Valentino, but he had neither the talent nor the temperament for a serious acting career. He branched into Modern Dance with the Dutch National Ballet in 1968. In 1972, Robert Helpmann invited him to tour Australia with his own production of Don Quixote, his directorial debut. In 1973, a gala world premiere for the movie version was held at the Sydney Opera House.

During the 1970s, Nureyev appeared in several movies and toured the United States in a revival of the Broadway musical The King and I. His guest appearance on the then-struggling television series The Muppet Show is credited for boosting the series to worldwide success. In 1982, he became a naturalized Austrian. In 1983, he was appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet, where as well as directing he continued to dance and to promote younger dancers. Among the dancers he groomed to stardom were Sylvie Guillem, Isabel Guerin, Manuel Legris, Elisabeth Maurin, Elisabeth Platel, Charles Jude, and Monique Loudieres. Despite advancing illness towards the end of his tenure, he worked tirelessly, staging new versions of old standbys and commissioning some of the most groundbreaking choreographic works of his time. His own Romeo and Juliet, set in Hollywood, was a popular success.

Personality

Nureyev's talent, appearance, and charm caused him to be forgiven many things, but stardom did little to improve his temperament. He was notoriously impulsive and did not have much patience with rules, limitations, and hierarchical order. His impatience mainly showed itself when the failings of others interfered with their, or his own, work. Most ballerinas with whom he danced, including Antoinette Sibley and Annette Page paid tribute to him as a considerate partner.

He mixed with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Mick Jagger, and Andy Warhol, and developed a reputation for intolerance of non-celebrities, but he kept up old friendships in and outside the ballet world for decades, being a loyal and generous friend. He was known as extremely generous to many ballerinas, who credit him with helping them during difficult times. In particular, the Canadian ballerina Lynn Seymour – distressed when she was denied the opportunity to premiere Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet, said that he often found projects for her even when she was suffering from weight issues and depression, and had trouble finding appearances. He helped an elderly and increasingly impoverished Tamara Karsavina. His interests were widespread and he loved to discuss all kinds of subjects, showing an amazing wealth of knowledge in many fields.

By the end of the 1970s he moved into his 40s and faced the inevitable decline of his amazing physical prowess. Unfortunately, Nureyev continued to tackle the big classical roles for far too long, and his rather undistinguished performances in the late 1980s disappointed many of his admirers. Towards the end of his life, he was wracked with the ravages of AIDS, but he still worked tirelessly on productions for the Paris Opera Ballet. His last work was a lavish, beautiful production of La Bayadere, which closely follows the Kirov Ballet version he danced as a young man. At Margot Fonteyn's urging, he also started to conduct concerts and ballets.

AIDS

When AIDS appeared in France in about 1982, Nureyev, like many homosexual men, took little notice. He presumably contracted HIV at some point in the early 1980s. For several years he simply denied that anything was wrong with his health: when, in about 1990, he became undeniably ill, pretending he had several other ailments. He tried several experimental treatments, but they did not stop the inevitable decline of his body. Towards the end of his life, as dancing became more and more agonizing for him, Nureyev resigned himself to small, non-dancing roles, and dabbled with the idea of becoming a conductor. At the urging of Fonteyn, he had a short but successful conducting career, which was unfortunately cut short due to his declining health.

Eventually, however, he had to face the fact that he was dying. He won back the admiration of many of his detractors by his courage during this period. The loss of his looks pained him, but he continued to struggle through public appearances. In 1989, he danced in the Soviet Union for the first time since his defection. At his last appearance, at a 1992 production of La Bayadère at the Palais Garnier, Nureyev received an emotional standing ovation from the audience.

Nureyev died in Paris, France, a few months later, aged 54. His grave, at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris, is as spectacular as his stage performances: A Russian carpet thrown carelessly over it, turning out on close examination to be of mosaic.

Legacy

Nureyev's influence on the world of ballet changed especially the perception of male dancers; in his own productions of the classics there was much more attention paid to the choreography of male roles than in earlier productions. The second important influence was his crossing the borders between classical ballet and Modern Dance by dancing both genres, although having been trained as a classical dancer. Today, it is absolutely normal for dancers to get training in both styles, but Nureyev was the one who started it, even though it was considered a sensation and even much criticized in his days.

• In 1992, recipient of France's highest cultural award, the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.
• In 1987, received the Capezio Dance Award.

Nureyev's choreographies

La Bayadere Acte III - October 3, 1974 - After Petipa

Manfred - November 20, 1979 - Original choreography

Don Quichotte - March 6, 1981 - After Petipa

Raymonda - November 5, 1983 - After Petipa

Le Lac des Cygnes - December 20, 1984 - After Sergueev and Bourmeister

Romeo et Juliette - October 19, 1984 - Original choreography

The Tempest - March 9, 1984 - Original choreography

Bach Suite - April 16, 1984 - Avec Francine Lancelot

Casse Noisette - December 20, 1985 - After Petipa

Washington Square - June 25, 1985 - Original choreography

Cendrillon - October 24, 1986 - Original choreography

La Belle au Bois Dormant - March 18, 1989 - After Petipa

La Bayadere - October 8, 1992 - After Petipa

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bland, Alexander. Nureyev: An Autobiography with Pictures, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1963. B0000JNIEC
• Percival, John, Nureyev: Aspects of the Dancer, Putnam, 1975. ISBN 978-0399115448
• Bland, Alexander, The Nureyev Valentino: Portrait of a Film, Cassell & Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1977. ISBN 978-0289707968
• Solway, Diane. Nureyev: His Life, Quill, 1999. ISBN 978-0688172206
• Maybarduk, Linda. The Dancer Who Flew: A Memoir of Rudolf Nureyev, Tundra Books, 1999. ISBN 978-0887764158

External links

• Rudolf Nureyev Foundation
• Birthday tribute

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