30 years ago, on January 6, 1993, the ballet world lost one of its great legends. One of the most important ballet dancers of the 20th century, Rudolf Nureyev, died of AIDS. As one of the first artists of the former Soviet Union, he crossed the Iron Curtain in 1961 and stayed in France. His most notable roles include roles in The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Bayader and Giselle.
Rudolf Chametovich Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938 in a poor Tatar family. His mother, Farida, was a housewife, and his father, Hamet, was a soldier in the Red Army. The father wanted little Rudolf to become a doctor or an engineer, but considering the family’s financial conditions, such studies were out of the question. When the family was resettled in the capital of Bashkortostan, Ufa, where further hardships awaited them in the form of long winter months and a lack of food and clothing, Rudolf had the opportunity to visit the local opera for the first time, where ballet performances were also performed. And when he got the chance to see a ballet for the first time in 1945, it was a performance called The Songs of the Hawks, he was so enthralled that he decided to pursue a career as a professional dancer.
In the beginning, he danced folk dances at school and in amateur groups, and at the age of fifteen he got the opportunity to dance at the art school of the famous Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. However, he was attracted to study dance in Leningrad, so despite his father, he went to Leningrad at the age of seventeen, where he was accepted into the famous Academy of Agrippina Vaganova and became his teacher Alexander Pushkin.
Photo: Rudolf Nurejev (©Profimedia)
He started his world career at the Kirov Theater, while touring France he decided to emigrate
After graduation, he received offers both to the Moscow Bolshoi Theater and to the then Kirov (today’s Mariinsky) Theatrewhere he also joined and debuted alongside Natalie Dudinská in the ballet Laurencie. In 1961, the Leningrad artists went on tour to France, and the agency mentioned that it specifically wanted Nureyev, among others, to come. In the middle of his tour, when the troupe continued to London and Nureyev was about to be sent back to Russia due to too much contact with his new foreign friends, among whom was the choreographer Pierre Lacotte, for example, the young dancer decided to apply for political asylum. He became an outcast in his native country for twenty-five long years and was able to return only in 1989, when he danced James in the Sylphide ballet on the stage of the Kirov Theater. After 28 long years, he was also able to meet his parents and three sisters again.
Soon after Nureyev decided to stay abroad, he made his debut in London alongside the famous Margot Fonteyn and his star began to rise. Before long, he too became a recognized dance star, guesting all over the world from New York to Milan to Paris, Vienna and Australia. He danced in romantic titles as well as in classical ballets of the late 19th century, in the neoclassical repertoire and in the field of modern dance. He performed in the works of almost all the great choreographic names of the 20th century, and his partners were, in addition to Margot Fonteyn, other famous world dancers.
Photo: Noella Pontois and Rudolf Nurejev (©Profimedia)
Not only a dancer, but also a choreographer, movie star and conductor
In his dance career, Nureyev applied himself in a diverse repertoire, but in his own choreographic work he remained faithful to the legacy of classical dance technique. He imprinted a special form on the most famous Petipa’s ballets – Swan Lake, Raymonda, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Bayader, or the Kingdom of Shadows. He also processed the two most famous ones Prokofievov ballet – Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella.
Photo: Rudolf Nurejev (©Profimedia)
Rudolf Nureyev was also interested in the world of film. He appeared in front of the camera for the first time (not counting performance recordings and television dance productions) in 1977 in the lead role of Valentino’s film about the life of a silent film star Rudolpha Valentina and in 1983 he played the role of violinist Daniel Jellin alongside Nastassji Kinsky in the movie No Chance. He also tried his hand at the role of director several times, but exclusively during the preparation of the filming of the ballets he created – whether it was Don Quixote, Cinderella or The Nutcracker.
In 1983, Nureyev accepted Jack Lang’s offer and became for six years – until 1989 – artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet. Under his leadership, the ensemble grew, expanding its repertoire not only to include all of Nureyev’s classic ballets, but also the titles of other choreographers, including Jiří Kylián. He cast young talented dancers in the main roles, and thus stood at the start of the careers of other great world dancers.
Nureyev also loved classical music, and when he met the former violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic in the late 1980s Wilhelmem Huebnerem, under whose patronage he began to prepare for a new debut. This time a conductor. At that time, of course, his worsening illness had already begun to limit him (as a homosexual – he realized his orientation soon after emigrating in the 1960s – he contracted AIDS), but in the end he stood up. It was in June 1991, when Stravinsky’s Apollon the Leader of the Muses, Beethoven’s Eroica and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major were performed under his baton. During the following year, he also conducted orchestras in Vienna, New York, Athens, Budapest, San Francisco, and was preparing a new ballet premiere in Paris. He did not let up until the last moments. He died on January 6, 1993, just half a year after the premiere of his Bajadera.
Opening photo: Rudolf Nureyev (©Profimedia)
