Rudolf Nureyev’s “Swan Lake” – documentary film – great moments in music – program in full length | ARTE Concert

A ballet icon of the 20th century and revolutionary of the role of the male dancer: Rudolf Nureyev. His choreography for the Vienna State Opera Ballet and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra is one of the most successful of all time. Nureyev no longer just wants to be a pas de deux partner and lift the prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn into the air, but rather her equal counterpart. Despite the large age difference, the two manifest their reputation as the epoch-making dream couple of classical top dance.
His interpretation of “Swan Lake” is unusual: he places the male part and thus himself at the center of Peter Tchaikovsky’s dance fairy tale, which premiered in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow: “I think the main character is the prince, not the swan, he is just his reflection.”
Nureyev was early considered the new ballet idol of the Soviet Union. He achieved world fame in 1961 when, during a guest appearance in Paris, he made a spectacular jump over the barrier at Le Bourget Airport in the west. He worked like a man possessed, not only as a dancer and choreographer, but also became ballet director of the Paris Opera, a film star and later even a conductor. His personality off stage is less divine: as a dancer he is arrogant, as a company leader his leadership style is uncompromising. He died of AIDS at the age of just 54.
People from Nureyev’s environment and today’s dance stars, such as the choreographer Eric Gauthier or the prima ballerina Polina Semionova, comment on the event and provide personal and artistic insights into Nureyev’s work.