Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev (born March 17, 1938, Irkutsk, Russia, U.S.S.R.—died January 6, 1993, Paris, France) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer whose suspended leaps and fast turns were often compared to Vaslav Nijinsky’s legendary feats. He was a flamboyant performer and a charismatic celebrity who revived the prominence of male ballet roles and significantly widened the audience for ballet.

Nureyev, who was of Tatar descent, spent his youth in Ufa, the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now Bashkortostan republic, Russia). He began his ballet studies at age 11, left school at 15, and supported himself by dancing. At 17 he entered the Leningrad Ballet School, where he was taught by Aleksandr Pushkin. He was an outstanding but rebellious student, refusing to join the Komsomol (Communist youth organization), disobeying curfew regulations, and learning English privately.

After graduating in 1958, he became soloist with the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet and danced leading roles with its touring company. While in Paris with the Kirov Ballet in June 1961, Nureyev eluded Soviet security men at the airport and requested asylum in France. He said later that the rigidly organized Soviet ballet had limited his opportunities to dance frequently and to perform in a variety of roles.

After his defection he danced with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and made his American debut in 1962, appearing on American television and with Ruth Page’s Chicago Opera Ballet. Later that year he joined the Royal Ballet (London) as permanent guest artist, but he never became a member of a major dance troupe in the West, preferring to work with various companies on a temporary basis.

Nureyev became well known as Dame Margot Fonteyn’s favourite partner. Dancing with her, he interpreted such roles as Albrecht in Giselle, Armand in Marguerite and Armand, and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. He was a popular guest artist in companies large and small throughout the world. Also working as a choreographer, Nureyev reworked Swan Lake (Vienna, 1964), giving the dominant role to the male dancer. His version of Sergey Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (1977) was produced by the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), and his Manfred (1979) was performed by the Paris Opéra Ballet. In 1980 Nureyev staged The Nutcracker for the Berlin Ballet, and in 1981, owing to a further resurgence of interest in dance in Italy, Nureyev staged his version of Romeo and Juliet at La Scala, with Fonteyn as Lady Capulet. Nureyev’s capabilities also extended to modern repertoires, and he performed in works by Martha Graham, Murray Louis, and Paul Taylor. Graham created the role of Lucifer (1975) for him, and in 1978 Nureyev appeared in the American premiers of Canarsie Venus and Vivace, choreographed for him by Louis.

His autobiography, Nureyev, was published in 1962. In 1973 he codirected (with Robert Helpmann) and starred in a filmed version of Don Quixote, and he had acting roles in the films Valentino (1977) and Exposed (1983).

Nureyev became an Austrian citizen in 1982. From 1983 to 1989 he was artistic director of the Paris Opéra Ballet. He continued to choreograph for the American Ballet Theatre and the Paris Opéra Ballet even as his health declined from AIDS-related complications. He died in 1993 at the age of 54.