MacFormat España 17/MacFormat 17 (Spain)/MacFormat 17.bin/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01455_133.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.1 KB | 217 lines

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Rudolf Nureyev
was born aboard
a train in Siberia
and grew up in a
Tatar village. He
described himself
as a "vagabond",
a troubled spirit.
At 17 he won
a scholarship to
the Kirov ballet
company in
Leningrad, and
it was here in
Russia's old
capital that his
dazzling career
took off
#
Nureyev was
one of the most
charismatic
personalities
and bewitching
dancers ballet
has ever known.
With his powerful
and graceful style,
and his ambiguous
sexual appeal,
his fame reached
far beyond the
world of dance
#
Nureyev became
an overnight star
with the Kirov.
However, his
temperamental
personality led to
difficulties with
the Soviet
authorities, and
an attempt to
send him home
from a tour of
Paris in 1961 led
him to defect to
the West almost
on impulse
#
Following his
defection,
Nureyev was
welcomed to
London by Margot
Fonteyn, Britain's
leading ballerina.
The two formed
a tight emotional
bond which
informed one
of the most
fruitful artistic
partnerships
of the century
#
In February
1962, a British
audience had its
first chance to
see Fonteyn and
Nureyev together
when they
danced "Giselle"
at Covent Garden.
Nureyev would
make occasional
technical lapses,
but the sheer
animal passion
of his dancing
always brought
the house down
#
Nureyev had one
thing in common
with all great
artists - a
determination to
succeed and a
willingness to
work long and
hard to achieve
that goal. Others
said he had
another mark
of genius - an
unwillingness to
conform which
often infuriated
colleagues
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Once he was
away from the
political disci-
pline of the
Soviet Union,
Rudolf Nureyev
flourished. In
the West he
instantly proved
himself as a
dancer, and
slowly began to
find his way as
a coach and a
choreographer
#
When Nureyev
defected to the
West he left
his family behind.
To the Soviet
authorities he
was a traitor,
and they punished
him by refusing
to let his aged
mother visit him
in the West.
He had to accept
he might never
see her again
#
In the Eighties
Nureyev became
director of the
Ballet de L'Opera
in Paris. His
lifestyle, as he
described it to a
journalist,
seemed to have
few distractions
outside work -
but in private
he was drinking
heavily and
enjoying a
promiscuous
sex life
#
Nureyev carried
on dancing long
after others had
retired. To some
critics, it seemed
sad that a man of
Nureyev's stature
should continue
into middle-age -
but Nureyev
made it clear he
would dance for
as long as he
could
#
In the new era
of glasnost the
Soviet Union
looked on old
defectors
(especially
famous ones,
with a forgiving
eye. Almost
30 years after
he abandoned
his homeland,
Nureyev was
allowed to go
back, see old
friends, and
dance for his
countrymen
#
Nureyev died of
AIDS in 1993, a
victim of his
passionate wish
to live life to the
full. The decline
of his final years
was forgotten as
tributes flowed in
to the man who
was perhaps the
greatest ballet
dancer ever
#
The world of
ballet is always
on the look out
for the new Rudi.
So far it has been
disappointed, and
the chances are it
always will be,
because there can
never be another
dancer like
Rudolf Nureyev
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