Biography of Rudolf Nureyev is a brilliant path to success

😉 Greetings to everyone who wandered into my site! Friends, for those who are not yet familiar with the history of the legendary dancer, this information will be very interesting. The biography of Rudolf Nureyev causes a lot of controversy and different opinions, but leaves no one indifferent.

Biography of Rudolf Nureyev in photographs

Rudolf Khametovich Nuriev (Nureyev). Date of birth: March 17, 1938 Date of death: January 6, 1993 (age 54). Occupation: Soviet, English and French ballet dancer and choreographer.

In 1983-1989 Nureyev was the artistic director of the Parisian Grand Opera ballet. In 1991 he made his debut in Vienna as a conductor.

Citizenship: USSR, Austria. Awards: (France) Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor. Height 1,73 m, zodiac sign – Pisces.

Rudolf Nureyev: biography, personal life

Unusual and unlike others, Rudolf Nuriev was born in an unusual way – he was born on a train, somewhere near Irkutsk. Of four children, he was the only son.

His family was of Tatar origin, from the Soviet Bashkir Republic. His father was a military man. Soon after the birth of Rudolph, he was assigned to Moscow.

In 1941, the war broke out. Rudik with his mother and sisters moved from Moscow to Ufa. They lived in a wooden house with other families. The living conditions were disgusting, the toilet was outside. Everyone lived in extreme poverty, but the Nureyev family was the poorest of all.

Scar story: In early childhood, Rudik was bitten by a starving dog. It happened at the moment when he brought a piece of bread to his mouth. When Rudolph entered school, everyone bullied him because he wore his sister’s coat and did not have shoes.

Looking ahead, it should be noted that Nureyev will later become one of the richest people in the world: a huge apartment in Paris, a huge apartment in New York, a personal island, unique collections of porcelain, sculptures and paintings.

Firm decision: “Ballet!”

On New Year’s Eve 1945, Rudolph’s mother managed to take all the children to the ballet “Crane Song”, which was held at the Ufa theater, with one ticket. This event changed the fate of Rudik.

From that moment on, Nuriev decided to become a dancer. He began to attend a school folk dance club. Then he studied at the House of Culture with the Petersburg ballerina Anna Udaltsova, who was in exile. Convinced of the boy’s abilities, he was given the idea to continue his studies at the prestigious Leningrad ballet school.

At the age of fifteen, Nuriev made his debut in the corps de ballet on the stage of the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater, in 1954 he was admitted to the troupe of the theater.

Further studies in Leningrad seemed impossible, especially since the father forbade his son to go to dance classes on the pretext that this interferes with school activities. But Rudolph was stubborn!

In 1955, despite the great age gap, he was admitted to the Leningrad Choreographic School. He studied in the class of Alexander Pushkin, a ballet dancer and an outstanding teacher.

Rudolph did not have a good relationship with other students. They teased him, called him a redneck. The guy could not get along in the boarding school and he had to settle with his teacher.

Nuriev and Dudinskaya

After graduating from college in 1958, thanks to the example of the ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya, he remained in Leningrad and was admitted to the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater (since 1992 – the Mariinsky Theater).

He made his stage debut as a partner of Dudinskaya in the ballet Laurencia, performing the part of Frondoso. It was an overwhelming success! She was 49 years old, he was 19!

Non-returner

On June 16, 1961, while on tour in Paris, by the decision of the KGB “for violating the regime of being abroad,” Nuriev was removed from further tours of the Kirov Theater troupe in London. But he refused to return to the USSR and asked for political asylum.

He became a “defector” – the first among the artists. In this regard, he was convicted in the USSR for treason and sentenced in absentia to 7 years in prison.

In Paris, he was immediately accepted into the touring troupe of the Marquis de Cuevas Ballet. But France refused to give him the status of a political refugee and Nuriev went to Denmark, where he danced at the Royal Ballet of Copenhagen, then moved to London.

Eric Brun

In 1962 Nureyev met the famous Danish dancer Eric Brun, who had a great influence on the formation of the dancer’s choreography and style. Brun is a hugely tall Dane of unearthly beauty, a world famous dancer, considered one of the most outstanding dancers of the XNUMXth century.

It is difficult to say who was the first man – Nureyev’s lover, but the fact that Eric Brun became his first and greatest love of his life is undoubtedly. Moreover, Nuriev first fell in love with his dance, and then with himself.

Eric was the ideal for Nureyev. He was 10 years older than him, tall and handsome, like a god. From birth he possessed those qualities that Rudolph was completely devoid of: calmness, restraint, tact.

And most importantly, he was able to do what Nureyev could not. He was the complete opposite of Eric. It’s no secret that Rudolph had an unbearable character, he could be quite rude and harsh.

Their whirlwind love affair, which lasted a quarter of a century, finally collapsed when Rudolph learned that in Toronto (where Eric then directed the National Ballet of Canada), Eric began an affair with one of his students, who eventually gave birth to a daughter from him.

But although everything was over with the love relationship between them, the spiritual connection lasted until the end of life, having survived all the betrayals, conflicts, separations. “My Danish friend Eric Brun has helped me more than I can express,” Nuriev said in an interview. “I need him more than anyone.”

In 1986, Brun died of lung cancer. He smoked a lot! Rudolph took the death of Eric hard and was never able to recover from this blow.

Margot Fontaine and Rudolf Nureyev

In 1962, the dancer signed a contract with the Royal Ballet in London, which was an unprecedented fact: people without British citizenship were not taken there. But an exception was made for Nureyev, and he became a partner of the brilliant English ballerina Margot Fontaine.

In England, Fontaine was the only and brightest “star” (wife of the Panamanian lawyer and diplomat Tito de Arias). When she met Nuriev, she was 42 years old (he was 24) and she was going to leave the stage. It was Nuriev who breathed incredible sensuality into her dance. They were considered the most harmonious ballet duo of their time.

Of course, it was a platonic and, first of all, a creative union, but when you watch the recordings of their dances today, you involuntarily come to the idea that they were bound by a very deep feeling.

For almost 10 years, until Fontaine left the stage, Rudolph continued to be her constant partner.

Five years after the death of Eric, Rudolph said goodbye to the lady of his heart Margot Fontaine. She died on February 21, 1991, twenty-nine years after the day she and Rudolph first danced in Giselle.

He has been her partner in performances almost 700 times! According to her desire, Margot was buried in the same grave with her husband, whom she survived for two years.

Rudolf Nureyev and his men

Nuriev was homosexual, but in his youth he also had heterosexual relationships. Rudolph wanted sex 24 hours a day! He was a bomb of temperament, energy and passion!

He met with many partners (remember that no one was holding a “candle”), among whom they name Freddie Mercury, Mig Jagger, Elton John and Jean Mare, but he loved only Nureyev – Eric Brun. For Nureyev, he was more than a loved one. After Brun’s death, Nureyev no longer had strong feelings for anyone.

Many will condemn Nureyev. But this is his personal life. As Thomas Neurwit (Conchita) said: “Only the person is important, everyone should have the right to live as he sees fit. If it doesn’t hurt anyone. ”

Date with mother

In 1987, he was able to obtain permission to enter the USSR in order to say goodbye to his dying mother – a visa was given for 48 hours, and the artist was not given the opportunity to contact everyone he knew in his youth.

Cause of death

In 1983, HIV was found in the dancer’s blood. Diagnostics showed the presence of the virus in the blood for several years. At that time, very little was known about the disease: the dancer did not start treatment immediately and took experimental medications.

The disease progressed. Friends, it is monstrous when a person knows that he is doomed and will soon leave the surface of the earth, and that nothing is possible to correct this situation, even with a lot of money. Nuriev died of complications of AIDS on January 6, 1993 near Paris.

Tomb of Rudolf Nureyev

According to his wishes, he was buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris. His grave is covered with a colorful oriental mosaic carpet.

Quotes

• “I want to be able to work everywhere – in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and, of course, in the most beautiful theater to my taste – the blue and silver Kirovsky in Leningrad. I’m twenty-four years old. I do not want someone to decide my future for me, to determine in which direction I “should” develop. I’ll try to get to this on my own. This is what I mean by the word “freedom.”
• “I dance for my own pleasure. If you’re trying to please everyone, that’s not original. ”
• “Each step must have an imprint of its own blood.”

The secret of success

The dramatic circumstances of his arrival to the west promoted Nureyev to the first place, but he held out thanks to the strongest personality.

Performing tirelessly, every evening, for months, for years, all over the world, in the widest repertoire, he moved more audience than any other dancer. In 1975, the number of performances reached three hundred! He completely changed the passive role of the dancer in classical ballet.

Once in an interview, Nureyev was asked what the secret of the success of his work abroad was. He replied: “I slept little and worked hard.” And this determined his whole life.

Biography of Rudolf Nureyev (video)

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