BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THIRTEEN/WNET NEW YORK'S GREAT PERFORMANCES EXPLORES THE EARLY YEARS OF RUDOLF NUREYEV
Russian Friends & Colleagues Speak Out For The First Time
Much has been written about dance legend Rudolf Nureyev, one of the enduring icons of 20th-century performing arts. His celebrated defection to the West from Russia's Kirov Ballet, his historic partnership with ballerina Margot Fonteyn, his electrifying leaps, feral beauty, and volatile personality have long filled books and documentaries. What could be left to say?
Quite a bit, actually, judging by Nureyev: The Russian Years, a new examination of the key period in the dancer's life prior to and immediately following his famous "leap to freedom" from Le Bourget Airport outside Paris in 1961. Premiering in High Definition Wednesday, August 29 at 9 p.m. (ET) on Thirteen/WNET New York's GREAT PERFORMANCES on PBS (check local listings), the special weaves recently recorded interviews with Russian friends and colleagues - free now in the post-Soviet world to discuss the formative part of his development - with amazing archival footage of the young dancer never before seen in the West.
Speaking with remarkable insight and candor, former fellow-students - including Cuban dancer Menia Martinez, to whom Nureyev proposed several times; non-dance bohemian pals like Liuba and Leonid Romankov; Kirov favorite Ninel Kurgapkina, an early partner and lifelong friend; and French dancer/choreographer Pierre Lacotte and ballerina Ghislaine Thesmar - discuss his startling effect on others, fierce drive, love affairs (with both sides of the class), the defection (and its tragic aftermath), and, above all, the genius. "He said it openly. 'I will be the number one dancer in the world,'" recalls Alik Bikchurin. "He'd just arrived at the school, and he suddenly comes out with something like that. It's not the best way to make friends."
But making friends wasn't what Rudolf Nureyev was all about, certainly not at that time, certainly not with a combustible talent like his. Already he was breaking taboos in the world of male dancers.
Ninel Kurgapkina remembers one tortured performance of Don Quixote during which the dancer refused to leave his dressing room. "Rudolf won't put his trousers on," someone told her. He had balked at the baggy trousers Russian tradition required him to wear, preferring the body-flattering tights worn in the West. Sulking, he held up the performance for nearly an hour, before finally relenting. From that time on, however, whatever the tradition, it was tights every time.
"None of us came out on stage wearing such a costume," she says. "But it suited him very well. He had a perfect physique." Point made.
Also highlighted are his open defiance of the Soviet system, love of American movies - Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan was a favorite, plus his close relationship with 18-year-old ballet student Teja Kremke, with whom he fell in love. The pair enjoyed a special give and take. Indeed, after the defection, the young East Berliner hoped to join Nureyev in Paris, but history intervened. On August 12, 1961, the Berlin Wall went up overnight and any hopes of reunion died with it.
Most remarkable in Nureyev: The Russian Years is the footage shot by Kremke of the Nureyev phenomenon in first flower. Beginning with the Soviet ballet Laurencia, filmed in performance and never before seen, the stage sequences include Swan Lake, in one of Nureyev's final Kirov appearances, and The Sleeping Beauty. Also captured by Kremke's camera: young Rudik as leading man in their own home movies, the dancer at play, and at the makeup table. Twice married and father of two, Kremke, once he finished his dance training in Leningrad, was never allowed out of East Germany again. He died of unexplained circumstances at the age of 37.
Other rare archival clips include the earliest known footage of Nureyev in performance, at a student competition when he had just turned 20, as well as appearances in Bach Fantasia, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Marguerite and Armand, and Pierrot Lunaire.
Ghislaine Thesmar, who along with Pierre Lacotte recounts the Communist-inspired pandemonium at an early post-defection performance in Paris, aptly sums up her friend's steely determination and ultimate legacy. "He did not work to earn money, he did not work to prove anything," she says. "He went on stage and danced like some people go to the temple and pray even if they can't walk any more."
A BBC production in association with Thirteen/WNET New York, Nureyev: The Russian Years is written and produced by John Bridcut, with Peter Maniura as executive producer. Special consultant on the program is Julie Kavanagh, author of the new biography Nureyev: The Life (Pantheon), to be published in October.
GREAT PERFORMANCES is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, public television viewers and PBS. Major corporate funding is provided by UBS, a global leader in wealth management, investment banking and asset management. You & Us. UBS. Special funding for Nureyev: The Russian Years was provided by the Irene Diamond Fund and the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.
Visit GREAT PERFORMANCES ONLINE at thirteen.org and pbs.org for additional information about this and other GREAT PERFORMANCES programs. The colorful Web companion contains a wide variety of images, in-depth information about the programs, and activities for teachers, including lesson plans, tips and resources.
Bill O'Donnell is GREAT PERFORMANCES director of program development; David Horn is series producer.
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