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A Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev


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Is anyone going to this? Here's the program:

75 years after Nureyev's birth and 20 since his death, English National Ballet celebrates the legacy of this uniquely gifted dancer from his traditional classical beginnings through to his inspirational innovation.

Petrushka is a hopelessly romantic puppet trapped in a love triangle with the Ballerina and the Moor, choreographed by Fokine to Stravinsky’s score. Nureyev danced Petrushka throughout his career and all around the world.

Song of a Wayfarer by Maurice Béjart is one of the most beautiful ballets ever created for the male dancer, set to Mahler’s first song cycle. This work marked Nureyev’s move to the French contemporary repertoire in the early 1970s.

Raymonda Act III was choreographed by Marius Petipa, creator of The Sleeping Beauty. The celebratory final act contains some of his finest work to Glazunov’s magnificent score. Nureyev mounted this version in 1969, a memory of his formative years at the Mariinsky.

I'm very excited to be going tomorrow night and Saturday afternoon, and I'll post my thoughts afterwards.

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It was Nureyev who brought celebrity status to ballet in the US. He raised the technical standards, the emotional investment, and the level of dedication required of dancers. I understand that it was his refusal to go onstage in pantaloons in the Soviet Union that changed the costuming for men in ballet so that now we see their bodies from the waist down as well as from the waist up. When I watch videos of Nureyev on YouTube I find that his dancing is sloppy by today's standards, but no one did more to change the status of ballet dancers (including Balanchine dancers), engage the public, and enlarge the ballet audience in the US than Rudolf Nureyev.

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It was Nureyev who brought celebrity status to ballet in the US. He raised the technical standards, the emotional investment, and the level of dedication required of dancers. I understand that it was his refusal to go onstage in pantaloons in the Soviet Union that changed the costuming for men in ballet so that now we see their bodies from the waist down as well as from the waist up. When I watch videos of Nureyev on YouTube I find that his dancing is sloppy by today's standards, but no one did more to change the status of ballet dancers (including Balanchine dancers), engage the public, and enlarge the ballet audience in the US than Rudolf Nureyev.

Watching videos on You Tube is no substitute for watching a dancer in performance. I saw Nureyev dance live countless times and although he could be inconsistent he was never less than riveting; during his prime he could not be called sloppy. The man was a legend. Just his name elicited the biggest audience numbers so far at the Coliseum this year after worrying low numbers for almost all the other dance events there.

Incidentally

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I understand that it was his refusal to go onstage in pantaloons in the Soviet Union that changed the costuming for men in ballet so that now we see their bodies from the waist down as well as from the waist up.

The pantaloon issue was Vaslav Nijinsky at the start of the 20th Century.

"Nureyev infamously stalled a performance by refusing to go onstage in the baggy pants that were still the norm in Russia, though they had long been abandoned in the West. Tradition had dictated that men wear bloomers over their tights despite the fact the garment obscured the visibility of the legs, which can communicate story, intention, even emotion to an attentive audience".

http://www.artpractical.com/review/rudolf_nureyev_a_life_in_dance/

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I understand that it was his refusal to go onstage in pantaloons in the Soviet Union that changed the costuming for men in ballet so that now we see their bodies from the waist down as well as from the waist up.

The pantaloon issue was Vaslav Nijinsky at the start of the 20th Century.

"Nureyev infamously stalled a performance by refusing to go onstage in the baggy pants that were still the norm in Russia, though they had long been abandoned in the West. Tradition had dictated that men wear bloomers over their tights despite the fact the garment obscured the visibility of the legs, which can communicate story, intention, even emotion to an attentive audience".

http://www.artpractical.com/review/rudolf_nureyev_a_life_in_dance/

Following in the footsteps of Vaslav Nijinsky who left the Imperial (Mariinsky) Ballet in 1910 after refusing to wear the costume for Albrecht that had the expected pantaloons. (As detailed in chapter 8 of Romola Nijinsky's biography). Thanks for the clarification though.

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I understand that it was his refusal to go onstage in pantaloons in the Soviet Union that changed the costuming for men in ballet so that now we see their bodies from the waist down as well as from the waist up.

The pantaloon issue was Vaslav Nijinsky at the start of the 20th Century.

"Nureyev infamously stalled a performance by refusing to go onstage in the baggy pants that were still the norm in Russia, though they had long been abandoned in the West. Tradition had dictated that men wear bloomers over their tights despite the fact the garment obscured the visibility of the legs, which can communicate story, intention, even emotion to an attentive audience".

http://www.artpractical.com/review/rudolf_nureyev_a_life_in_dance/

Following in the footsteps of Vaslav Nijinsky who left the Imperial (Mariinsky) Ballet in 1910 after refusing to wear the costume for Albrecht that had the expected pantaloons. (As detailed in chapter 8 of Romola Nijinsky's biography). Thanks for the clarification though.

Karsavina clearly recalls Nijinsky's anecdote with Dolin in "A portrait of Giselle". Ninel Kurgapkina narrates Nureyev's similar story in "Nureyev: The Russian Years".

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