NAME: Nureyev, Rudolf

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
17 March 1938, Siberia

DEATH DATE/LOCATION:
6 January 1993, Hôpital Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours, Levallois (a suburb of Paris), age 54

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©Louis Peres, courtesy Rudolph Nureyev Foundation

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  • identification & bio
  • key contact
  • human repositories
  • video documentation
  • photographic documentation
    		•
  • movement notation
  • production materials
  • oral history
  • personal papers
  • immediate needs
    		•
  • other relevant information
  • overview of works
  • bibliography
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    IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
    A ballet dancer steeped in the Kirov or, as it was known in the pre- and post-Soviet days, Maryinsky tradition, Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 in a daring flight for freedom at Le Bourget airport. In a long partnership with Margot Fonteyn of England's Royal Ballet, he solidified his reputation as a seething and charismatic performer, constantly in search of new challenges. From 1983 to 1989, he served as artistic director and choreographer for the Paris Opera Ballet. He restaged and choreographed such classic ballets as La Bayadere for the Paris company. Meanwhile his New York presence was strong as the Paris Opera Ballet toured the United States, and as Nureyev himself continued to perform with companies ranging from the Joffrey Ballet to the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Nureyev maintained homes in Paris, New York City and St. Bart's in the Caribbean. He has been included in "America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100." Nureyev died of AIDS-related causes.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Nureyev left his assets to two foundations, one in the U.S., the other in Lichtenstein. The Chicago-based Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation has declined to have its contact information posted in this entry.

    Sir John Tooley, Chairman
    The Rudolf Nureyev Foundation
    U.K. Correspondence Office
    The Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel
    The Vineyards
    Bath
    BA 1 5NA
    United Kingdom
    44-1225-338307 (phone)
    44-1225-484718 (fax)
    admin@nureyevfoundation.com

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    The various dance companies for whom Nureyev has created works

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    In October 1999, the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation donated an extremely large collection of films and audiotapes to the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library. At last check, there were more than 2,000 entries on Nureyev in the Dance Collection.

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    None identified.

    MOVEMENT NOTATION
    (location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
    None identified.

    PRODUCTION MATERIALS
    (scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
    None identified.

    ORAL HISTORY:
    None identified.

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    None identified.

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    None identified.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    None identified.

    LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
    This list is adapted from Brown (see below):

    Original choreography:

    Tancredi (1966)—for Vienna State Opera Ballet; music by Hans Werner Henze.

    Romeo and Juliet (1977)—for London Festival Ballet, restaged in 1980 at La Scala, Milan, and in 1984 at Paris Opera Ballet; music by Prokofiev.

    Manfred (1979)—for Paris Opera Ballet, restaged in 1981 for Zurich Ballet; music by Tchaikovsky.

    The Tempest (1982)—for Royal Ballet, London, restaged in 1984 for Paris Opera Ballet; music by Tchaikovsky.

    Bach Suite (with Lancelot) (1984)—for Paris Opera Ballet; music by J.S. Bach.

    Washington Square (1985)—for Paris Opera Ballet; music by Charles Ives.

    Cendrillon (1986)—for Paris Opera Ballet; music by Prokofiev.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Anderson, Jack. 1993. "Rudolf Nureyev, Charismatic Dancer Who Gave Fire to Ballet's Image, Dies at 54." New York Times (7 January).
    • Brown, Howard, ed. 1993. Nureyev. London: Phaidon.
    • Levy, Dan. 1993. "Nureyev's Silence About AIDS Debated." San Francisco Chronicle (13 January).
    • Nureyev, Rudolf. 1962. Nureyev: An Autobiography. London: London, Hodder & Stoughton.
    • Rockwell, John. 1993. "Nureyev Did Have AIDS, His Doctor Confirms." New York Times (16 January).
    • Solway, Diane. 1998. Nureyev, His Life. New York: William Morrow.
    • Stuart, Otis. 1995. Perpetual Motion: The Private and Public Lives of Rudolf Nureyev. New York: Simon and Schuster.
         		 
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