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SHORT BIOGRAPHY |
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1938
March 17. Birth of Rudolf, fourth child and
only son of Hamet and Farida Nureyev, aboard
the Trans-Siberian express, near Lake Baikal. He
spends his childhood and youth in Ufa, capital of
the Soviet Republic of Bashkir. His parents are Tartar Muslims.
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1955
August 24. Rudolf Nureyev takes the
entrance exam for the prestigious Vaganova
Academy (Kirov Ballet school) in Leningrad. He
works with Alexander Pushkin, his chosen
teacher.
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1958
For the school’s graduation concert,
Rudolf Nureyev dances the pas de deux from
Le Corsaire with Alla Sizova. He joins the Kirov
(ex-Marinsky Theatre) Ballet in Leningrad, the
most important dance company in the USSR,
as soloist.
October 28. Debut at the Kirov in the pas de trois
in Swan Lake.
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1961
Kirov Ballet tour, Paris. Rudolf Nureyev’s
success is stunning from his very first
appearance on stage at the Palais Garnier on
May 19, in Act III (Kingdom of the Shades) from
La Bayadère.
June 16.Rudolf Nureyev “chooses liberty” and
demands political asylum at Le Bourget airport
instead of boarding an airplane to take him back
to the USSR. He joins the Ballets du Marquis de
Cuevas the next day. Decisive encounter with
Erik Bruhn, principal dancer with the Royal
Danish Ballet.
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1962
Departs for Copenhagen to study the
Bournonville style with Erik Bruhn.
February 21.First performance of Giselle with
Margot Fonteyn and the Royal Ballet at Covent
Garden. Rudolf Nureyev becomes guest artist
with this company and continues as such until
1977.
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1963
March 12.Premiere of Marguerite and
Armand, choreography by Frederick Ashton for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. It becomes
their fetish ballet.
November 27.Rudolf Nureyev remounts a choreography
by Marius Petipa for the first time,
Act III (Kingdom of the Shades) from La Bayadère
for the Royal Ballet. His career quickly becomes
international. He dances as a guest star with all
the major ballet companies in Europe, the United
States and Australia. He dances the princes of
the repertoire as well as creations by Frederick
Ashton, Rudi Van Dantzig, Roland Petit, Maurice
Béjart, George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Martha
Graham and Murray Louis. His insatiable
curiosity leads him to try all dance styles. He also
remounts the great 19th century Russian ballets
by Marius Petipa, a choreographer he reveres:
Sleeping Beauty,The Nutcracker, Don Quixote,
Swan Lake, Raymonda. He choreographs
Tancredi and Manfred. |
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1983
Rudolf Nureyev becomes
dance director at the Paris Opera Ballet, a position
he holds until 1989. He brings new life to
the company, invites numerous modern
choreographers and teachers, choreographs
Cinderella and Washington Square....
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1989
Finally obtains long-waited approval from
the Soviet authorities to return to Russia and
dances La Sylphide at the Kirov Theatre in
Leningrad, where he had not returned since
1961.
He can visit his mother and family.
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1990
He dances in the musical comedy
The King and I in the United States.
He performs "Song of a wayfairer" for the last time at the Paris Opera
Devoted himself to orchestral conducting.
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1992
October 8. First performance of
La Bayadère, remounted by Nureyev based on
choreography by Marius Petipa, at the Palais
Garnier.
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1993
January 6. Death of Rudolf Nureyev at the
age of 54, at the Hôpital du Perpétual Secours in Levallois-Perret.
Rudolf Nureyev was buried at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris. |
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