Robert Greskovic to interview Julie Kavanagh at Lincoln Center

This Saturday, October 6, at 3PM, the New York Public Library will host the program, "Nureyev and Shakespeare: Julie Kavanagh in Conversation with Robert Greskovic." (Greskovic, of course, is the noted Wall Street Journal ballet critic who commented that Roger Urban's shots were "the most clear in-performance photographs of Nureyev I have seen to date.")

The NYPL says that the free event "will feature screened excerpts of Nureyev in ballets of works adapted from Shakespeare."

The event will be held at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498.

Roger Urban visits the NYPL ... and brings copies of Life Behind the Metaphor

Last week, Roger Urban made a trip from Boston to New York City to visit the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. With him, he brought several advance copies of Life Behind the Metaphor. Acme Bookbinding was kind enough to speedily and expertly hand-bind these copies (ahead of the main batch) just for this occasion.

The books were extremely well-received. Visiting supporters of the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection stopped by to view the copies—as well as a few large-format prints of the photographs of Nureyev in action—and oohed and aahed over them. Roger later reflected, "I realize that I don't have the words to explain to people just how good the quality of this book is. If they've never seen a book of this quality, they don't understand what I'm talking about—until they hold a copy in their hands."

Soon! Life Behind the Metaphor is set to be released on October 1. You can pre-order now at www.nureyevlegacy.com.

NYPL Given Treasure Trove of Ballet Photos and Artifacts

Photographer Roger Urban, who documented Rudolf Nureyev’s 1978 US tour with the Dutch National Ballet, donated the complete collection of his photographs, along with original set and costume sketches from the tour, to the Library’s Dance Division. These never-before-seen photographs, which will also be released to the public in a new book, Life Behind the Metaphor, include the only personally authorized in-performance images of Nureyev during a 15-year period.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Jerome Robbins Dance Division has acquired a collection of never-before-seen, in-performance and behind-the-scenes photographs of ballet great Rudolf Nureyev. “I first saw these photographs just weeks before my retirement as curator of the New York Public Library Dance Division and immediately knew I wanted them for our collection,” says Curator Emerita Madeleine Nichols. “You can imagine my excitement, as I felt the movement behind the pictures, and relived the moment of first seeing Nureyev dance.” The Dance Division will display, from the donated collection, a set of limited-edition, museum-size platinum prints at New York City’s Lincoln Center in the fall of 2007. And a new book containing select photographs, Life Behind the Metaphor, will be published in October.