Thanks to blogger Lula Bites for this YouTube clip of Nureyev's solo from Le Corsaire (taken from the Bridcut BBC/PBS documentary, I think):
We've now read through just about every newspaper review of PBS's "Nureyev: The Russian Years," and just about every base seems to have been covered. Personal reactions to add to the pile:
Nureyev is hypnotic. It sounds like a terrible cliché, but it's true. When you see him in the opening moments of the film, as the press asks questions and he says nothing, or when you listen to him speak, years later, about his early life, there's a mesmerizing quality that makes it difficult to look away.
It's fascinating to see how dramatically his technique improved. The early films do show some stunning feats—such as his machine-gun execution of pirouettes in "Le Corsaire"—but they also show the sometimes awkward lack of poise of a young dancer (or perhaps simply a young man). But the films of his post-defection work show no flaws. This level of polish made photographer Roger Urban's work in Life Behind the Metaphor much easier—every frame was guaranteed to be beautiful. As Richard Benson, Dean of the Yale University School of Art, says in his essay in the book: "...the dancer makes the movement so that when well done every part is right; in theory we could stop it anywhere and see perfection."
And finally, a link to a letter from a viewer of the documentary that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, reflecting upon Nureyev in action:
I find it hard to explain what Nureyev did that was so spellbinding. He certainly defied gravity in an explosive way, but perhaps the most striking memory I have is of him circling the stage as Romeo, below Fonteyn's Juliet, up on her balcony. The image of the way he carried himself - the animal grace and the weightedness of him (unlike many ballet dancers) - as he ran, with his cape flying behind him and his aquiline features barely picked out by the dim stage lighting - is seared on my brain. It is something so beautiful - so fleeting and mysterious - you wish you had words to describe it so others can understand what you mean ... but words fail miserably.
Another tidbit, thanks to the blog of NPT 8 in Nashville—a preview clip of the documentary:
We're finding out more and more about the documentary, "Nureyev: The Russian Years," every minute.
First, the documentary's producer, John Bridcut, stopped by our blog to clear up the confusion over the PBS/BBC versions of this project:
As the producer of the Nureyev documentary, I should make clear that the BBC, which commissioned the film in the first place, decided to use the title "NUREYEV: From Russia with Love". It will be screened on BBC2 on September 29th in the UK, and on the BBC HD channel. PBS is broadcasting a slightly shorter version of the film (six minutes is the difference), and elected to call it "NUREYEV: The Russian Years". Broadcasters often choose different titles, according to what they believe will resonate with their particular audiences.
Much of this early footage was shot by Teja Kremke, an East German ballet student who became Nureyev’s lover when they were both young. (Julie Kavanagh, whose exhaustive biography, "Nureyev: The Life," will be published by Pantheon next month, tracked it down, and served as consultant to Bridcut’s project.)
The earliest known film of Nureyev dancing was made at a student competition in Moscow in 1958. At 20, dressed only in white harem pants, a gold headband and regulation soft slippers, he tears off a solo from “Le Corsaire.” The leaps and spins come thick and fast, embellished with Arabian Nights flourishes that go well with his Tatar allure. Yet the most seductive moment of the dance comes between the circus tricks, with a little nothing of a step called pas balancé. A sweep of the leg here, an echoing sweep of the arm there, and repeat, to the other side — that was all, then straight into the next cyclone of a pirouette. But that throwaway transition was Nureyev’s invitation to join him in his private world of fantasy. Technically, the narrator of the Bridcut film points out, Nureyev’s performance at the competition was “far from perfect.” But already the imprint of his personality was unmistakable.
PBS's Great Performances series will detail the very beginning of Rudolf Nureyev's career in "Nureyev: The Russian Years," which begins airing on August 29. We first spotted news of it at the Arts and Dance blog of Laura Bleiberg at the Orange County Register. See more at the New Yorker's web site, which notes that
... in the old performance footage, some of it never released before, we can see the beginnings of his very individual style, notably the hyperstretched torso. (This was considered effeminate when he introduced it. Now it is standard.)
... The program also ... makes his defection as exciting as a police drama.
Rudolf Nureyev lied about his life so often, to so many people, that any responsible biographer or documentarian must virtually cross-examine every living source to separate his extravagant fictions from bottom-line certainties.No matter how one may feel about Nureyev the man, however, Segal does wrap up with writer-producer John Bridcut's observation about Nureyev's enduring ability to captivate and inspire people:
During his phone interview, Bridcut recalled that a lot of people working on "Nureyev: The Russian Years" approached him, "people who had no interest in ballet at all, like those who helped me edit the film and handled the sound, that sort of thing. And they said they were completely captivated by this man, particularly by that footage of him dancing in Moscow in 1958 [age 20], the first footage there is of him.
"They thought ballet meant nothing to them, and suddenly they were spellbound by him. And this is what all the people who saw him in the flesh still say. I found this really interesting -- that even now he remains a door into the world of ballet for people who are not otherwise drawn to it."
