Rudolf Nureyev

In this authorized biography using many never-before-seen papers and letters and unprecedented interviews with dancers, family, friends and lovers, Julie Kavanagh tells how the little boy who was born on a train in Siberia at the beginning of World War II grew up to become the greatest male ballet star ever. It is the extraordinary story of how he scrabbled his way to the top of the Kirov ballet in record time,how he defected from the USSR; it details his long affair with his hero...
More Description

In this authorized biography using many never-before-seen papers and letters and unprecedented interviews with dancers, family, friends and lovers, Julie Kavanagh tells how the little boy who was born on a train in Siberia at the beginning of World War II grew up to become the greatest male ballet star ever. It is the extraordinary story of how he scrabbled his way to the top of the Kirov ballet in record time,how he defected from the USSR; it details his long affair with his hero (the other great ballet star of the times Erik Bruhn) and his rejection by his other hero the great choreographer Balanchine (the ballet director he most longed to work with). It tells of his partnership with Margot Fonteyn, his numerous ballet productions, his own choreography, his leadership of the Paris ballet and mentoring of younger dancers like Sylvie Guillem, as well as his illness and death at a cruelly young age from AIDS.

This is a brilliant portrait of a wildly attractive monster whose genius was never in question.