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Nureyev: His Life
Everyone knows the name Rudolf Nureyev, but does anyone know the man behind the myth? Diane Solway does; she spent over four years and conducted more than 200 interviews with his family, his friends and lovers, his colleagues, and even his doctors to research His Life the first book to capture him as he was onstage and off, a great artist whose talent was matched only by his steely will to succeed.
From the moment Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 he was a star. His defection propelled him into the headlines; his talent and his inspiration kept him there. Not since Nijinsky had the image of the male dancer projected such animal magnetism, powerhouse sensuality and ardent romanticism. Born on the eve of World War II, Nureyev trained at the Bolshoi where his talent was swiftly identified. From his defection to the West at the height of the Cold War until his death 40 years later he lived his life on a sweeping and grand scale and always in front of an audience. He was one of the first pop icons of the sixties and he reached beyond the dance public to capture the imagination of the world at large.
Here is his professional his famed partnership with Margot Fonteyn, his personal transformation of the Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, his impact on dance companies all over the world, his collaborations with Martha Graham and Paul Taylor, and, behind all his accomplishments, the athletic grace and profound understanding that was his gift of genius. Here, too, is the private his Soviet childhood, his inner demons, the men and women who were willing to devote their lives to him.
Solway chronicles his flamboyant, extravagant lifestyle, his celebrity-studded circle of friends;Jacqueline Onassis, Andy Warhol, and Marlene Dietrich, to name only three, his stormy love affairs, his homosexual promiscuity, and his death from AIDS in 1993. Nureyev was his own masterpiece, a man always in the process of reinventing himself. Diane Solway's superb biography is as brilliant and as fascinating as the dazzling dancer at center stage.
She also drew from another rare book, Rudolf Three Years in the Kirov Theater. The result is a biography that objectively addresses the facts and fictions of an extraordinary life to create a vivid and balanced portrait.
From the moment Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 he was a star. His defection propelled him into the headlines; his talent and his inspiration kept him there. Not since Nijinsky had the image of the male dancer projected such animal magnetism, powerhouse sensuality and ardent romanticism. Born on the eve of World War II, Nureyev trained at the Bolshoi where his talent was swiftly identified. From his defection to the West at the height of the Cold War until his death 40 years later he lived his life on a sweeping and grand scale and always in front of an audience. He was one of the first pop icons of the sixties and he reached beyond the dance public to capture the imagination of the world at large.
Here is his professional his famed partnership with Margot Fonteyn, his personal transformation of the Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, his impact on dance companies all over the world, his collaborations with Martha Graham and Paul Taylor, and, behind all his accomplishments, the athletic grace and profound understanding that was his gift of genius. Here, too, is the private his Soviet childhood, his inner demons, the men and women who were willing to devote their lives to him.
Solway chronicles his flamboyant, extravagant lifestyle, his celebrity-studded circle of friends;Jacqueline Onassis, Andy Warhol, and Marlene Dietrich, to name only three, his stormy love affairs, his homosexual promiscuity, and his death from AIDS in 1993. Nureyev was his own masterpiece, a man always in the process of reinventing himself. Diane Solway's superb biography is as brilliant and as fascinating as the dazzling dancer at center stage.
She also drew from another rare book, Rudolf Three Years in the Kirov Theater. The result is a biography that objectively addresses the facts and fictions of an extraordinary life to create a vivid and balanced portrait.
544 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 1, 2020
Just a fantastic read for all time. My only regret is I never saw this Russian Tatar perform in person. The drive. The skill. The defection. The never quit attitude. And then to become a respected conductor near the end. Just fabulous. One of a kind and richly embroidered by the author who I sincerely hope writes other bios. She did such a nice job of presenting this great man. Wow
June 22, 2019
Solway gives the reader a complete and detailed biography of one of the greatest artists in the history of ballet, one in which Nureyev is truly brought to life through this intimate and fascinating portrait.
This is one of the best biographies I've ever read: deeply and thoroughly researched and beautifully written.
This is one of the best biographies I've ever read: deeply and thoroughly researched and beautifully written.
October 12, 2007
The book gives impression of reading a work of psychologist. From the beginning to the end of the book, Diana could perfectly describe Nureyev's complex personality: disadvantaged childhood in Russia and aspiration for exposing a new world, warm Tatar blood and rudeness, egoism and ambition, brilliant talent and hard work, subtle sensibility and perfectionism, amazing beauty and extreme sexuality, the factors which contributed him becoming a great dancer of the century. Metaphors she used are funny and sharp as well. Finally, book gives very good information about the history of ballet, the culture that formed the background of the ballet etc.
February 26, 2023
I did it! I finally finished it! It took me longer than any other book I've ever read, but it was worth the time it took. All biographies should be this well researched and sourced. As for the man, he was an interesting, talented, intense human who was beloved by many despite how cruel and demanding he could be.
I withheld one star because of the many minor mistakes, which is forgivable because of the sheer volume of information packed into the book.
I withheld one star because of the many minor mistakes, which is forgivable because of the sheer volume of information packed into the book.
November 25, 2013
Loved this book. I was inspired by Nureyev and is wish to be THE BEST. The fact that he loved what he did SO MUCH made him all the better. I took away a lot from this book. Here's just a bit of it:
NUREYEV: His Life by Diane Solway
“You are naked all the time in front of the audience.” –Rudolf Nureyev
“You can’t teach people passion. You can turn it ON, but you can’t teach it.”
-Rudolf Nureyev b. 3-17-1983 Irkutsk, Russia; d. 1-6-1993 (age 54), Levallois-Peret, FRANCE
“Never look back,” Nureyev liked to say, “that you, you fall downstairs.”
It was always music he counted on to provide solace in lonely moments.
“I looked upon music, from my earliest days, as a friend, a religion, a way to good fortune.” –Rudolf Nureyev
“I spent all of my leisure time either listening to the music endlessly poured out by our radio…or climbing up to my private observation point.”
Rudolf had learned early on that the BEST form of protection was to let no one come too close.
Rudolf had to rely primarily on his own wits and wiles to advance.
“Finally something came and clicked in my mind that nobody’s going to come and take me by hand and show me anything. I had to do it all myself.”
Rudolf associated MUSIC with EMOTION.
What he lacked in technical polish, he more than made up for with a thrilling authoritative performance that shattered the academic mold.
Rudolf had what Margot Fonteyn would come to call a “little boy lost” quality that made her want to help him.
All the articles and newspaper photographs should be glued to a sheet of paper. Otherwise they will get lost.
“Rudolf Nureyev’s dancing in not perfection but what he achieves on stage is more than ballet.” -1959, One of the Kirov Management to Gennady Smakov
Whenever Nureyev felt that strangers were looking at him, he immediately straightened his posture.
Rudolf replied, “Go to a restaurant and watch how the waiters run from table to table. There you will see great movement.”
“What did you learn today?” Rudolf would ask Tamara Zakrzhevskaya each time they met.
His most thrilling discoveries was J.D. Salinger’s THE CATCHER IN THE RYE which he devoured in one sitting.
Rudolf was simply continuing to do what he had always done: setting his own personal standards, regardless of the circumstances.
“I am sustained only by HOPE,” Rudolf had written, a play on the Russian saying, “A young man lives on HOPE alone.”
“Here in the West, I feel I’m going to ask for as much money as I can obtain,” Rudolf would tell a reporter, “because the amount of money one receives is what decides one’s worth.”
Ballerina Violette Verdy in the audience the night of Rudolf Nureyev’s debut recalls her first impression: “He had conceived the part of the prince as a man in search of an ideal, with the wonder of discovering it—and with that being mesmerized by what he was finding.”
Rudolf obsessed with Erik Bruhn after seeing a film clip of his dancing….”whether friend or enemy, I had to find out what makes him tick, and how it makes him tick, and learn the ticking.”
Symphony Divine by SCRIABIN….Rudolf played that piece sometimes three, five, ten times IN A ROW…
Erik Bruhn and Sonia Arova finally called off their five year engagement after Arova followed Bruhn to Ballet Theater in 1954 and discovered ‘a different Erik’. Arova said: “Erik felt we should stay together but I wasn’t sure that I would be able to cope with that kind of situation. He still felt very close to me, but I felt strange. I was too young to understand anything more. I didn’t want him to settle for anything that would be frustrating for him in the end. I didn’t see a clean future.”
Although no longer Bruhn’s fiancée, Arova remained one of his most enduring confidants.
Bruhn said, “I think every artist needs…an element of opposition to push you into achievement.”
Margot Fonteyn on her 1st meeting with Nureyev was not entirely won over: “I like him nine tenths.”
“If you’re going to get big fees,” he liked to say, “you have to dress the part.”
“Pop dancers, like pop singers, have got to have a gimmick or something special about them…Nureyev’s thing is that even when he is behaving in a withdrawn and gentlemanly way you feel that he may suddenly snarl and bit you in the neck…”
Rudolf had a skill of commanding attention simply by standing still.
“Maybe an artist doesn’t belong in any place. An artist dances for himself. He needs the audience to test his strength and power.” –Rudolf to NEWSWEEK journalist, Anne Scott-James during an interview.
Nureyev made you understand that you should never make anything easy for yourself. He believed it was your duty to show the audience how difficult something was.
--Dame Monica Mason DBE (born 6 September 1941) , a retired ballet dancer and was the artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London from 2002 to 2012
Nureyev changed the IMAGE of the male dancer.
“You crack very good whip,” Rudolf told Joan Thring. “I like you look after me.”
Rudolf admired beauty wherever he found it, but while he occasionally had liaisons with women, he rarely made much effort to bed the opposite sex. Not that much effort had been required, as his experiences with Xenis, Ninel Kurgapkina and Maria Tallchief had shown him.
Indeed, despite his appeal to both genders, the majority of his fans were female and ther was never any shortage of women wanting to sleep with him.
For a long time, Rudolf didn’t define himself as being homosexual. “He saw himself as a SEXUAL BEING” says Querube Arias, Margot Fonteyn’s step daughter. “There was a sexual element to all his relationships.”
Eventually he would turn exclusively to Men for sexual fulfillment. “With women, you have to work so hard and it’s not very satisfying for me, Rudolf told Violette Verdy years later. “With men, it’s very quick. Big pleasure.”
“Rudolf liked companionship but also treasured his solitude and was always afraid of anyone getting too close somehow.” --Lynn Symour
Was Rudolf Nureyev thinking of every getting married?
“No, no, I never want to be locked in a cage,” he told Don Short of the DAILY MIRROR (London) in late 1963. “To me ballet is too important. Everything else must be sacrifice for it. There must be no obstacles.”
“Rudolf has a great deal of knowledge, ability and imagination,” Fonteyn noted, “and if you have these things you can’t sit still.”
“I thrive on differences and on complication.” –Erik Bruhn told a reporter in the Spring of 1966
If Rudolf liked somebody, he took them as if he were choosing a piece of cake. “Come here, you. Talk to me. Can you join me later?”
For me, the joy was rehearsal—learning a style, putting the dance together. When it came time to perform, I would get bored. –Baryshnikov
ALL dancers wage a losing battle against time, gravity and younger rivals.
Making your body do what it naturally won’t (WAS) part of Rudolf’s definition of TECHNIQUE.
“I believe there is something in me that is still waiting to be found,” Rudolf said repeatedly.
“IF Covent Garden can’t provide you with work and incentive, you go and get it somewhere else,” Nureyev once remarked. “GET Off your ass…go, telephone, organize, provoke, make performances somewhere else.”
“And don’t forget. YOU must have discipline and routine in your life.”
--Rudolf Nureyev to Phyllis Wyeth, a DuPont heiress
The Paris star, Jean Guizerix, saw that Rudolf was “torn and scorched inside”.
Jean Guizerix: “It was difficult to find CALM in him. He was a very profound man, with a desire for things to happen the way he wanted them to. He was always digging deep in the earth to advance, as if he was continuously plowing the soil.”
“To best kill pain, you must think of something else.” –Rudolf advised a reporter.
Rudolf had grown reconciled to his solitude, he told a reporter. “A thing happens with age or experience, you learn to live with yourself. You can concentrate, you can read, you can do without this constant dialogue with the world outside.”
Rudolf once said to his protégé, Danish dancer Kenneth Greve, “I don’t want you to TRY, I want you to DO!”
Leonard Bernstein:
"The conductor must NOT only make his orchestra play, he must make them WANT to play. He must exalt them, lift them, start their adrenaline pouring, either through cajoling or demanding or raging. But however he does it, he must make the orchestra LOVE the music as he loves it. It is not so much imposing his will on them like a dictator; it is more like projecting his feelings around him so that they reach the last man in the second violin section. AND when this happens...there is human identity of feeling that has no equal elsewhere. It is the closest thing I know to LOVE itself."
NUREYEV: His Life by Diane Solway
“You are naked all the time in front of the audience.” –Rudolf Nureyev
“You can’t teach people passion. You can turn it ON, but you can’t teach it.”
-Rudolf Nureyev b. 3-17-1983 Irkutsk, Russia; d. 1-6-1993 (age 54), Levallois-Peret, FRANCE
“Never look back,” Nureyev liked to say, “that you, you fall downstairs.”
It was always music he counted on to provide solace in lonely moments.
“I looked upon music, from my earliest days, as a friend, a religion, a way to good fortune.” –Rudolf Nureyev
“I spent all of my leisure time either listening to the music endlessly poured out by our radio…or climbing up to my private observation point.”
Rudolf had learned early on that the BEST form of protection was to let no one come too close.
Rudolf had to rely primarily on his own wits and wiles to advance.
“Finally something came and clicked in my mind that nobody’s going to come and take me by hand and show me anything. I had to do it all myself.”
Rudolf associated MUSIC with EMOTION.
What he lacked in technical polish, he more than made up for with a thrilling authoritative performance that shattered the academic mold.
Rudolf had what Margot Fonteyn would come to call a “little boy lost” quality that made her want to help him.
All the articles and newspaper photographs should be glued to a sheet of paper. Otherwise they will get lost.
“Rudolf Nureyev’s dancing in not perfection but what he achieves on stage is more than ballet.” -1959, One of the Kirov Management to Gennady Smakov
Whenever Nureyev felt that strangers were looking at him, he immediately straightened his posture.
Rudolf replied, “Go to a restaurant and watch how the waiters run from table to table. There you will see great movement.”
“What did you learn today?” Rudolf would ask Tamara Zakrzhevskaya each time they met.
His most thrilling discoveries was J.D. Salinger’s THE CATCHER IN THE RYE which he devoured in one sitting.
Rudolf was simply continuing to do what he had always done: setting his own personal standards, regardless of the circumstances.
“I am sustained only by HOPE,” Rudolf had written, a play on the Russian saying, “A young man lives on HOPE alone.”
“Here in the West, I feel I’m going to ask for as much money as I can obtain,” Rudolf would tell a reporter, “because the amount of money one receives is what decides one’s worth.”
Ballerina Violette Verdy in the audience the night of Rudolf Nureyev’s debut recalls her first impression: “He had conceived the part of the prince as a man in search of an ideal, with the wonder of discovering it—and with that being mesmerized by what he was finding.”
Rudolf obsessed with Erik Bruhn after seeing a film clip of his dancing….”whether friend or enemy, I had to find out what makes him tick, and how it makes him tick, and learn the ticking.”
Symphony Divine by SCRIABIN….Rudolf played that piece sometimes three, five, ten times IN A ROW…
Erik Bruhn and Sonia Arova finally called off their five year engagement after Arova followed Bruhn to Ballet Theater in 1954 and discovered ‘a different Erik’. Arova said: “Erik felt we should stay together but I wasn’t sure that I would be able to cope with that kind of situation. He still felt very close to me, but I felt strange. I was too young to understand anything more. I didn’t want him to settle for anything that would be frustrating for him in the end. I didn’t see a clean future.”
Although no longer Bruhn’s fiancée, Arova remained one of his most enduring confidants.
Bruhn said, “I think every artist needs…an element of opposition to push you into achievement.”
Margot Fonteyn on her 1st meeting with Nureyev was not entirely won over: “I like him nine tenths.”
“If you’re going to get big fees,” he liked to say, “you have to dress the part.”
“Pop dancers, like pop singers, have got to have a gimmick or something special about them…Nureyev’s thing is that even when he is behaving in a withdrawn and gentlemanly way you feel that he may suddenly snarl and bit you in the neck…”
Rudolf had a skill of commanding attention simply by standing still.
“Maybe an artist doesn’t belong in any place. An artist dances for himself. He needs the audience to test his strength and power.” –Rudolf to NEWSWEEK journalist, Anne Scott-James during an interview.
Nureyev made you understand that you should never make anything easy for yourself. He believed it was your duty to show the audience how difficult something was.
--Dame Monica Mason DBE (born 6 September 1941) , a retired ballet dancer and was the artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London from 2002 to 2012
Nureyev changed the IMAGE of the male dancer.
“You crack very good whip,” Rudolf told Joan Thring. “I like you look after me.”
Rudolf admired beauty wherever he found it, but while he occasionally had liaisons with women, he rarely made much effort to bed the opposite sex. Not that much effort had been required, as his experiences with Xenis, Ninel Kurgapkina and Maria Tallchief had shown him.
Indeed, despite his appeal to both genders, the majority of his fans were female and ther was never any shortage of women wanting to sleep with him.
For a long time, Rudolf didn’t define himself as being homosexual. “He saw himself as a SEXUAL BEING” says Querube Arias, Margot Fonteyn’s step daughter. “There was a sexual element to all his relationships.”
Eventually he would turn exclusively to Men for sexual fulfillment. “With women, you have to work so hard and it’s not very satisfying for me, Rudolf told Violette Verdy years later. “With men, it’s very quick. Big pleasure.”
“Rudolf liked companionship but also treasured his solitude and was always afraid of anyone getting too close somehow.” --Lynn Symour
Was Rudolf Nureyev thinking of every getting married?
“No, no, I never want to be locked in a cage,” he told Don Short of the DAILY MIRROR (London) in late 1963. “To me ballet is too important. Everything else must be sacrifice for it. There must be no obstacles.”
“Rudolf has a great deal of knowledge, ability and imagination,” Fonteyn noted, “and if you have these things you can’t sit still.”
“I thrive on differences and on complication.” –Erik Bruhn told a reporter in the Spring of 1966
If Rudolf liked somebody, he took them as if he were choosing a piece of cake. “Come here, you. Talk to me. Can you join me later?”
For me, the joy was rehearsal—learning a style, putting the dance together. When it came time to perform, I would get bored. –Baryshnikov
ALL dancers wage a losing battle against time, gravity and younger rivals.
Making your body do what it naturally won’t (WAS) part of Rudolf’s definition of TECHNIQUE.
“I believe there is something in me that is still waiting to be found,” Rudolf said repeatedly.
“IF Covent Garden can’t provide you with work and incentive, you go and get it somewhere else,” Nureyev once remarked. “GET Off your ass…go, telephone, organize, provoke, make performances somewhere else.”
“And don’t forget. YOU must have discipline and routine in your life.”
--Rudolf Nureyev to Phyllis Wyeth, a DuPont heiress
The Paris star, Jean Guizerix, saw that Rudolf was “torn and scorched inside”.
Jean Guizerix: “It was difficult to find CALM in him. He was a very profound man, with a desire for things to happen the way he wanted them to. He was always digging deep in the earth to advance, as if he was continuously plowing the soil.”
“To best kill pain, you must think of something else.” –Rudolf advised a reporter.
Rudolf had grown reconciled to his solitude, he told a reporter. “A thing happens with age or experience, you learn to live with yourself. You can concentrate, you can read, you can do without this constant dialogue with the world outside.”
Rudolf once said to his protégé, Danish dancer Kenneth Greve, “I don’t want you to TRY, I want you to DO!”
Leonard Bernstein:
"The conductor must NOT only make his orchestra play, he must make them WANT to play. He must exalt them, lift them, start their adrenaline pouring, either through cajoling or demanding or raging. But however he does it, he must make the orchestra LOVE the music as he loves it. It is not so much imposing his will on them like a dictator; it is more like projecting his feelings around him so that they reach the last man in the second violin section. AND when this happens...there is human identity of feeling that has no equal elsewhere. It is the closest thing I know to LOVE itself."
April 4, 2024
I came to this book not as a ballet fan but as a challenge to myself. I started the book with some trepidation and occasionally wondered where some of the more difficult passages were going, but I grew to understand the book and eventually found it had become a solid companion, and I was sad to find it ending.
You get A LOT of biography for your buck with this book E.g. there is a great deal of history on Dame Margot Fonteyn and other dance icons.
Read it if you can.
You get A LOT of biography for your buck with this book E.g. there is a great deal of history on Dame Margot Fonteyn and other dance icons.
Read it if you can.
December 1, 2019
Rudolf Nureyev was a fascinating individual. Personality wise, he was the Elon Musk and Freddy Mercury of the ballet world. No conquest was out of his reach to conquer. Diane Solway beautiful interweaves his story into a well balanced account of his life. It's a heavy read and a wonderful biography.
July 21, 2024
Extremely dry.. and the writing style is boring....this novel reads like a text book ...full of facts but no panache...
If you want to read a great biography then read this one
Nureyev: The Life
Julie Kavanagh
If you want to read a great biography then read this one
Nureyev: The Life
Julie Kavanagh
July 22, 2019
Very well documented.
February 19, 2024
An extraordinarily detailed biography that celebrates an amazing dancer who was portrayed as having the "untouchable arrogance of the gods".
September 21, 2024
Interesting but the level of detail made it very slow going. Also I found it hard to keep track of the chronology.
October 27, 2012
One of the greatest dancers and most remarkable individual’s life, retold in this extensive biography.
This has to be one of my favorite biographies of a dancer’s life, as it is such a fascinating and compelling read. I can grantee that you will be hard pressed to find anything more insightful on Rudolf Nureyev’s life, nor as astonishing and most importantly honest. The life of this distinctive individual is one of the most dramatic, memorable stories of our age. Diane Solway delves into the past by providing startling details about the Cold War showdown in 1961, as Nureyev grabbed the attentions of headlines worldwide. Having secured precious documents from the soviet government and also eyewitness accounts; the author is able to give you an insight like never before that reveals all. From Nureyev’s struggle and astounding climb out of poverty in the war-torn soviet union, he works his way up the ladder to become one of the century’s most popular, recognizable and influential artists. Personal accounts from members of the Royal Ballet are included as well as particulars on his professional and personal relationship with one of Royal Ballet’s greatest figures Dame Margot Fonteyn. Cleverly combining together personal accounts and interviews with his dance colleagues, family and friends and lovers this book looks at the man from the inside out. Diana Solway leaves nothing to the imagination as no stone is not turned, for every aspect of Rudolf Nureyev’s life is covered both personally and in his professional dancing career. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest classical ballet dancers who ever graced the large stage at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; hence his name will live on forever in the history books.
The extraordinary life of this man is one that should be told with depth, going into meticulous detail as to be a worthy tribute to the man himself. Richly detailed and sympathetic I would urge and dance fans to read this insightful biography, as you will find it thrilling and a riveting read. It is the most candid and dependable account I have found, that like its subject is quite impossible to upstage. The book is adorned with the most wonderful photographs of Nureyev himself, dancing both on and offstage and alongside Margot in various modern and classical ballets (i.e. Romeo and Juliet being the most celebrated), and his closest friends in the dance world. His story is both romantic, controversial and a tragedy with plenty of ups and downs as to keep you gripped to the page throughout. I cannot fault this brilliant book for being a delightful and intensely enthralling, attention-grabbing read.
This has to be one of my favorite biographies of a dancer’s life, as it is such a fascinating and compelling read. I can grantee that you will be hard pressed to find anything more insightful on Rudolf Nureyev’s life, nor as astonishing and most importantly honest. The life of this distinctive individual is one of the most dramatic, memorable stories of our age. Diane Solway delves into the past by providing startling details about the Cold War showdown in 1961, as Nureyev grabbed the attentions of headlines worldwide. Having secured precious documents from the soviet government and also eyewitness accounts; the author is able to give you an insight like never before that reveals all. From Nureyev’s struggle and astounding climb out of poverty in the war-torn soviet union, he works his way up the ladder to become one of the century’s most popular, recognizable and influential artists. Personal accounts from members of the Royal Ballet are included as well as particulars on his professional and personal relationship with one of Royal Ballet’s greatest figures Dame Margot Fonteyn. Cleverly combining together personal accounts and interviews with his dance colleagues, family and friends and lovers this book looks at the man from the inside out. Diana Solway leaves nothing to the imagination as no stone is not turned, for every aspect of Rudolf Nureyev’s life is covered both personally and in his professional dancing career. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest classical ballet dancers who ever graced the large stage at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden; hence his name will live on forever in the history books.
The extraordinary life of this man is one that should be told with depth, going into meticulous detail as to be a worthy tribute to the man himself. Richly detailed and sympathetic I would urge and dance fans to read this insightful biography, as you will find it thrilling and a riveting read. It is the most candid and dependable account I have found, that like its subject is quite impossible to upstage. The book is adorned with the most wonderful photographs of Nureyev himself, dancing both on and offstage and alongside Margot in various modern and classical ballets (i.e. Romeo and Juliet being the most celebrated), and his closest friends in the dance world. His story is both romantic, controversial and a tragedy with plenty of ups and downs as to keep you gripped to the page throughout. I cannot fault this brilliant book for being a delightful and intensely enthralling, attention-grabbing read.
July 10, 2011
Oh, God, I am obsessed with him. So - why 3 stars and not 5? Solway's research is prodigious, but she has no writing flair. Dry style. And for Nureyev, of all people, I wanted it to soar. Still, I'm glad to have read all of the information. He could be a holy terror with people, but he could also be very generous and a good friend. And he was never dull! And, above all, he was an artistic genius. No one can compare in ballet for me. And I know that he danced far too long, when he no longer had the agility (not to mention the fact that he was seriously ill with AIDS, most likely for 10 years or more). But he just couldn't stop dancing until he quite literally had to. He was born to dance, and I truly believe that in his heart of hearts, he knew that he was unique, one in a million. And beyond his dancing, he choreographed, created ballets, rejuvenated many ballets and companies, taught and mentored, and even conducted during his very last years. Talk about not going gently into that good night. It's surely not comfortable to read about his promiscuous and careless sex life, but we know now that he wasn't alone in that, in the pre-AIDS- knowledge gay world. His last days were heartbreaking to read about. The details that I was relieved to see were not part of the novel DANCER are here, and they must be. I will never, ever forget each performance that I saw him in, beginning in 1974. I have never seen anyone who could leap like him, stay in the air as long, spin - and he was already in his mid-30s when I first saw him. I counted 47 curtain calls once. He had to defect. Imagine if he hadn't made that (sudden - it was not planned before hand) move at the airport in Paris in 1961. The Soviets would never have let him travel to the West again under their regime, and a brilliant talent would have been stymied. It was terribly painful for him, especially leaving his mother. But the Soviets treated him like crap - then and afterwards. And some in his own family (not his mother, whom he did finally get to see once just before she died, when things had thawed), whether out of jealousy or anger - who can say? - were less than ideal. I think he did all he could for them, and he provided for them generously in his will. Yet some of them sued for more. It was ever thus.
February 26, 2016
I know absolutely nothing about ballet, but have long admired the performances and grace of ballerinas and the stamina that is needed to perform. Who could have failed to hear about the legendry dancing of Rudolf Nureyev and Margo Fonteyn, even if you have never seen them dance together? When I saw this book I thought it would make an interesting read and was not wrong. The author has obviously done a lot of research and takes us from Rudolf’s childhood, through the dramatic story of his defection to the West. People who were born in the 80’s onwards in the era of Glasnost will not realise the importance of this act or how life was behind the Iron curtain, to his death from aids in the 90’s. He certainly wouldn’t win any charm competitions with his petulant behaviour and luckily he was a genius and for that reason got away with it! He certainly did not come over as a likeable character, but his work ethics and the constant need to dance was amazing. He was obsessed with dancing and even at the age other ballet dancers would have retired long ago was still performing. I found it amazing that he decided as his illness progressed that he would re-train as a an orchestral conductor , something that takes years to train but applied himself as single minded to learning this art as he had done to his ballet skills and ended up conducting professionally. The author also throws in a lot of famous names (many of whom I had no idea who they were!) as Rudolf obviously moved in famous circles. Given that in the early 80’s a new disease (AIDS)started to emerge that seemed at the time to be effecting homosexuals , it only seemed a matter of time before Rudolf would become a victim , someone who had many casual relationships and a high sexual appetite. This book was quite a dry read and took me some time to get through it plus there are a lot of footnotes but I found it worth it for all the information gained.
January 24, 2008
I've been reading this book for well over a year. I've checked it out like 40 times from the Berkeley Public Library. I'm on page 656 out of 1200 or something. I just can't get through it!
Just like Great Expectations, in epics like these, I really only like the stuff about early childhood and late life and death. All the name dropping and overly sympathetic biography in between is annoying. I really zone out when the 106th multi-syllabic Russian name is mentioned with no prior context.
I wanna get to the sex, the trysts, the scandals, the AIDS, the shopping!
This is supposed to be the definitive biography of Nureyev, but I feel like it's more an unabridged reference for those who want to write their own biographies of him. Too much! There need to be at least 4 glossy photo sections in this biography, I feel.
Cuz that's what I used to do at the San Leandro Public Library at the age of 13 -- go through all the biographies and just flip through the 2 glossy photo sections per book. I really like the Dolly Parton autobiography for that.
Just like Great Expectations, in epics like these, I really only like the stuff about early childhood and late life and death. All the name dropping and overly sympathetic biography in between is annoying. I really zone out when the 106th multi-syllabic Russian name is mentioned with no prior context.
I wanna get to the sex, the trysts, the scandals, the AIDS, the shopping!
This is supposed to be the definitive biography of Nureyev, but I feel like it's more an unabridged reference for those who want to write their own biographies of him. Too much! There need to be at least 4 glossy photo sections in this biography, I feel.
Cuz that's what I used to do at the San Leandro Public Library at the age of 13 -- go through all the biographies and just flip through the 2 glossy photo sections per book. I really like the Dolly Parton autobiography for that.
Read
May 17, 2009This was a very well-received gift, many Christmases ago, and I devoured it. Always a fan of the dancer, it gave me much to respect about the man, as well. Nureyev was such an icon, that I wasn't sure I'd enjoy reading about the reality of him, as opposed to just appreciating the single dimension, but this book was a good read, a surprisingly good one. The style was the perfect blend of biography and fairy tale in tone, (though it was well-researched and is reportedly, quite accurate) and it kept me both interested and amused. There was a gentle touch here, a sense of playfulness that suited the subject, and reminded me of his dancing, to be honest. A terrific read for his fans, extremely well done.
February 18, 2013
I love this book. He's fascinating, she researched it well, and I blew through it. . . right up to the part where he's dying from AIDS and keeps dancing because it gives him a reason to live, even though he probably shouldn't be performing in front of people anymore. I put the book down at that point, telling myself I'd pick it back up again, but I couldn't. Too sad. It's a great biography, very honest.
March 1, 2022
02/07/22 finally picking this back up, after almost 2 years! And we're still in the middle of stupid COVID. I got about 1/3 of the way thru it before, hoping I can finish it this month!
03/23/20 Marking this as finished on the last day I read it while at work before COVID19. I haven't been able to get back to it since I've been working from home, finding it hard to concentrate on reading, especially something heavier like this. I will finish it eventually though.
03/23/20 Marking this as finished on the last day I read it while at work before COVID19. I haven't been able to get back to it since I've been working from home, finding it hard to concentrate on reading, especially something heavier like this. I will finish it eventually though.
December 12, 2007
I have never read before such a detailed biography book! Especially this book is interesting for an American reader because it tells (in big part) about a life "behind the iron curtain", in the Soviet Union. And what is important - tells truthfully! Author - Diane Solway - found many covered facts, known only to interior habitants, Soviet citizens. I highly recommend this book!
November 20, 2007
One-word summary: LONG. It is just stuffed with many, many facts. And many, many irritating footnotes. There was no attempt to provide any meaningful analysis of either his life or his dancing. Nureyev comes across as rather repellent.
November 23, 2009
Exhaustively detailed, it's nonetheless an enthralling study of a legendary artist. Not sure if the portrait painted of the subject by this biographer is very accurate/well-balanced (it's not very flattering either), but the effort put into the book is evident.
June 19, 2016
A very detailed biography of one of the greatest ballet dancers. After reading this book I looked on Youtube for videos of him. I am so sorry to have never had the privilege of seeing him dance in person.
May 11, 2007
Hey- Dame Sonia is pictured in this book, and there are some really interesting anecdotes about her, too~!
It's not a great read- but an interesting scim!
It's not a great read- but an interesting scim!
August 16, 2012
Long and perhaps a little in need of editing, but nonetheless an absorbing and fascinating insight into the life and death of a unique artist.
August 20, 2012
What an amazing man. The world lost much with his death.
November 9, 2012
Everything you wanted to know about the King of Ballet. Excellent, detailed.
August 24, 2014
Great subject. Fascinating life story. The writing is not the best.
December 27, 2015
A good read, and very interesting to learn abut Nureyev's life. It is a long biography and the detail it goes into might be a bit too much for some, but overall well written
September 21, 2007
I love this book because I love ballet. It's like ballet is another planet looking down on earth.
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