The Year with Rudolf Nureyev

by Simon Robinson

This is an intimate and fascinating portrait of Rudolf Nureyev off-stage - a man who was an exacting, un predictable, parsimonious and often immature individual, yet who, at the same time, aroused great affection in a host of friends. '

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 23, 2013

About the author

With three decades of experience in customer experience design, Simon is an internet pioneer and award-winning innovator, having co-founded British Telecom’s Genie Internet, the world’s first mobile internet portal, and contributing to the design and launch of the world’s first smart phones. He is the CEO (Worldwide) of Holonomics, co-founder of the Deep Tech Network, a Harvard Business Review author, and coauthor of Deep Tech and the Amplified Organisation, Customer Experiences with Soul: A New Era in Design and Holonomics: Business Where People and Planet Matter. Simon is respected globally for his contributions to customer experience strategy and Deep Tech, having created numerous design methods and frameworks such as the New 4Ps and the Holonomic Circle.

Reviews

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and highly readable memoir by Simon Robinson, who swapped boats for ballet in 1990 and became Nureyev’s personal assistant and minder at almost the end of the dancer’s life (he died in January, 1993).

Anyone who has seen the recent film ‘White Crow,’ about Nureyev’s early life leading up to his defection in Paris in 1961, will recognise that here was an individual driven by ego and a ceaseless quest for perfection - as ferocious, demanding and attention-seeking onstage as he was to all those around him - and Robinson bears the full brunt of it. His book is a perfect accompaniment to the film and is told with surprising candour, warmth and humour. Despite being constantly driven to distraction by Nureyev’s antics, his portrayal of the dancer’s self-discipline, eccentricity and vulnerability is both moving and, at times, harrowing. Here was a man who was so ill that he could barely get out of bed in the morning, yet who not only still insisted on still performing regularly but was also in the process of undertaking a new career as a conductor when he had barely a year left to live.

Despite the long-suffering author’s often unflattering view of a highly flawed individual, ‘A Year with Rudolf Nureyev’ provides the interested reader with a unique tale of not just one, but two remarkable people.

[Karen Egerton-Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genius with a price

An interesting and insightful look at the enigma that was Nureyev. A microcosm in a year that speaks volumes about the man and his insatiable drive. A very good read.