Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was born in 1938 in the Soviet Union. He was dubbed "Lord of the Dance" by many, and he was widely regarded as the greatest and most famous male ballet dancer of his period. He was both a choreographer and a contemporary dancer. He was a flamboyant performer and captivating star who restored male ballet roles to prominence and considerably expanded the ballet audience.

Nureyev began ballet lessons at the age of 11, dropped out at the age of 15, and supported himself by dancing. At the age of 17, he enrolled in Aleksandr Pushkin's Leningrad Ballet School. He was a brilliant but disobedient student, refusing to join the Komsomol (Communist youth group), breaking curfew, and learning English secretly. He was a popular guest artist in both large and small businesses around the world.

Rudolf Nureyev made significant contributions to the reconsideration of male ballet, going far beyond the "classical / modern" divisions by collaborating with contemporary choreographers. His impact on ballet is comparable to Callas' impact on opera: the way characters in opera behaved and sang was never the same again. Ballet dancers have been expected to put in a lot of effort in their jobs since Nureyev. He was one of the first notable male ballet dancers to take on leading parts in ballet, at a time when men were mostly used as backup dancers for leading ballerinas.

Born: 1938
Died: 1993
Nationality: Russian