Born On This Day- March 17th... The Legendary Rudolf Hametovich Nureyev

My good friend, & former BF from college days- WCK3 is a dancer, & because of him, I know more about dance than most civilians, but at one point, everyone in the world knew about Rudolf Nureyev.

He was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century & the first male superstar of modern ballet, a complex, absorbing figure whose life involved early gay politics & the Cold War. He was one of the very first men that I saw, who I identified as gay from the outset. The greatest dancer of his time, Nureyev thrilled millions of people with his artistry. He also gave the world a new & glamorous image of a sexually active gay man.


Nureyev was born on a train in somewhere in eastern Siberia in March 1938. Despite his father's objections, he began dancing as a child, & as a teen attended the prestigious Leningrad Ballet School. he was an excellent dancer,but a rebellious student &  he refused to join the Communist youth league. After graduation, he became a principal dancer with the Kirov Ballet.


During the Kirov's tour in Paris in 1961, Nureyev eluded his bodyguards & defected to the west. His celebrated "leap to freedom" allowed him to openly pursue sexual relations with men for the first time. Nureyev went to Copenhagen to work with & perform with Danish Royal Ballet star Erik Bruhn, 10 years his senior. Nureyev said he was "the only dancer who has anything to show me I don't already know." They fell in love, but their relationship was turbulent from the start. Bruhn: “Really, just pure Strindberg."

Although Nureyev also had long-term relationships with director Wallace Potts & dancer Robert Tracy, he was renowned for his many sexual conquests, often frequented gay bars & bathhouses. He once slipped out during the intermission of a performance & was detained by police for having sex in a public lavatory, enraging his famous costar- Dame Margot Fonteyn.

Photo by Avedon

Enfant terrible, monstre sacré, & dieu de la danse, he was also an incomparable dancer, choreographer, & ballet director Rudolf Nureyev. Despite his reputation, Nureyev was a driven artist, performing with international dance companies into his 50s & directing the Paris Opera Ballet until his death from AIDS in 1993.