Rudolf Nureyev

He was a Soviet national by birth and later became a naturalized Austrian citizen in 1982.

Rudolf Nureyev was known to be a bisexual. He had multiple romantic relationships with men and women. His first affair was with his teacher’s wife Xenia Pushkin when he was twenty. His second romantic interest was a student named Teja Kremke.

He met Danish danseur Erik Bruhn and subsequently they developed a romantic relationship. They maintained an on and off relationship for about 25 years until the death of Erik Bruhn in 1986.

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was born on 17 March 1938 near Irkutsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to Red Army Political Commissar Hamit and his wife Feride.

As a child, he went along with his mother and sister to watch a ballet performance of ‘Song of the Cranes’. His interest in dance grew since then. He began training in Bashkir folk and due to the disturbances caused by the World War II, he was unable to enroll in a renowned school until he turned 17.

In 1955 he joined the Vaganova Academy, an associate school of the Kirov Ballet. There he was taught under ballet master Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin and graduated from school in 1958.

Upon completing graduation, he accepted a contract as a soloist with the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg. His debut performance at Kirov was in the Pas de trios Swan Lake.

Within first three years, he managed to perform in fifteen roles mostly partnered with prima ballerina of the company Ninel Kurgapkina. Within this period, he became popular in the Soviet Union.

In 1961, as the company’s main male lead was injured, he was selected to accompany the troupe on a European tour of Kirov Ballet. However, he broke the protocols of the State Security Committee and mingled with foreign nationals, which was not allowed. Multiple attempts were made to send him back to the Soviet Union but he sensed that he would be imprisoned upon his arrival in the Soviet Union.

With the assistance of the French Police, he defected in June 1961 and despite attempts to negotiate, he chose to stay back in Paris. Within a week he joined the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. His first performance was ‘The Sleeping Beauty’.

The same year he met Erik Bruhn who was a soloist at the Royal Danish Ballet and they formed a great friendship that later turned into romance. In 1962, they travelled together to Copenhagen to study the Bournville Style.

Rudolf Nureyev was a celebrated ballet artist who attained popularity between the 1960s and 1970s. His signature acts include ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Marguerite and Armand’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ among many others. He earned appreciation for the choreography of ‘Tancredi’ and ‘Manfred’.