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Nureyev: The Life
Rudolf Nureyev had it all: beauty, genius, charm, passion, and sex appeal. No other dancer of our time has generated the same excitement, for both men and women, on or off the stage. With Nureyev: The Life, Julie Kavanagh shows how his intense drive and passion for dance propelled him from a poor, Tatar-peasant background to the most sophisticated circles of London, Paris, and New York. His dramatic defection to the West in l961 created a Cold War crisis and made him an instant celebrity, but this was just the beginning. Nureyev spent the rest of his life breaking barriers: reinventing male technique, “crashing the gates” of modern dance, iconoclastically updating the most hallowed classics, and making dance history by partnering England’ s prima ballerina assoluta, Margot Fonteyn--a woman twice his age. He danced for almost all the major choreographers--Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit--his main motive, he claimed, for having left the Kirov. But Nureyev also made it his mission to stage Russia’s full-length masterpieces in the West. His highly personal productions of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, and La Bayadère are the mainstays of the Paris Opéra Ballet repertory to this day. An inspirational director and teacher, Nureyev was a Diaghilev-like mentor to young protégés across the globe--from Karen Kain and Monica Mason (now directors themselves), to Sylvie Guillem, Elisabeth Platel, Laurent Hilaire and Kenneth Greve.
Sex, as much as dance, was a driving force for Nureyev. From his first secret liaison in Russia to his tempestuous relationship with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, we see not only Nureyev’s notorious homosexual history unfold, but also learn of his profound effect on women--whether a Sixties wild child or Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill or the aging Marlene Dietrich. Among the first victims of AIDS, Nureyev was diagnosed HIV positive in 1984 but defied the disease for nearly a decade, dancing, directing the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographing, and even beginning a new career as a conductor. Still making plans for the future, Nureyev finally succumbed and died in January 1993.
Drawing on previously undisclosed letters, diaries, home-movie footage, interviews with Nureyev’s inner circle, and her own dance background, Julie Kavanagh gives the most intimate, revealing, and dramatic picture we have ever had of this dazzling, complex figure.
Sex, as much as dance, was a driving force for Nureyev. From his first secret liaison in Russia to his tempestuous relationship with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, we see not only Nureyev’s notorious homosexual history unfold, but also learn of his profound effect on women--whether a Sixties wild child or Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill or the aging Marlene Dietrich. Among the first victims of AIDS, Nureyev was diagnosed HIV positive in 1984 but defied the disease for nearly a decade, dancing, directing the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographing, and even beginning a new career as a conductor. Still making plans for the future, Nureyev finally succumbed and died in January 1993.
Drawing on previously undisclosed letters, diaries, home-movie footage, interviews with Nureyev’s inner circle, and her own dance background, Julie Kavanagh gives the most intimate, revealing, and dramatic picture we have ever had of this dazzling, complex figure.
782 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
August 23, 2014
I’m a lover of classical ballet, and decided a couple of years ago to read and collect dance biographies. Believe it or not, they are not always easy to find. They go out of print quickly, so when I had the opportunity to lay my hands on Julie Kavanagh’s biography of the great Rudolf Nureyev, I grabbed it.
This was a difficult book to get through. Kavanagh includes so much information, and comments from so many people that met Nureyev, that it became a chore reading it. Some of the sources obviously didn’t know Nureyev well, and my conclusion was Kavanagh could have used a good editor.
I already knew that he had defected in Paris from the Soviet Union in 1961. I knew he had a great dance partnership with Royal Ballet’s Margot Fonteyn. I also knew he ended up being the artistic director for the Paris Opera Ballet, and that he died in 1993 of AIDS.
What I learned from Ms. Kavanagh’s biography was that he seemed self-absorbed, practiced the typical quick rotation of sexual partners and continued dancing long after he should have retired.
This portrayal of Rudolf Nureyev made me less appreciative of him. In fact, I don’t think I would have liked him personally at all. He seemed like an adolescent throughout his whole life. But I’m not sure if that’s an accurate portrayal. I’d rather have gotten to know “Rudik” through the eyes of one person who had a close relationship with him. Obviously there were many who loved him. Margot Fonteyn was one of them. I doubt it was his talents as a dancer alone that captivated her. I’ll have to keep searching for that better biography. 2 1/2 stars.
This was a difficult book to get through. Kavanagh includes so much information, and comments from so many people that met Nureyev, that it became a chore reading it. Some of the sources obviously didn’t know Nureyev well, and my conclusion was Kavanagh could have used a good editor.
I already knew that he had defected in Paris from the Soviet Union in 1961. I knew he had a great dance partnership with Royal Ballet’s Margot Fonteyn. I also knew he ended up being the artistic director for the Paris Opera Ballet, and that he died in 1993 of AIDS.
What I learned from Ms. Kavanagh’s biography was that he seemed self-absorbed, practiced the typical quick rotation of sexual partners and continued dancing long after he should have retired.
This portrayal of Rudolf Nureyev made me less appreciative of him. In fact, I don’t think I would have liked him personally at all. He seemed like an adolescent throughout his whole life. But I’m not sure if that’s an accurate portrayal. I’d rather have gotten to know “Rudik” through the eyes of one person who had a close relationship with him. Obviously there were many who loved him. Margot Fonteyn was one of them. I doubt it was his talents as a dancer alone that captivated her. I’ll have to keep searching for that better biography. 2 1/2 stars.
September 25, 2018
As a biography, this was some project. I think the author spent 10 years working on it and you can really tell by the intense level of detail--sometimes too much detail. I enjoyed filling in quite a few gaps in my knowledge about the history of 20th century dance. In particular, it was interesting to learn that Nureyev discovered and nurtured Sylvie Guillem, who is dancer with almost inhuman capabilities. I was also interested to hear about his relationship with Baryshnikov and Makarova.
After reading this book, things I respect about Nureyev:
1. His incredible, insatiable, attitude toward the acquisition of knowledge. The man was tireless.
2. His work ethic. I had heard stories from former teachers about how no one had ever seen someone who worked harder than Nureyev in class, and the book confirmed that impression.
3. His conviction that he had to create his own luck and create his own opportunities.
If you are a balletomane, you'll probably enjoy this book, but I don't recommend it for a light study of the art form. It's more historical than narrative. But very well done and thorough.
After reading this book, things I respect about Nureyev:
1. His incredible, insatiable, attitude toward the acquisition of knowledge. The man was tireless.
2. His work ethic. I had heard stories from former teachers about how no one had ever seen someone who worked harder than Nureyev in class, and the book confirmed that impression.
3. His conviction that he had to create his own luck and create his own opportunities.
If you are a balletomane, you'll probably enjoy this book, but I don't recommend it for a light study of the art form. It's more historical than narrative. But very well done and thorough.
May 7, 2016
I am close to the end of this biography in which Mr. Nureyev is dying of AIDS, and I am dying to just be done with it and just switch on a YouTube video of one of his many stunning performances. This undisciplined author was obviously overwhelmed by her rich subject matter, preoccupied as she was with Nureyev's social circle, his temperamental behavior, sexual trysts and seven houses. So much of this lesser content could have been excluded without missing the idea that Rudolph Nureyev was a complicated, difficult artist and a lot of work for his loyal friends. To her credit, Ms. Kavanagh does delve into the dancer's creative processes, his singleminded passion for his work, his parterning with ballerinas and dedicated mentoring of young dancers. But most of that is scattered intermittently and quite incidentally thoughout the book, ultimately sinking into the muck of idle gossip and relentless speculation about his private thoughts and psychological states. (Early in the book, she makes the bewildering assertion that the dancer became gay during his teen years at the Kirov Ballet School as a consequence of his affair with his mentor's middle-aged wife -- such insight.) Ms. Kavanagh was in desperate need of a discerning editor. But it's worse than that: So obsessed was she with Nureyev's fame, celebrity, money and fancy friends that she mostly failed at giving this monumental artist's contributions their due. How she got this biography gig, I can't understand. Ms. Kavanagh is a yenta with a word processor and a flair for character assassinations. Rudolf Nureyev deserved better, and I am appalled.
October 8, 2019
An exhaustive account of Nureyev’s life. Very interesting reading. Sorry to see it end.
December 18, 2015
This is quite a long book and naturally some of it is taken up with balletic details which I see bore some readers. They may have bored me once. Still as an adolescent I had purely by an association a certain amount of passing contact with the remnants of a Russian troupe stranded and forgotten in the most distant extreme of the world in the train of Pavlova herself because of the last War. They struck me at an ignorant age as colourful fakes, marvellously and exaggeratedly exotic but by then incapable of actually doing anything except talking about it. Some years later I accompanied a friend to a performance of Giselle with Rudolf Nureyev not long after he’d burst into the West like a volcano and Margot Fonteyn the reigning grande dame of the Royal Ballet, not in Covent Garden but a suburban auditorium. It was an entertaining spectacle for a couple of hours, but jumping in the air and hopping about on one toe nothing much more than specialised gymnastics. Later again, with a Parisian friend, we found ourselves in the Palais Garnier seated next to Mr Nureyev himself, by then very well established. We pretended of course not to notice, as if anyone couldn’t; but he was alone, glamorously but unobtrusively dressed like many other people in that place, striking more than beautiful, not seeking any attention and apparently interested only in the music, Ravel’s rather trivial L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. In fact, that was not the first occasion I’d been in close proximity to the Russian celebrity, but each time of course anonymously because his fame and mystique made him unapproachable and in person not altogether encouragingly either. Much more recently, by another accident, I happened to see a film of him dancing in his prime Byron’s Le Corsaire, and for the first time I sat up: this is certainly a great deal more than just jumping in the air, the slightest movement of an impossibly-balanced limb has to count not just as a physical feat but as an expression of something individually unique. That, if one thinks about it, is difficult enough at the best of times, but Nureyev, as someone said, was “like a wild animal let loose in a drawing-room”. The combination of supreme athletic prowess with the most delicately cultivated grace is the fascination and the reason why this biography should dwell so much on the technical details.
Rudolf Nureyev was a Tatar peasant brought up by poor Muslim parents in an incomprehensible region 700 miles or so eastwards of Moscow. At an impressionable age he was smuggled in by his mother to a balletic performance in a provincial theatre and his destiny was decided. Skinny, untrained and completely ignorant he somehow at the age of seventeen managed to get into the prestigious Kirov company in Leningrad, where he astonished his fellow students by spending every spare minute doing exercises to make up for lost time. Spotted by the best teacher in Russia, he was taken into a single room as an adopted son and ‘cultivated’, not just in dance but in civilised accomplishments; even though a sometimes rebellious student years later when his mentor had been cruelly ‘punished’ by the Soviet authorities for his protégé’s defection, the ruthlessly ambitious Nureyev wept bitterly in secret on hearing of his master’s disappointed death. Somewhere here in these apparent discrepancies is the key to this astonishing creature’s nature, brought out as well as can be by a biographer of an utterly different background, being meticulously fair-minded after laborious and thorough research, but still somehow perhaps failing to grasp – as who could – Milton’s Lucifer, the demonic presence and the Fallen Angel, living only in the presence of an applauding audience while at the end of his life with luxurious houses all over the place sleeping in a cave on a tiny desolate island and on a discarded piano working though Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues without any musical instruction except his own: “You can play him at any tempo and his music does not disintegrate no matter what speed and how badly you play”. It’s Nureyev’s will-power that is almost terrifying; desperately weakened by AIDS and refusing to give up, dragging himself no matter what the pain onto any stage that would still have him after his brief years of glory to be an object of pity to even his greatest admirers. This is both rather mad and heart-rendingly poignant. It was inevitable that many people should detest him for selfishness, arrogance and bursts of ferocious ill-temper, just as many others revered him for his modesty in the face of real art, his total dedication to the only thing that mattered to him and a tender faithfulness and undying gratitude to those few who’d helped him towards his ultimate apotheosis. And what else is there for a burnt-out étoile - which for male dancers of this calibre must happen after about thirty-five at the latest – except to linger on as a mere ember taking ‘character roles’ and pursuing young rising stars as possible faint reflections of himself? Most men by middle-age will recognise in this sensational history, if they dare to, something of the dilemmas in a very diluted form that they too must somehow deal with or perish in ignominy. Nureyev at least didn’t do that, he made himself by his own force a legend to glow even more brightly as an example and an inspiration. Full credit to Ms Kavanagh for a beautiful portrayal.
Rudolf Nureyev was a Tatar peasant brought up by poor Muslim parents in an incomprehensible region 700 miles or so eastwards of Moscow. At an impressionable age he was smuggled in by his mother to a balletic performance in a provincial theatre and his destiny was decided. Skinny, untrained and completely ignorant he somehow at the age of seventeen managed to get into the prestigious Kirov company in Leningrad, where he astonished his fellow students by spending every spare minute doing exercises to make up for lost time. Spotted by the best teacher in Russia, he was taken into a single room as an adopted son and ‘cultivated’, not just in dance but in civilised accomplishments; even though a sometimes rebellious student years later when his mentor had been cruelly ‘punished’ by the Soviet authorities for his protégé’s defection, the ruthlessly ambitious Nureyev wept bitterly in secret on hearing of his master’s disappointed death. Somewhere here in these apparent discrepancies is the key to this astonishing creature’s nature, brought out as well as can be by a biographer of an utterly different background, being meticulously fair-minded after laborious and thorough research, but still somehow perhaps failing to grasp – as who could – Milton’s Lucifer, the demonic presence and the Fallen Angel, living only in the presence of an applauding audience while at the end of his life with luxurious houses all over the place sleeping in a cave on a tiny desolate island and on a discarded piano working though Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues without any musical instruction except his own: “You can play him at any tempo and his music does not disintegrate no matter what speed and how badly you play”. It’s Nureyev’s will-power that is almost terrifying; desperately weakened by AIDS and refusing to give up, dragging himself no matter what the pain onto any stage that would still have him after his brief years of glory to be an object of pity to even his greatest admirers. This is both rather mad and heart-rendingly poignant. It was inevitable that many people should detest him for selfishness, arrogance and bursts of ferocious ill-temper, just as many others revered him for his modesty in the face of real art, his total dedication to the only thing that mattered to him and a tender faithfulness and undying gratitude to those few who’d helped him towards his ultimate apotheosis. And what else is there for a burnt-out étoile - which for male dancers of this calibre must happen after about thirty-five at the latest – except to linger on as a mere ember taking ‘character roles’ and pursuing young rising stars as possible faint reflections of himself? Most men by middle-age will recognise in this sensational history, if they dare to, something of the dilemmas in a very diluted form that they too must somehow deal with or perish in ignominy. Nureyev at least didn’t do that, he made himself by his own force a legend to glow even more brightly as an example and an inspiration. Full credit to Ms Kavanagh for a beautiful portrayal.
May 31, 2021
2.5/5
the very beginning of the book was written so vividly, and as I was reading it, I could imagine Rudolf's early years of life -- hunger, cold, missing father, harsh childhood. but as the story started to progress on his adolescence, I got lost at all the comments and remarks that were added with the narrative of his life.
the very beginning of the book was written so vividly, and as I was reading it, I could imagine Rudolf's early years of life -- hunger, cold, missing father, harsh childhood. but as the story started to progress on his adolescence, I got lost at all the comments and remarks that were added with the narrative of his life.
August 21, 2008
This book is amazing. I started reading it out of an objective curiosity about this person I had heard about but knew nothing. By the end of the book however I felt as if I "knew" Nureyev personally.
It is a long book, 700 plus pages. Often in a book of that length I will do a lot of skimming. That did not happen in this book. I read each and every page (although I did have to pass over the ballet terminology, of which I know nothing, and the frequent use of French, of which I also know nothing!). It was all intriguing, fascinating, entertaining. And informative. The book displayed the full Nureyev. The good, the bad and the ugly. And there is a lot of good, a lot of bad and a lot of ugly. At no time did I feel the author was skimming over any part of this man's huge personality to make him more likable. Although it is very evident that the author holds him in high esteem, as I also came to, she does not downplay his nasty side.
By the middle of the book I would tear up whenever something sad happened to him and by the end of the book I was reading through my tears as his life came to a close.
I have ordered a DVD of his dancing so that I can see for myself the talent that I have so enjoyed reading about.
Nureyev, I think, will continue to be one of my (now) most favorite people of history. And I will continue to be sad that the life of this great man, this great talent and (as I learned) this great teacher was taken from us too soon.
It is a long book, 700 plus pages. Often in a book of that length I will do a lot of skimming. That did not happen in this book. I read each and every page (although I did have to pass over the ballet terminology, of which I know nothing, and the frequent use of French, of which I also know nothing!). It was all intriguing, fascinating, entertaining. And informative. The book displayed the full Nureyev. The good, the bad and the ugly. And there is a lot of good, a lot of bad and a lot of ugly. At no time did I feel the author was skimming over any part of this man's huge personality to make him more likable. Although it is very evident that the author holds him in high esteem, as I also came to, she does not downplay his nasty side.
By the middle of the book I would tear up whenever something sad happened to him and by the end of the book I was reading through my tears as his life came to a close.
I have ordered a DVD of his dancing so that I can see for myself the talent that I have so enjoyed reading about.
Nureyev, I think, will continue to be one of my (now) most favorite people of history. And I will continue to be sad that the life of this great man, this great talent and (as I learned) this great teacher was taken from us too soon.
May 28, 2008
A well-written pound of paper, this book chronicles the life of Rudolph Nureyev, the bad boy of ballet. His defection to the West left him with the sense that the only way his value could be measured was in securing as much money as possible. While reading this, I was often struck by the fact that his early life in the Soviet Union stayed with him so closely, in his attention seeking and having a fits like a toddler if he didn't get what he wanted. Though his drive to dance was always paramount, his personal life was pathetic, using people to get what he wanted, especially with Kenneth near the end of the book, who didn't want him as a lover, despite Rudolph's relentless attention. He denied the fact that he had AIDS, and lived a very lonely life, despite his success. Reminded me of the line in Knock on Any Door, "Live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse."
July 24, 2015
A long, exhaustive book about Nureyev that's full of details yet still left me somewhat in the dark about his essence. He's horrible at times - throwing temper tantrums and being cruel - and supposedly loving at others. As a dancer, he was amazing and had a voracious appetite for learning.
If you love ballet and want to learn more about one of its most fascinating stars, I recommend this book. Otherwise, I think a definitive work has yet to be produced.
If you love ballet and want to learn more about one of its most fascinating stars, I recommend this book. Otherwise, I think a definitive work has yet to be produced.
May 11, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. One of the reviews I read said that it is not a "layman's biography," and I would agree--although I don't see that as a negative thing at all. One of the things I enjoyed about Kavanagh's style is that Nureyev becomes a touch-point for larger conversations about dance legacies and traditions; I learned so much about the way Rudolph grew up in the Russian dance tradition, and his "culture shock" upon defecting and learning other Western styles of ballet. While Kavanagh does not shy away from Nureyev's darker sides, she adds a necessary human dimension to his struggles, and his early life growing up in poverty certainly helps to explain his concerns about money and his paranoia about loved ones leaving him. She also doesn't take for granted how his defection was certainly a positive move for him artistically, but came at many personal costs, emotionally and psychologically. I recommend this book to anyone interested in dance history. And an additional recommendation to anyone familiar with dance vocabulary and performance--Kavanagh's descriptions of Nureyev's movement are stunning and well-informed.
June 16, 2016
A fascinating biography of the great Russian ballet dancer. Incredibly detailed and researched it is an absorbing read for all fans of Nureyev and ballet as well as those wanting to find out about one of the
icons of the 20th century. From his humble beginnings in poverty to a Tatar family to his death from AIDS in Paris this is a rollercoaster ride of an incredibly complex and complexed man. Nureyev the dancer was obviously a genius but Nureyev the man comes across as self-centred, selfish, and miserly although he was also generous at times. I ended the book not liking Nureyev the man but still liking the legend although it would have been interesting to have been one of his conquests! I don't think he was ever able to overcome, completely, his peasant origins and that was evident in his behaviour. I did not become a balletomane until relatively recently and it is a pity because it would have been great to have seen him live. I wish all biographies were so well researched and detailed. I ended it as if I'd known him personally for my entire life. Crisscrossing the world and filled with drama, intrigue, sex of all kinds, tantrums, dance, music and a whole host of relationships as well as exquisite dance, this would make a wonderful movie in the hands of the right director.
icons of the 20th century. From his humble beginnings in poverty to a Tatar family to his death from AIDS in Paris this is a rollercoaster ride of an incredibly complex and complexed man. Nureyev the dancer was obviously a genius but Nureyev the man comes across as self-centred, selfish, and miserly although he was also generous at times. I ended the book not liking Nureyev the man but still liking the legend although it would have been interesting to have been one of his conquests! I don't think he was ever able to overcome, completely, his peasant origins and that was evident in his behaviour. I did not become a balletomane until relatively recently and it is a pity because it would have been great to have seen him live. I wish all biographies were so well researched and detailed. I ended it as if I'd known him personally for my entire life. Crisscrossing the world and filled with drama, intrigue, sex of all kinds, tantrums, dance, music and a whole host of relationships as well as exquisite dance, this would make a wonderful movie in the hands of the right director.
July 4, 2013
Born on a train overlooking Lake Baikal in the Russia, Rudolph Nureyev was a young man on the move who became the warp drive of spaceship ballet. He was a pop cultural phenomenon and a dance superstar who burned the stage with intensity and bravura wherever he went.
Defecting to the West in 1961 at the height of the Cold War his name vanished into whispered obscurity in his homeland while in Europe he attained stratospheric notoriety. For nearly two decades he danced with the great British ballerina Margot Fonteyn, twice his age, winning accolades and hearts all over the world on countless world tours.
Able to be as gentle as he could be incandescent with anger or capricious in whim this book creates a portrait of a man of great feeling and culture, at once wild and sophisticated. Nureyev longed for belonging though rarely found it. Possessing an insatiable romantic appetite he had countless lovers and died of AIDS in 1993.
Nureyev stalked the stage like a Siberian tiger and I would recommend this book to anyone curious about the life events that shaped his rise from Muslim Tartar peasant to defiant libertine, on-stage prince and imperious impresario. He was a much adored despot of dance still missed by many for the rawness and authenticity of the emotion with which he lived his life. SIMON
Defecting to the West in 1961 at the height of the Cold War his name vanished into whispered obscurity in his homeland while in Europe he attained stratospheric notoriety. For nearly two decades he danced with the great British ballerina Margot Fonteyn, twice his age, winning accolades and hearts all over the world on countless world tours.
Able to be as gentle as he could be incandescent with anger or capricious in whim this book creates a portrait of a man of great feeling and culture, at once wild and sophisticated. Nureyev longed for belonging though rarely found it. Possessing an insatiable romantic appetite he had countless lovers and died of AIDS in 1993.
Nureyev stalked the stage like a Siberian tiger and I would recommend this book to anyone curious about the life events that shaped his rise from Muslim Tartar peasant to defiant libertine, on-stage prince and imperious impresario. He was a much adored despot of dance still missed by many for the rawness and authenticity of the emotion with which he lived his life. SIMON
February 23, 2022
this is hands down the best biography i have ever read in my life, and was an absolute delight to read from start to finish. it captured the spirit of nureyev's extraordinary life so well, captured the pathos, the blood, sweat and tears of an artist completely and purely devoted to his art form. artists like that, artists seemingly BORN for their art only, are so rare yet so delightful. it's heartbreakingly sad yet so beautiful and comforting, to know that, through the ages of human existence, there have always been people so devoted to the creation and preservation of beauty, of the sacredness that comes from creating something meaningful in a world so devoid of meaning.
it absolutely ends me to know this was yet another incredibly special human being lost to the aids crisis, and in the light of how short his time on earth, what absolute achievement, what absolute delight to anyone who had been blessed enough to witness him alive.
it is to artists like nureyev i try to look up to when all else fails me, because it soothes the soul to look back to humanities past, and see that, amidst all ugliness and illness and destruction, there will always be, a vagabond soul, reaching for the light.
it absolutely ends me to know this was yet another incredibly special human being lost to the aids crisis, and in the light of how short his time on earth, what absolute achievement, what absolute delight to anyone who had been blessed enough to witness him alive.
it is to artists like nureyev i try to look up to when all else fails me, because it soothes the soul to look back to humanities past, and see that, amidst all ugliness and illness and destruction, there will always be, a vagabond soul, reaching for the light.
July 16, 2019
Kavanagh gets five stars for producing this monumental piece of work and the heroic effort and time it took to complete it. But in the end, you can no more confine Nureyev to the pages of a book as you can a supernova. She tracks the dancer’s life from his desperately poor childhood in Stalin’s Soviet Union to his defection in Paris (the early chapters are the basis of the recently released film directed by Ralph Fiennes, “The White Crow”) and on through his tempestuous life of overindulgence in sex, drugs and alcohol, and lavish living. In those early years, the reader is struck by Nureyev’s sheer love to dance; it consumes his every moment as a child folk dancing in Ufa to his later ballet classes in Leningrad. But once he defects, Kavanagh somewhat loses that touchstone of loving to dance as she falls down the rabbit hole with her subject. I don’t think Nureyev ever lost his love to dance; but Kavanagh loses sight of that love as she dives into the complexities of the dancer’s appetites and emotions. A warning to the reader - this book can wear you out, and not just from carrying it around.
August 26, 2020
A little personal side note first.
The year is 1973. I'm 21, and my BFF and I are bumming our way through Europe. It's August and we have finally made it to Paris. Looking for something to do at night that did not involve being proficient in French, we found that there was going to be a performance of Swan Lake that night in the courtyard of the Louvre by some Canadian troupe. Well, OK, we are very familiar with the music, but neither of us (being from the hicks) had ever actually seen a ballet before. Coming in at the last moment, we basically stood next to the bleachers for the performance, but enjoyed what we could see, especially the climatic moment when the bad black swan appeared high on a balcony with the spotlight trained on her and the music busted out in full glory. Damn, that was some good stuff.
And now, when I read this, I realize that it was Nureyev down there with all the swan ladies. So I guess I saw him. Life is weird.
But anyway, as to the book, it was comprehensive and mesmerizing. What a life the man had, shortened though it was, and what an indomitable character.
Kudos to you good sir, and I wish I'd seen you a little better.
The year is 1973. I'm 21, and my BFF and I are bumming our way through Europe. It's August and we have finally made it to Paris. Looking for something to do at night that did not involve being proficient in French, we found that there was going to be a performance of Swan Lake that night in the courtyard of the Louvre by some Canadian troupe. Well, OK, we are very familiar with the music, but neither of us (being from the hicks) had ever actually seen a ballet before. Coming in at the last moment, we basically stood next to the bleachers for the performance, but enjoyed what we could see, especially the climatic moment when the bad black swan appeared high on a balcony with the spotlight trained on her and the music busted out in full glory. Damn, that was some good stuff.
And now, when I read this, I realize that it was Nureyev down there with all the swan ladies. So I guess I saw him. Life is weird.
But anyway, as to the book, it was comprehensive and mesmerizing. What a life the man had, shortened though it was, and what an indomitable character.
Kudos to you good sir, and I wish I'd seen you a little better.
January 25, 2009
Great biography of a Russian trying to live in the U.S., an immense talent trying to live among ordinary people, a gay man trying to live among other closeted gays. Kavanagh's balance of minute detail for the ballet/dance expert (which I'm not, but want to be) with candid details of Nureyev's sex life is impressive. Only fairly minor complaint: wish she'd spent a bit more time exploring and interviewing Rudolph's lovers (those still living) for a more nuanced view of his romantic existence.
July 13, 2017
I'm on the half of the book but I went through the rest of it before. I don't understand why people give an 1/2 star just because this Nureyev doesn't like the portrait he had in mind. It is easy for a reader to judge a book by his bias or stereotype. The sources are clear and you can track every references, which is wonderful. Highly recommend to those who love "journalistic gossips". I'm not even close to a fan of him but I feel the portrait is not really negative and please stop assuming a great artist = a nice person.
July 31, 2021
No one else ever needs to write a bio of Rudolf Nureyev. Kavanagh has given the reader an exhaustive treatment of his childhood, dance career, and personal life, leaving no stone unturned. In the process, you get a pretty thorough-going treatment of Margot Fonteyn, the ballerina with whom he partnered for so many years. It's a loooong book, but I found it fascinating.
May 10, 2019
The research that went into this book and dedication to the subject matter by the author shows in this extensive work. Readers can get a real sense of Nureyev's temperament and professional trajectory, and the record of his performances is useful for looking up supplemental videos and images via the internet. However, the story becomes a little jumbled after his defection and initial rise to fame, and at a certain point it seems simply like a series of lovers punctuated by professional clashes.
I picked this book up after watching The White Crow, about Nureyev's defection, which also echos the story told in the documentary Dance to Freedom. The movie does not tell the story chronologically, so reading the biography cleared up lingering questions about times and places. It is also interesting to reflect on how vividly The White Crow recreates events and people, down to Nureyev's machismo and broken English or the headscarf Clara Saint wore to the airport where Nureyev asked for political asylum. The book gave me an appreciation for the details in the movie; certainly, the actor chosen for The White Crow was more believably closer to the read Nureyev in his appearance and mien than the dancer/actor chosen for Dance to Freedom.
Unfortunately, despite its length, essential information is left out. Nureyev's appearance on The Muppet Show is only mentioned parenthetically, and we aren't treated to how this came about, Nureyev's feelings about it, how the Muppet crew dealt with such a character, and how audiences reacted. We don't get Miss Piggy's input at all--an important source, if there ever was one. Surely, she could tell us a great deal about working with him and what it was liked to be cooped up in a steam room with the barely clothed dancer. Kavanagh missed essential insights by failing to interview her. Good thing we can nevertheless enjoy the results of the Nureyev-Muppet collaboration via YouTube: Miss Piggy's appreciation for Nureyev represented everyone's appreciation for Nureyev, with their gender-switched rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," delivering a wink and rendering Nureyev the uneasily pursued rather than the dogged hunter he is typically portrayed as.
I picked this book up after watching The White Crow, about Nureyev's defection, which also echos the story told in the documentary Dance to Freedom. The movie does not tell the story chronologically, so reading the biography cleared up lingering questions about times and places. It is also interesting to reflect on how vividly The White Crow recreates events and people, down to Nureyev's machismo and broken English or the headscarf Clara Saint wore to the airport where Nureyev asked for political asylum. The book gave me an appreciation for the details in the movie; certainly, the actor chosen for The White Crow was more believably closer to the read Nureyev in his appearance and mien than the dancer/actor chosen for Dance to Freedom.
Unfortunately, despite its length, essential information is left out. Nureyev's appearance on The Muppet Show is only mentioned parenthetically, and we aren't treated to how this came about, Nureyev's feelings about it, how the Muppet crew dealt with such a character, and how audiences reacted. We don't get Miss Piggy's input at all--an important source, if there ever was one. Surely, she could tell us a great deal about working with him and what it was liked to be cooped up in a steam room with the barely clothed dancer. Kavanagh missed essential insights by failing to interview her. Good thing we can nevertheless enjoy the results of the Nureyev-Muppet collaboration via YouTube: Miss Piggy's appreciation for Nureyev represented everyone's appreciation for Nureyev, with their gender-switched rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," delivering a wink and rendering Nureyev the uneasily pursued rather than the dogged hunter he is typically portrayed as.
August 20, 2020
Extremely thorough biography. Great depth of detail from his early life in Ulfa, Russia to the Kirov ballet, his defection to the West and his subsequent rise to fame and fortune are all documented. His dances, his hand at choreography, even his attempts at the end of his life to try his hand at conducting an orchestra. It gives exhaustive details to his relationships, friends, patrons, lovers and the party scene where did not partake of drugs but availed himself of many trysts with anonymous men.
I sometimes feel that I need to stop reading modern biographies of people whose art I appreciate, because often I find their personalities as illuminated in biography -- to be people who I would not ever wish to meet in person and that is I am afraid how I feel about Nureyev -- he treated people like dirt, took advantage, was always using people and felt it was owed to him for what he brought to the world as an artist.
I also get tired of modern biographies which feel the need to graphically described every encounter and romantic or sexual affair down to the most sordid of details. But in this instance, I do feel that it was Nureyev.... whose passion for dance and life was immense but who was poor in almost every other emotional area.
I sometimes feel that I need to stop reading modern biographies of people whose art I appreciate, because often I find their personalities as illuminated in biography -- to be people who I would not ever wish to meet in person and that is I am afraid how I feel about Nureyev -- he treated people like dirt, took advantage, was always using people and felt it was owed to him for what he brought to the world as an artist.
I also get tired of modern biographies which feel the need to graphically described every encounter and romantic or sexual affair down to the most sordid of details. But in this instance, I do feel that it was Nureyev.... whose passion for dance and life was immense but who was poor in almost every other emotional area.
October 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this book, as it gives an incredible about of detail and insight into Nureyev’s life, his all-consuming passion for dance and his bigger-than-life personality. I was also fascinated to learn about Erik Bruhn, the famous Danish ballet dancer, who became the love of Rudolf’s life. The only problems I had with this lengthy book, was trying to keep track of what year I am reading about: it’s not written in strict chronological order; and remembering who everyone is, as many, many names float around throughout the text and I was always trying to place people in context; needing to grapple with many long Russian names added to the challenge. Overall, it’s worth persevering, as I now feel like I have spent a huge amount of time with Nureyev and gotten to know him, and fleetingly, I’ve gotten to know the people who were important to Rudi and why they remained part of his life for decades. A difficult, complex man, summed up by the Baryshnikov tribute on hearing about Nureyev’s death, ‘He had the charisma and simplicity of a man of the earth and the untouchable arrogance of the gods’.
March 3, 2021
I am currently obsessed with Rudolph Nureyev. I'm watching YouTube videos and looking at pinterest pictures of this amazing dancer. It all started with Colum McCallum's book Dancer. I don't know much about ballet but I am learning a lot about the work and sacrifice it takes to stand out. Of interest also is that Nureyev defected from Russia at the height of the cold war. His story is fascinating in so many ways. He was not always the nicest or kindest person but he was adored by fans all over the world because of his ability to "fly". I felt compassion, love and admiration reading this book. Next I will read Diane Solway's biography Nureyev: His Life. Solway's biography was the preferred one by McCallum. The only reason for the three stars is that it was difficult reading the book on the Kindle. Lots of names to try to remember and some of the Russian names were especially difficult. I'm going to read Solway's biography in book form so I can underline.
January 8, 2023
What a fantastic read this book was! I felt as if I was reading a novel at times because Rudnik's life was so flamboyant and drama ridden. This man is a historical character like none other and he is very loveable despite his tantrums when he felt his art was compromised or threatened. I had just finished the new book, Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century Dance, which I also loved and this seemed like a good follow up- and it was. For the record, I met Nureyev once after one of his performances and he was so kind and warm, I felt he really connected on a very human, almost spiritual level as I stood and spoke to him for a few minutes. I have met other famous ppl throught out my life and no one else was this humble and interested in the person standing before him. Nureyev was a self educated, genius and I now appreciate him for the person he was as well as the dancer.
March 24, 2021
Un'opera davvero monumentale (2000 pagine), molto ben approfondita (a tratti fin troppo), una biografia che si legge come un romanzo, scorrevole e appassionante. Emerge un protagonista assolutamente sfaccettato, pieno di contraddizioni e di passione per la sua danza, il contadino e il principe che si mescolano sul palcoscenico e nella vita. L'unico appunto che posso fare (ma è un mio limite) dà per scontato che il lettore sia un appassionato di balletto; a me piace, ma non al punto di conoscere i passi di danza e le differenze tra le varie scuole (ho fatto un vasto uso integrativo di you tube!).
August 12, 2023
a lot of this is a collateral discussion of how tragic the AIDS epidemic was. I had a hard time remembering all of the people because I read this slowly over a very long period of time. I think this is written as a view of Nureyev from the outside, through others' observations and memories, rather than an attempt to understand his internal world. who was he really? I don't think we ever really know other people that well, but I guess I was looking for more. still, it's a massive book with a ton of information and insight into not just Nureyev but also world events, pop culture, etc. an interesting lens for learning about history. the ending was really very sad.
January 3, 2025
If you are looking for a thoroughly comprehensive account of Nureyev's life and work, this is the book for you. However, it is very long and requires some concentration. I read it in short bursts, which was not ideal, and at the end I still found Nureyev to be a complete enigma, a man of many contradictions, whom I probably would not have liked if I had met him in real life - though it's clear he inspired great affection in many of his friends. You need some understanding of music and dance to appreciate his career fully, as there are quite a lot of technical terms, so not really suitable for the lay person.
October 20, 2020
Having seen the film White Crow, I borrowed this hefty tome from the library to read a little deeper and view the included photographs. In the end, I skipped parts of the book, checked out some people using the extensive index, and studied the photographs. I was struck by the fact the film character of the young Nureyev so closely matched the photographs of the young Nureyev. To read the full book, one would need to have an intense interest in ballet, Russian ballet, Russian defection stories, Soviet control of lives, and finally Nureyev. Kavanagh produced a thorough study of all.
July 25, 2018
Before reading this book I did not know a iota of ballet, but still I enjoyed reading about the adventurous life of Nureyev immensely. As Misha Baryshnikov said, he had the charisma and simplicity of a man of the earth and the untouchable arrogance of the gods. Occasionally this book dwells too much in the life of a myriad of non protagonist actors, but the core message of a fire burning with extraordinary artistic strength is conveyed superbly.
March 31, 2024
The time it took me to finish Nureyev has got to be some kind of record. This is an insanely long, packed-to-the-gills with details book. The research phase was obviously undertaken by Ms Kavanagh with extraordinary zeal, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the little blurb by the Sunday Telegraph on the back cover, hailing it as Nureyev’s “definitive biography”, was actually true.
That said, and even though it was a thick, thick book, complete with annoyingly tiny print, in the end I really enjoyed it. I have had a slight obsession with male ballet dancers lately, and Nureyev was the obvious one to start learning about (I should mention that I’m French and that Nureyev has left quite an imprint on culture here, what with Paris being the place he defected to, as well as his tenure as director of dance to the Paris Opéra).
I’m always on board with learning about tortured geniuses, but that’s one thing I learned in this biography: that despite his huge cultural impact and lasting legacy, Nureyev might not have been such a genius after all (at least not a dance genius; one could argue he was a marketing wizard though). That’s something that had been touched on in a documentary I had seen prior to reading this book, and which was confirmed: that yes he was good, probably even very good, but not a once-in-a-lifetime gifted dancer like, say, Baryshnikov. But that made him all the more interesting, since his originality, complete dedication to his craft and burning charisma more than made up for it and account for the fact that he generally nowadays finds himself lumped with such above-the-fray artists.
So maybe not genius, but tortured, definitely. The psychological portrait I end up with is that of a complex person to say the least, whose childhood and defining act (his defection) left him with various character traits and underlying fears which are explored at length: guilt, fear of poverty and abandonment, infuriating entitlement and deep, deep nostalgia for and idealization of his homeland, even as he knew he had made the right decision leaving, and would have been miserable had he stayed.
Let’s talk for a minute about this defection. Some people might call it a selfish act, being fully aware as he was of the consequences this would have for his family back home. However, my view is that, sometimes, selfishness can be admirable, and this is one such case. You need some guts to make that decision and break the unending cycle of duty-bound stunted and miserable living. He knew that he had talent, he knew the purpose of his life, he knew what he needed to do to fulfill it, and he worked his ass off to achieve it in the West once the deed was done.
Having the self-confidence to do that in the first place may lie in the special treatment which was lavished upon him as his family’s only boy sibling, but it seems from reading this biography that there was also a healthy dose of innate self-esteem in him, which shone through his whole life and was a major part of his appeal.
And that’s one other thing: I have to say that I finished this book having a less positive opinion of the man than I had before diving in. The bitchy diva side he had to him, expecting everything to revolve around him and people to be available to him day and night to fulfill his every whim, not picking up a single check even while wealthy enough to own six properties in three different countries (and even though the author suggests this might derive from his days of growing up in poverty and being terrified of ending up in it again, as well as from his deep-rooted abandonment issues, driving him to test his inner-circle loyalties over and over again) is a side of him I despise, even as I have a little trouble feeling sorry for all the “friends” he took advantage of (especially, but not restricted to, women) and who seemed happy to indulge him in exchange for the tiniest bit of his attention. With the exception, maybe, of the Goslings, it just didn’t come across that Rudolf truly cared about any of these people, and may actually have felt contempt toward their groveling attempts to earn his favors (I can’t count how many time people are quoted as saying: “He/she would have done anything for him.”)
Which might have actually been fine with him, since he never tried to create genuine bonds with anybody, the severance from his family and only real (but doomed) love story with Erik Bruhn having apparently led him to shun any attachment.
Like I said, his was a complex personality which is explored here at length, along with the career of this bigger-than-life character who had to choose between his art and truly meaningful relationships, and who made this choice in the most spectacular way, for better or for worse. His life acquired some sort of almost mythical status as a result, life which is more than thoroughly chronicled in this monster of a book exploring every facet, from the sublime (the attitude and extraordinary dignity he displayed in the last months of his life, literally living every second to the fullest, the culminating point of this period being the triumph of La Bayadère in Paris, which were extraordinarily moving passages to read about) to the sordid (this is the same man who allegedly took a dump on the steps of a man he felt wronged by), of this truly extraordinary (in the very literal sense of the word) man.
That said, and even though it was a thick, thick book, complete with annoyingly tiny print, in the end I really enjoyed it. I have had a slight obsession with male ballet dancers lately, and Nureyev was the obvious one to start learning about (I should mention that I’m French and that Nureyev has left quite an imprint on culture here, what with Paris being the place he defected to, as well as his tenure as director of dance to the Paris Opéra).
I’m always on board with learning about tortured geniuses, but that’s one thing I learned in this biography: that despite his huge cultural impact and lasting legacy, Nureyev might not have been such a genius after all (at least not a dance genius; one could argue he was a marketing wizard though). That’s something that had been touched on in a documentary I had seen prior to reading this book, and which was confirmed: that yes he was good, probably even very good, but not a once-in-a-lifetime gifted dancer like, say, Baryshnikov. But that made him all the more interesting, since his originality, complete dedication to his craft and burning charisma more than made up for it and account for the fact that he generally nowadays finds himself lumped with such above-the-fray artists.
So maybe not genius, but tortured, definitely. The psychological portrait I end up with is that of a complex person to say the least, whose childhood and defining act (his defection) left him with various character traits and underlying fears which are explored at length: guilt, fear of poverty and abandonment, infuriating entitlement and deep, deep nostalgia for and idealization of his homeland, even as he knew he had made the right decision leaving, and would have been miserable had he stayed.
Let’s talk for a minute about this defection. Some people might call it a selfish act, being fully aware as he was of the consequences this would have for his family back home. However, my view is that, sometimes, selfishness can be admirable, and this is one such case. You need some guts to make that decision and break the unending cycle of duty-bound stunted and miserable living. He knew that he had talent, he knew the purpose of his life, he knew what he needed to do to fulfill it, and he worked his ass off to achieve it in the West once the deed was done.
Having the self-confidence to do that in the first place may lie in the special treatment which was lavished upon him as his family’s only boy sibling, but it seems from reading this biography that there was also a healthy dose of innate self-esteem in him, which shone through his whole life and was a major part of his appeal.
And that’s one other thing: I have to say that I finished this book having a less positive opinion of the man than I had before diving in. The bitchy diva side he had to him, expecting everything to revolve around him and people to be available to him day and night to fulfill his every whim, not picking up a single check even while wealthy enough to own six properties in three different countries (and even though the author suggests this might derive from his days of growing up in poverty and being terrified of ending up in it again, as well as from his deep-rooted abandonment issues, driving him to test his inner-circle loyalties over and over again) is a side of him I despise, even as I have a little trouble feeling sorry for all the “friends” he took advantage of (especially, but not restricted to, women) and who seemed happy to indulge him in exchange for the tiniest bit of his attention. With the exception, maybe, of the Goslings, it just didn’t come across that Rudolf truly cared about any of these people, and may actually have felt contempt toward their groveling attempts to earn his favors (I can’t count how many time people are quoted as saying: “He/she would have done anything for him.”)
Which might have actually been fine with him, since he never tried to create genuine bonds with anybody, the severance from his family and only real (but doomed) love story with Erik Bruhn having apparently led him to shun any attachment.
Like I said, his was a complex personality which is explored here at length, along with the career of this bigger-than-life character who had to choose between his art and truly meaningful relationships, and who made this choice in the most spectacular way, for better or for worse. His life acquired some sort of almost mythical status as a result, life which is more than thoroughly chronicled in this monster of a book exploring every facet, from the sublime (the attitude and extraordinary dignity he displayed in the last months of his life, literally living every second to the fullest, the culminating point of this period being the triumph of La Bayadère in Paris, which were extraordinarily moving passages to read about) to the sordid (this is the same man who allegedly took a dump on the steps of a man he felt wronged by), of this truly extraordinary (in the very literal sense of the word) man.
March 15, 2025
changed me as a person. HIS LIFE STORY IS INCREDIBLE. i just love how art and dance and film and music and so much more cross into nureyevs story. he was such an asshole but such a talented person 😭 i find it so interesting how all throughout his life he had people rallying around him, trying to help him succeed. it is so beautiful. wish i could give this 4 1/2 stars. half point deducted bc sometimes the author kind of got into too much detail into some things that didnt really matter overall
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