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| Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn |
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| On Netflix |
We watched "The Magic of Nureyev," a documentary on PBS that premiered on April 11, 2025. The only way to describe this superstar ballet dancer seems to me to be the cliche "larger than life"! Interestingly, we actually saw him on stage in London in 1976. We somehow managed to get last-minute tickets to a sold-out performance, with seats at the extreme left of stage in one of the first rows. It was during an extreme heat wave, and when he did his famous twirls we could see drops of sweat fly off of him, illuminated by the stage lights that were designed to suit the spectators in the center rows. The Netflix special definitely captures the legendary nature of his escape from Russia and his extraordinary fame.
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| Are ballet dancers famous like this any more? I don’t know. At the moment this type of acclaim goes to Taylor Swift, I guess. |
Text of this post © 2026 mae sander
Photos from web searches.
8 comments:
Nureyev was amazing and larger than life. You saying that you saw him dance brought back a memory of seeing either him or Beryshnekov (sp?) when I was young. I'll have to ask my mom about that.
I confirmed with my mom that in 1977 at the Royal Ballet cast: Rudolf Nureyev at Herr Drosselmeyer. Confirmed!!
I do believe that ballet is magic. To see him in person would be beyond amazing.
I don't know if Nureyev, Baryshnikov or Godunov would have been so well known outside the ballet world if they hadn't been Cold War Russian defectors. That's what made them famous to the average American.
It sounds like a good documentary ... I'll check for it on Netflix -- thanks for recommendation. It's terrific you got to see the dancer many years ago, wow!
I learned ballet with Madam Borovansky for 12 years. What a pleasurable world ..no wonder Nureyev seemed full of magic.
He was amazing, and quite brave too to defect. That was a bold decision in those days, putting family members at risk.
Happy T-Day,
Lisca
Seeing a live performance of ballet or an orchestra or a singer or a play as an older adult is a marvel to me. The dancers and the musicians and the singers and the actors feel almost superhuman in their abilities. These are powerful experiences that I did not appreciate as a child, that I did not appreciate seeing on television or in a movie. Hearing an author read from his book is the same kind of supernatural experience for me.
And your experience, seeing the drops of sweat fly off him as he danced---how amazing that must have been.
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