I saw him live in the 80s, and I don't care what the detractors say, he was glorious, and I'm not some love sick idol worshiper. I adored frequenting classical ballet as well as modern dance over the decades. I saw Baryshnikov several times live and he was absolutely magnificent, oh yes, but in those performances that I was so blessed to have seen of Nureyev in the 80s I always felt strangely electrified, and I know that's kind of a silly thing to say, but I did, I felt electrified watching him dance. The passion he exuded was a life or death kind of passion. My God! Just thinking about it sends shivers up my spine. Yeah, another cliche phrase, but I don't have another one that aptly describes the experience I enjoyed watching Nureyev dance.

Its not about technical skills to compare. Nureyev is simply the genius of dance. He was not acting or dancing - he created great art on scene, he lived och scene. Nureyev is a legend for ever!

Nureyev was a brilliant man and incomparable dancer. I read about him in the newspaper and asked my parents to get me a ticket to see him an hour away in Baltimore for my twelfth birthday. Seeing him dance Basilio with Lucette Aldous and the Australian Ballet in his own staging prompted me to begin studying ballet and, despite my late start, I then made a career as a dancer and dance teacher. I saw Nureyev many times and he always touched my heart and got it racing. The last ballet I saw him in was in 1979 when he danced the role of Myshkin in Valery Panov's, The Idiot. He gave magnificent performances which I attended standing room seven times. Nureyev was a great ambassador of dance embracing stage and screen, ballet and modern, dancing, choreographing, directing and mentoring. His fierce independence of thought, artistry, humanity, and passion make me cherish him. He is in the pantheon of dance.

Many male dancers were great. HE was spectacular.

Nureyev was a born dancer who was so expressive and theatrical on stage. His passion for dance shone like the star he was. He fought to be able to train and dance professionally coming from a poor background and unsupportive father who discouraged him. Dance was in every fibre of his being and he was blessed with rock star looks which could only add to his attractiveness for audiences. I think sometimes there is too much criticism of technique and certain moves when as someone who dances and loves to watch others I just think we should appreciate the performance. Nureyev was a most brilliant dancer who changed the way male dancers were seen.

The wonderful dancers that the Royal Ballet had to make place for are completely forgotten today but Nureyev stays in our memories.

His artistry in dancing was spectacular and he was truly beautiful to look at.

I have met both...Fonteyn and Nureyev when in DC at the age of 10!!!! We were at the Lincoln Center to see Swan Lake! It was magical!!! I have never forgotten!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

everyone has the right to think positively or not of Nureyev. However, it is not the same thing to see a video or to see Live!! Whoever saw Nureyev onstage, and I did many times, will never forget it !!! A real artist makes you remember the performance years later, as if it was fresh from yesterday !! Every real artist makes mistakes - even pianist Arthur Rubinstein -: why? because a real artist is ready to take risks onstage, and do new things! That's what makes the performance so special!!! Never a dull moment! And so was Nureyev ! Every movement, every feeling, became real: you believed in it! That is a treasured gift !

I saw him dance in the early 80's and I couldn't care less what you thought of his technique in his 40's. He was MAGNIFICENT! I don't care at all that he was winding down. Still the most beautiful man that ever took the stage.

My goodness, what a mean spirited, snarky program. He was an dancer of extraordinary strength, athleticism, charisma, raw and primal sexuality, magnificent passion, charm, and pathos. He was an actor as well as a dancer in his roles. He was the sum of many parts, (not to mention just flat out BEAUTIFUL.). A many faceted man, living an extraordinary, complicated life, he could hardly be an called angel, more the opposite. But for gods sake, he was hardly the loser portrayed here.

Sensationalist journalism about the life of an artist, true to himself in an age where his sexuality was in the process of being recognized as a part of our greater humanity. Communist sympathy will not stand the test of time. Rudolph will not be forgotten.

He never danced better than he did with Margot. They were pure joy and love on stage.

Carol Marr...you are absolutely correct..in that SNOBBISM (AS TO TECHNIQUE) COMES INTO PLAY IN ALL THE ARTS !!!!! His TECHNIQUE was fanastic. He was the most exciting and WONDERFUL/GORGEOUS DANCER !!! He WAS the first one to dance with his soul/mind/and body. He was unique and I loved him as an artist!!!! Uniqueness..uses the best of TECHNIQUE...AND MAKES IT only HIS !!!!! BRAVISSIMO NUREYEV..

I enjoyed this, thanks. Having seen Nureyev on stage & from backstage as a teen, I can attest to the fact that his presence was powerful: the charisma stratospheric, his technique, although flawed, was the product of a will and passion beyond that of most, and he was devilishly handsome. Those jumps and turns were so exciting: never had any male dancer impressed us as much as he. From the vantage point of a dance student and performer, I recognized that special spark of genius we see so rarely: simply put, he was magnificent. Zipped or unzipped, Nureyev had a ground-breaking formative influence on ballet in the West that was inspirational. His sexuality infused his performance with a tantalizing androgyny that appealed to so many, and his reverent love and knowledge of classical repertoire was prodigiously shared, to our everlasting gratitude and benefit. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen him dance, and know many who feel the same. His association with the National Ballet of Canada, for instance, was so wonderfully enriching: this film just scratches the surface of all he gave to the world.

Nureyev was a brilliant dancer expressive elegant energetic and passionate in his chosen art. There sometimes can be picky criticism in dance instead of just sitting back and enjoying the performance in itself for the dancer will always do their best on any given day. What does it matter if a leap could be a little higher etc. Dancers put their souls into it so let us appreciate that.

Yes Nureyev was one of the greatest dancers and Margot Fonteyn was a stabilizing force for him and also they enjoyed a great close friendship till her end . That he paid for her cancer treatment shows how much she meant to him . There is a saying it is not how one starts it is how one finishes and there are tragically many sad endings .

He was a spectacular dancer & beautiful man. His death was a tragedy. So sad.

Nureyev lived locally {our Auntie was his housekeeper for a while..} I saw him Dance at a school trip to the ballet one evening, and ooooh wow! I was mesmerised.. The people who say he was not 'technically perfect'..... who needs technical perfection when one has FIRE...We couldn't take our eyes off him! Lucky, lucky Auntie.... and yet she took no nonsense..I spoke to my brother yesterday about how she would have got the job, and it must have been through personal recommendation... auntie was very discreet and honourable. Bless them both.

Nureyev did have at least two long-term relationships, one with Erik Bruhn and the other with Robert Tracey. I also think that AIDS played quite a role in his later career, weakening his body even as he feverishly tried to out-dance it. Due to travel restrictions placed by some countries at that time on individuals with AIDS, Nureyev kept his health a closely guarded secret; I think he was far sicker than anyone realized and the knowledge that his time was growing short was likely a factor in the excessive number of projects he took on. I think it should also be remembered that Nurevey secretly paid for Fonteyn's cancer treatment at the end of her life. Her husband, Tito Arias, had been shot by the husband of a mistress, paralyzed, and required very expensive care for the rest of his life, which had exhausted Fonteyn's resources. Nureyev's devotion to her lasted long after their years of dancing together had ended.

There is something to be said for having technical talent yes..maybe there were better dancers who could execute well but no one had the emotion expression and artistic finesse of Nureyev. He also never stopped perfecting himself. This coupled with his sheer beauty made him the best dancer I’ve ever seen.

He revolutionized ballet for male dancers in the West forever!

Nureyev just fall down from heaven to make us feel so happy just for knowing he has existed and for the dance heritage he left for people who love ballet and who really appreciate what ballet means for the spirit. Love Nureyev.

After viewing the video, I scrolled through most of the comments. I'm not surprised that some people objected to the "predatory homosexual" comment, but it was a passing reference and Stamp didn't dwell on it - and the fact remains that Nureyev WAS gay, that he spent much of his life on the road, and that he took comfort where he found it. There's an interesting article from "The Guardian" from 2003 that's available on-line - an interview about Robert Tracy, a writer and sometime dancer who was Nureyev's lover, companion and assistant from 1979 until the great dancer's death in 1993. The researcher was Carolyn Soutar, who hunted for Tracy for six years before finding him and persuading him to talk with her about the relationship. I recommend the article, which was published in "The Guardian" 30 January 2003 and entitled "Nureyev and me." Soutar's book was published in 2005 to tepid reviews, but she knew him from 1980 through 1985 in her backstage position at the London Coliseum. It leans heavily on her interviews with Tracy and on her own observations of Nureyev, of whom Tracy said, "He did more to emancipate the role of the male dancer than anyone else. He took them away from being merely a chevalier . I try to write about Rudolph in each book and every article I do. He is in everything and is everywhere. He permeates my soul." If we accept Nureyev as he was, "warts and all," as Oliver Cromwell said whilst sitting for a portrait, then his sexuality and the way he expressed it is part of the package. It could be said of him, as one great Nineteenth Century soprano said of another who was past of her prime, "You're right, it's a wreck of a voice, but it's like Da Vinci's The Last Supper, a wreck of a painting, but still the greatest painting in the world". Thus Nureyev in his later years, a wreck of a dancer, but still the greatest dancer in the world.

Nevrt be a dancer like him again .i saw him with margot fontain in swan lake i was 14 years old and was hooked on ballet from then on i am now 72 and still think of him as the best dancer that ever was despite his faults And wharever he was there will never be another dancer like him..

I adore ballets with Rudolph Nureyev especially with Margot Fonteyn. I was a ballet student for a while until outside events happened to stop that.They were my inspiration at the time.

So beautiful to watch !!! He will never be forgotten.

Technical prowess is all ballet dancers offer these days w/a semblance of theatrical abilities. He had smthg most dancers lack nowadays: artistry. That’s why he will forever be a dance LEGEND.

Charisma is more important than technique and perfection. And it lasts forever.

BRAVO!!! Male ballet dancers owe you an eternal debt of gratitude, EVEN the one's whose toes you stepped on.

Nureyev gave ballet the 'male dancer.' He Is the reason we now see male dancers actually dancing.

There could be 100 dancers on stage and you were only watching NUREYEV! He was absolutely magnificent! An he still is...

Rudy danced with the power of a beautiful, strong animal. And he was the whole package, including his package. Even people who didn't like ballet could see that he was special. His face was beautiful, very striking and handsome on stage, and the proportions of his body were ideal, along with the shape of all his body parts. Most British and American male dancers looked either too skinny, or like misshapen twits in comparison, no matter how fastidious or superior they may have been in some elements of technique. The British school of male ballet dancing emphasized precise technique and above all, "aristocratic restraint." The common term for that is boring. No high jumps. No letting go, or abandoning oneself to emotion, athleticism or the dance. Unexciting pirouettes. Everything tightly but elegantly under control. Rudy looked good in everything he did, and had suspension in his leaps. Ballet is not natural. It's an art, artificial. Rudy made it look natural. He was exciting to watch. The Soviets knew that he had the potential to be the most popular and famous male ballet star since Nijinsky (whose fame was also sped up by leaving Russia), even with Rudy's few flaws and late start at quality training. Not mentioned in this, Rudy danced in amateur folk dance groups as a kid and also with the local Ufa opera ballet company, where he began dance lessons at the age of eight. He danced with the Kirov as a principle after only three years of serious training, and they saw the effect he had on audiences. Of course, they were also aware that if he left and became a big star, their other best Russian dancers may also leave. I understand the bitterness some British male dancers must have felt when it was their turn for a principal role or some attention, and Rudy shows up and they are totally eclipsed and about as popular as dog poop overnight. That's life.

He was a god! That face. The intensity. No one will ever again touch him.

Who do I love to watch dance? Well, that would be Rodolf Nureyev. He was a matchless dancer, intense, communicative, and with his special energy. There was nobody nobody else in comparison that I love to watch!

I saw him three times in the late 70s in London. The energy that rolled off the stage as he entered was palpable; like a wave hitting me. I will never forget that experience. He was, and continues to be, the best....despite bitchy comments in that very competitive arena.

Nureyev danced what he longed for, freedom. His exquisite looks, energy Precision, lyrical motion combined to emit a rebellious quality and love of dance and freedom.

Unique. There will never be another like him. Ever.

I saw Nureyev dance once in New York. When he danced it was like lightning. Electricity. It wasn't an exaggeration.

Great piece on him. I agree completely. I was a SAB student in 1978 and 9 just as his ability physically was waning. They allowed us to pay just $4 at Lincoln Center to watch matinee with the great stars. I will never forget watching Nureyev perform as a prince entering a forest at night. His perfect line and emotion made me weep. The only pure magic I've seen on a stage. There were no jumps nor anything one would call dance but his ability to tell a story for the audience is unsurpassed in my opinion.

He was a brave man. Full of courage. More masculine than any football-player; more feminine than any Hollywood starlet.That WE, as his contemporaries, should not have helped him to have a happier private life, should shame us all. Artists like Nureyev only come along once in a century - if that. We should all miss him. Pay homage!

He just had incredible magnetism. It was intoxicating. This documentary was rather mean spirited, one can criticise with kindness and affection, which seemed missing here.

How wonderful to always have Rudolf present in our lives, He was a dear friend and supporter to me, dancing as Artist Laureate with my company Northern Ballet Theatre for almost ten years. He actually recommended me as director of the ballet at La Scala in Milan. Read my memoir Destiny's Walts - In Step with Giants to find out more.

Whoever wrote the script for this needs to apologize to the world in general and to the memory of Rudi in particular for letting his ego dictate the words instead of letting the truth of the matter shine through: which is that Nureyev was as magnificent a dancer as ever you will see. It is not all about technique. It is about passion and charisma and mystery and depth and what one saw in his eyes. Maybe not as perfect as Baryshnikov, not as naturally gifted as Polunin, not as unique as Tsiskaridze. But as great if not greater than them all.

Nureyev was /is a star , sexy , stylish , attractive ,well artistic cultivated with strong character . he fans followed him where ever he went . no one can compare with him ever .

Amazing !!! There are no words!!!!! That exquisite dancer left his mark!!!

What a gift!! Rudy reminds me of Freddie Mercury of Queen. Don't laugh if you don't know. The parallels are incredible.

Nureyev was like Fred Astaire, graceful perfection. Baryshnikov was like Gene Kelly, powerful perfection. You can’t compare the two.

Such a tortured, magical artiste - so much pain and overwhelming talent that took the ballet 🩰 world by storm ☔️

He is and was the best and I don't understand why this people who now him criticized him now that he is dead and cant defense himself. He has a great personality and dignity as wel.... and is very very beautiful and handsome.....Hipocrits.......awful critic they were jealous of him..

Когда видишь танец Нуреева, понимаешь, что это - Магия! Возможно, у кого то была более совершенная техника, но такого Волшебства не производил никто!

" the most elegant and noblest of princes." Perfect description. Supreme forever! MW.

4:00 He is *utterly* in control of that smile...and it IS a smile.

Nureyev did more for the world of the male dancer than any other dancer. We saw males as dancers. instead of simply supports for the female dancer.

I was fortunate to work in the gents wardrobe department of the Royal Opera House in the sixties and remember making the sleeves to his costume in Giselle. So good to see this.

Utterly beautiful. I saw him in London when I was a very young lady in 1985. He danced Swan Lake with (I think) the Royal Ballet. I was enchanted, and I was not alone.

Jealousy envy and bitterness comes across most strongly in this footage. The people interviewed were not of his class. Nijinsky & Nureyev always embody amazing talent . They don't have that ability.

Не только ТАЛАНТИЩЕ, а настолько хорош внешне.

I saw him on multiple occasions in the early years and still miss that version of him. His air time was such that one could actually see what happened during the flight, his body position so controlled. His take-offs were from the legs and body, not from flinging from his arms around. Look at his those fantastic landings - he would "stick" them with an accuracy that cannot be achieved without total control. And his hands - oh, my! The line from elbow to fingertip is exquisite and (generally) without the thumbs sticking as so many dancers do! As my teacher said, "The thumbs follow the fingers, they are not hat racks." His attention to his partner always impressed me. He could emphasize her abilities and her dance even while being his own person. He looked at her, not the audience, showcasing her abilities. Yes, I admit that his later years were not even close to the early ones. However, those should not be used to try to erase the excellence of the early years. He was like a different person then.

Thank you for sharing this. Rudolf Nureyev was such a brave man to have done what he wanted to do, for the love of dance....unfortunately, at the expense of his family. But I still feel it was very brave of him.

What a petty, mean-spirited and error-riddled effort. He was great - and has been underestimated if anything.

I've never seen him on stage, but I can enjoy his dancing on video for hours. He is great in the ballet of Claude Debussy's in the ballet "Day of the Faun", Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet", in the ballet of Stravinsky " Petrushka" and modern dances. He started dancing at the age of 17, and he danced on stage for only 3 years when in 1961 he decided to stay in the West . In the same year he became a partner of Margot Fontaine in the ballet "Giselle". This is a dizzying success! I can believe that at the end of his carrier he was not as perfect in ntechnique as at younger periods. But the authors of this film seem to be very old judging from what they have produced.

Rudolph Nureyev Is My Favourite Ballet Dancier!!! Boy...Do I Love This "Mysterious Crane" of The Ballet; And He Does It With Such Grace; Style; and Exquisite and Inquisitive Poise To Search Out The Value and Quality of His Audience! However, I Must Not Forget Igor Zelensky whom Motivated Me Through His Ballet Dance; Of "Swan Lake" Which Guided Me Within The Heirship of Him and Rudolph As A Notable Interest In This Great Genre!!!

C'est un Prince de la danse..il a un regard d'une très grande humanité dont on ne se lasse pas....

Saw him - oh around 1976 - at the Uris theater in NYC. Jackie O and Lee were in the audience. His body was worthy of Michaelangelo.

Nureyev had fire and verve...and raw power..that is what set the audience alight.

He was and is the BEST

I like the documentary, but I don't like that they're pushing the "lonely gay man" stereotype. In actual fact, Nureyev had two serious, long-term relationships in his life - Erik Bruhn and Robert Tracy. These relationships only ended in death; Nureyev's relationship with Bruhn lasted until Bruhn died, and Tracy's relationship with Nureyev lasted until Nureyev died.

Whilst I have a great respect for the technically brilliant I would rather see an imperfect performance with his passion and fire any day. He is the Freddie Mercury of the ballet world with a stage presence that comes along only so rarely. I could watch his and Fontaine’s Romeo and Juliet over and over and be moved every time.

What the likes of Tony Dowell dont understand is that we werent there to watch ballet....we were there to watch Nureyev....We didnt care how perfect your steps and form were Tony!!! You could never perform as magnificently as Rudolph...He was a force of nature....He was much more than ballet...

The artist for me! His life was the dance! Unique talent on the word!

В каком измерении сейчас твоя Душа ........ты великолепен !!!!

Incredible. Ill always adore this artist forever. He hypnotized me

This short film seemed fair to me why is there so much hate for it? He was human so it can't all be good.

Он так танцует,дух захватывает....вечная память🌹🌹

He can be as polite as he likes, but Anthony Dowell here can barely disguise his intense dislike of Nureyev! It comes through everything he says, every expression on his polite face...

Fantastic documentary! Thanks for uploading! A true distillation of this great man’s career. Very accurate assessment of his strengths & weaknesses. A very poignant portrayal, as he was truly a lonely person who cling to ballet for life, for safety, for sanity.

He was simply beautiful!!!

When I discovered through your video that Nureyev only had THREE YEARS of serious classical training, I nearly fell off my computer chair...

Nope. It’s not true that no other danseur could jump higher or turn faster, or even match Nureyev’s dramatic power. There IS one danseur, and his name is Vladimir Vasiliev. The reason people in the West don’t necessarily know about him is that he was firmly entrenched at the Bolshoi with his wife, Ekaterina Maximova, and together they were rated by ballet connoisseurs as the greatest pair of the 20th century. I dk if that’s true or not, but I know how their dancing makes me feel! Baryshnikov AND Nureyev said Vasiliev was an influence on them. Another danseur Nureyev thought very highly if was Erik Bruhn, and not bc they were lovers....these 3 men have actually left me stunned by the absolute wonder of their performances.

Wow!, Rudolf is the most wonderful classic dancer of all time!, fascinating, unique and incomparable!, I love and admire him so much!, it´s a dream to see him dancing with Margot Fonteyn, magical couple, they must be dancing in heaven now, many thanks Adam for sharing it!

He was the best, he had everything. So Danzig was envious.Any criticism of him is so clearly envy of his enormous talent and intelligence. Anthony Dowell was clearly envious.

Annie E What a mean-spirited and unworthy little piece this commentary is, fuelled by envy of Nureyev's unsurpassable greatness, charisma, the elemental force which has never been rivalled and never will be. He did not 'continue to dance until 1992 when he was 54'. He mimed the part of Carabosse in his Berlin production of The Sleeping Beauty not long before his death on 6 Jan 1993. Certainly he continued to dance when he was ill but this is a tribute to his extraordinary genius which compelled him to give joy and richness to the world. How snide and sanctimonious are the comments about his sexuality, his illness, his frailty. Shame on you! Nureyev was and always will be a man to be marvelled at for the brilliance of a soul expressed in dance and a soaring courage and absence of self-pity which put these puny commentators to shame. RIP Rudy.

Полностью с вами согласна, магическое ваечатление производил Нуреев.

Rudolf Nureyev is the greatest classic dancer of all time!, unique and incomparable!

AIDS took so many gay men in the 80's and 90's and the world suffered as a result. The loss of so many bright lights diminished us all. The ignorance and fear of the disease and the blame laid at the feet of gay men that followed is one of the greatest sins of the time. Let us never make such a mistake again.

Complete Perfection & Magnificent To Watch Full Of Deep Emotion & Profound Skill ! He Was The Best !

This seedy little exposé is unworthy of a great artist. From the looks of it, it was produced by rather small minded individuals who did not appreciate neither his artistry or his superhuman efforts, which ultimately raised the bar of the art form.

Nureyev & Callas, one reminds me of the other. They ARE the MAGIC of the ART............. They "fed" our hearts with beauty....... Thank you for having "existed"........

Браво Руди!Ты самый лучший неповторимый ! Рудольфа еще не перетанцевал никто и никогда! Спасибо Руди за эту красоту!

A lot of envious principle dancers is this documentary giving resentful comments about Rudy's technique is obvious. Rudy had more talent and stage personality combined than they ever did. Even though he was bisexual, he was completely in love with Margot and if that leeching husband Tito hadn't been shot and paralyzed, I think they would have continued to be lovers onstage and offstage. Very touching that Rudy paid for Margot's cancer treatment.

This is so mean spirited. He had such presence. And he brought ballet to the masses! As time passes, younger dancers become stronger and more technically superior. Such is art. Ego is ugly.

Let's try to be honest. Nurrev simply did show to the world what is the real Ballet . Ballet was one of the Russian treasure that was almost hidden from the world. The ballet in the western world didn't exist at that level of exelence, that he did show to them . The ballet dancers were just dancers .BTW, Russians have distinctive words for the ballet dancers.. They dont use the word dancer for the ballet dancers, even - they are ballerinas and balletists .

EXCEPTIONAL DANCER

Respect for Nureyev....all together breathtaking.....

Technical ability is simply not enough. He had something more.

I would like to acknowledge the BRILLIANT portraits artist 🎨 Jamie Wyeth did of his friend, RN. 💖

Waspish interpretation of a magical dancer who popularized ballet with his charisma and talent.

One only had to watch him once.....you knew how life might/or what it was going to be.

He was a beautiful, open-minded, passionate human being till the end. I don't like the derogatory undertones in this documentary...