Well said Lin Hiril!

Perfecta descripcion de este bello bailarin que tenia un magnetismo y personalidad unicas. Inigualable e inimitable. Nunca le olvidaremos.

Lin, what a brilliant comment you wrote. Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to write it. You perhaps are a professional writer. I was only 3 years old when Nureyev defected. The dramaticness of his being into our world in America was enormous and the effect massive. I remember the fervor he caused with his defection. He was an enormous part of my childhood and life just in the thrill he was in his dancing and on all levels of his personhood. Life was much higher because he was in it. I didn't realize until much later that he lifted life to a level which made my perception of life higher. He was bigger than life. He was like a zeenith. The excitement and "attack" of his dancing was like none other. I saw he and Fonteyn dance together more than once. He was a god. The excitement he stirred in us has never been matched. In interviews, he was so witty and would say things in his own idiosyncratic way. You weren't sure where he was going to go with what he was saying - it could be a circuitous route, though a short one, but he would arrive at the most clever and insightful spot. He was nobody's fool, to say the least. One time in interview he was complaining about something regarding some female dancers. I can't remember what the criticism or offense was. But he imperiously and cuttingly called them "bubble gum ballerinas". It was impish and he really meant it and was disgusted with them but it was put in his usual clever and colorful way. And in that sublime accent. He was so funny and wry. He was humble yet proud and arrogant. I always waited outside stage doors for the dancers to come out. I was 8-9 years old and waited in a long line for his autograph. I was so nervous. It was like meeting a king. I handed him my program and he looked at it and suddenly he glared at me and with hot anger said, "Nyet." I was shaken and crushed and had no idea what I had done wrong. Later, I somehow realized that I must have handed him the back of the program instead of the front and he took very high offense to it, as if I were disrespecting him. I always looked older than my age but I was only 8 or 9 so I had no idea what autographs were about, that you signed it in strategic spots, and in a proper place, etc. I was deeply hurt. I loved him so much. I still remember how high his leaps were. He took one's breath away. He hung in the air. He was unique. One of a kind. He left an enormous imprint on my soul. (Postscript: I saw Nureyev again in 1972. I was 15 years old and was bitterly disappointed that his dancing had diminished. It was not fathomable to me. A painful shock. He was still good but this soaring godly entity had come down to less rarified air. His humaneness had asserted itself. He had always been beyond human for me. It was a loss of innocense for me. I was devastated. I didn't realize how short male dancers' peaks were and how much harder it was for men dancers. Jumps are so hard. An incredible wearing down of the body, enormous wear and tear. I have to also add that I felt Veronica Tennant and a couple of other dancers were not his equal and that upset me too that he was dancing with "lesser" dancers. He was so great, it pained me he wasn't dancing with equals worthy of him, as I viewed it. To dance with him was so sacred. He was an elevated creature. I couldn't understand how he could dance with anyone lesser than he. It was like a sacrilige.)

that says it all - thanks :)

​@@brendadufaur37 Vous l’aimiez beaucoup❤. Votre commentaire est très touchant❤. Merci Madame!🎉.

@@aaaa-on7fp он завидует!

Ya no existen bailarines como los de aquellas épocas. Ahora hay saltos atléticos, pero no hay expresion ni sentimiento. No son actores. ¡Una pena!

agreed!

he is indeed - the 'animal magnetism' label was not wrong - potent star quality - and then he could dance. ahhh, what more do we want!

l saw claire motte dancing in 1970 le corsiere pdd with rudy bryans in a gala the same gala were also fom pob tessa beaumont and cyril atanasoff

very much so - he was such an expressive dancer. i feel lucky to have seen him onstage as much as i did.

c'est vrai, un plaisir

mon plaisir :)

Je pense que ce film vient de 1977 quand il avait 39 ans - il a commencé à voir Noureev en 1970 quand il était encore très très bon - je me sens chanceux en cela :)

John Hall 1970

yes, i liked her too - and saw her at the POB - in 'Swan Lake' in 1973 - she was very beautiful as Odette

@@JohnRaymondHall John...just read "A Year with Rudolf Nureyev" by Simon Robinson ,. Have you heard of it? Highly recommend

@@kaythomas8521 no, A Year with Rudolf Nureyev has not appeared on my radar - thanks for the alert and recommendation

@@JohnRaymondHall Amazon Books/ Kindle. Fascinating Read. Not long ,either. 187 pgs

@@kaythomas8521 thanks Kay :)

oui, il était bien plus qu'un simple danseur

Je suis Poisson et je comprends aussi la finitude des choses.

indeed!

the film is 1977 so he as 39

i agree - he seems at times to have a bit of a handful!!!

Oh give me a break! He’s even training her here.

He danced with Margot Fonteyn for years. Are you saying Claire Motte was bigger than her?

@@francie2915 yes phisically is bigger dame margo was tiny l also saw live in covent garden audience

agreed :)

@@JohnRaymondHall j saw Claire Motte in " Concerto " coreo F Blaska in 1970 , perfect esthetic , sculptural aesthetic no 1975' and after , j have never understood why . Claire Motte had her statue at " Musée- Grevin " - Paris during some years , wonderfull

@@alainspiteri502 hi Alain - lucky to have seen Claire Motte live! i didn't know that her statue!

@@JohnRaymondHall in fact Claire Motte had a very short career 1965-1972 because her sculptural aesthetic was no the same after 72 ? Great technic of danse

@@alainspiteri502 she obviously was caught between two talents