PARIS -- Dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, the Kirov ballet star who made dance history in the West following his dramatic Cold War defection from the Soviet Union, died Wednesday of cardiac complications 'following a cruel illness,' his doctor said. He was 54.
Rumors had been circulating for months that Nureyev was suffering from AIDS, but friends denied the reports and his doctor, Michel Canesi, also refused to confirm them, saying only, 'Nureyev died today of cardiac complications following a cruel illness.'
Across the world, friends and admirers mourned his death as a great loss to the world of ballet, with the director of the New York City Ballet calling him 'one of the greatest artists of our age' and the president of the Paris Opera saying, 'After Nureyev, dance will never be the same again.'
Fellow ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, another Soviet dance defector, said simply, Nureyev 'will never be forgotten.'
'He was one of the most arresting people I ever met,' Baryshnikov said. 'His appetite for life and his work were insatiable.
'Surrounded by millions, he lived the lonely life of a person totally devoted to his milieu, which was dance and only dance. His body and his soul were perfect transmitters of ethereal beauty. He had the charisma and simplicity of a man of the earth and the untouchable elegance of the gods.'
'His contribution to the world stage is inestimable,' said Kevin McKenzie, director of the American Ballet Theater. 'More than anyone else, he was responsible for not only bringing ballet to the awareness of the general public, but for singlehandedly creating legions of dance fans over four decades.'
Nureyev, who will be buried in Paris according to his wishes, made ballet history first as a dancer and then as a choreographer in recent years while head of the Paris Opera Ballet, which he made into one of the world's leading companies.
He was one of the Soviet Union's leading ballet stars and on tour in Paris in 1961 when he slipped away and sought asylum in the West.
In the climate of the East-West Cold War, his decision drew more excitement than the defection of any Communist spy. He lived up to his billing, making news with dazzling performances and exuberant partying.
Nureyev was only 20 years old when he was dancing with all the top ballerinas in Russia's Kirov ballet company.
As a dancer, he performed more than 90 different roles with 30 companies and mounted his own versions of many ballets including 'The Sleeping Beauty,' 'Swan Lake,' 'Raymonda,' 'Don Quixote' 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Nutcracker.'
He incurred the displeasure of Soviet cultural leaders because of his 'dangerous individualism' and was ordered to return to Russia while the Kirov was touring France. Instead, he broke loose at Paris's Le Bourget Airport.
France quickly granted his request for asylum and he spent the remainder of his dancing life in Europe and the United States.
Over the years, a number of leading Soviet dancers followed in Nureyev's footsteps to become leading dancers in the West, among them Natalia Makarova in 1970, Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1974, and Alexander Godunov in 1979.
While Nureyev was a classicist, he enjoyed the good life and often was seen doing the latest dance steps at New York discotheques.
Nureyev was born Rudolf Hametovich March 17, 1938, in the city of Irkutsk. A Tartar, he grew up in the town of Ufa and entered the Kirov Ballet School in his teens. He was an excellent student and within three years was dancing leading roles.
Within a year of his defection in Paris, Nureyev was partnered with Dame Margot Fonteyn and they became the most celebrated duo in ballet.
Nureyev starred in most of the popular ballets of the 19th century as well as major works by 20th-century choreographers, including Balanchine, Bejart, Nijinsky and Fokine. He also danced works of Paul Taylor and Martha Graham.
In 1976 Nureyev played the title role in the movie 'Valentino,' and appeared in five films featuring ballet, among them 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'I Am a Dancer.'
For more than 20 years after his defection from the Soviet Union, Nureyev was stateless, traveling on a United Nations Geneva Convention passport. He became an Austrian citizen on Jan. 25, 1982, partly, he said, to avoid red tape involved in obtaining visas.
'I chose Austria because it is a neutral country and the Austrians have been very kind to me. And Vienna was the first place I danced in the West -- in 1959,' he said.
In 1986, Nureyev took the post of artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet, a post he held with distinction, mounting many new productions for the renowned company and developing a new generation of stars.
In 1988, Nureyev celebrated his 50th birthday -- more than three months late -- at a dazzling gala performance in New York by his Paris Opera Ballet with an international galaxy of dance stars joining him onstage at the Metropolitan cheering as bouquets of flowers rained down at the dancer's feet.
By 1991 there were rumors about the state of Nureyev's health and the possibility that he had AIDS. It was reported early in 1992 that he had undergone surgery to correct damage caused by periocarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart which can be caused by AIDS.
Nureyev's last public appearance was in October 1992 when he had to be helped onstage at the Paris Opera to take bows for his choreography for a new production of 'La Bayadere.' Wearing a shawl across his shoulders and his habitual beret, he remained seated to be decorated with France's highest cultural medal by Minister of Culture Jack Lang.
Lang, reacting to Nureyev's death, described the ballet star as the 'master of dance' and recalled his 'dazzling technique' and 'transcendent virtuosity.' 'Under his influence the Paris Opera Ballet has become the finest classical company in the world,' added the minister.
'I am infinitely sad for the friend I have lost and whom I have known since 1961,' said Pierre Berge, president of the Paris Opera. 'I associate him with another legendary figure, Maria Callas, for after her death the world of opera was never the same again. It is now the same for dance.'
Nureyev's friends and colleagues in the United States also mourned his loss to the world of dance and recalled his contributions to ballet in the West.
Ron Protas, director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, recalled the late Graham as saying: ''Rudolf Nureyev blazed onstage for me. No matter where he was onstage, back, side or front, that became the center of the stage.''
'His breathtaking technical abilities, combined with his impassioned sense of drama, created performances of incomparable power and emotion, and his popularity helped create an atmosphere in which all dance flourished,' said Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, with which Nureyev had danced.
'His personal magneticism and limitless desire to dance will remain an inspiration to the innumerable people whose lives he touched,' he added. 'We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to have him among us, as a dancer, as a teacher and as a friend.'
McKenzie, director of American Ballet Theater, said Nureyev had 'changed the course of dance history.'
'As dancers, we are deeply indebted to him for setting a new standard of theatrical magnetism and technical brilliance to which we all aspire,' he added. 'He was an aristic trailblazer with an insatiable desire for experimentation and innovation, and a man of tremendous personal courage and conviction.
'This is a sad day for the world,' he said. 'We have truly lost one of our giants.'
