Information
- BFI identifier431639
- Date1974-01-27 (Television)
- Production countryUnited Kingdom
- Production company
- SynopsisDOCUMENTARY. Lindsay Anderson interviews Rudolf Nureyev at the Royal Ballet School. Extracts from commercial films and BBC programmes. Title. A train travelling through Russian landscape; Russian folk song provides soundtrack (0.52). Young men at a dance class In Russia. Stills of ballet dancers. Stills of Nureyev (1.19). Nureyev, surrounded by photographers, speaking to interviewer when he defected to the West having come to Paris with the Kirov Ballet in 1961 [Newsreel footage. News commentator translation of Nureyev's statement is in French] (1.34). Nureyev dancing over which Anderson gives information on Nureyev's career and defection. Stills of Nureyev (2.26). Anderson asks why Nureyev chose to stay in the West; he replies he had no choice, he was forced to. Nureyev speaks on the different responses to dance by Russian and Western audiences - the West is more analytical, the Russians more emotional (6.50). Nureyev at the barre; voice-over gives a brief career summary (7.52. Nureyev speaks about his childhood and his entrance into the Kirov ballet - he feels he was a provincial outsider, a victim of bureaucracy (19.05). Extract from MONITOR programme (tx 25/2/62). Nureyev speaks about his ambition to embrace modern as well as classical works (19.32). Nureyev dancing in rehearsal with a male dancer in a modern dance (`Monument for a Dead Boy' choreographed by Rudi van Danzig?) and then in rehearsal with Merle Park in `The Nutcracker', choreographer Frederick Ashton. (21.33). Nureyev dancing with Margot Fonteyn in `Marguerite and Armand' (22.47). Nureyev speaks of the opportunities in the West to work with a range of choreographers. He is uncertain where his roots are but notes that he has been with the Royal Ballet for 11 years. He speaks of the psychological motivations to play characters in classical and modern ballet (26.02). Extract from `Field Figures' choreographed by Glen Tetley. Nureyev dances with Deanne Bergsma. Anderson, in voice-over, speaks of Nureyev's attitude to modern dance (27.24). Nureyev feels classical ballet should not develop but should remain in opposition to the modern. He speaks of the importance of ballet to the public and the influence of choreographer Marius Petipas (31.02). Nureyev on stage dancing an extract from `Le Corsaire', choreography Petipas (32.05). Nureyev admits to constant nervousness in performance. He speaks of the ballets he has choreographed himself, usually based on classical ballets. He feels many classical ballets have under-choreographed the male role focusing on the ballerina - Petipas was guilty of this (37.23). Extracts from the film DON QUIXOTE intercut with production scenes (41.47). Nureyev says he would like to film `Sleeping Beauty' and `The Nutcracker' while he can still dance them. He says he would like to run a company but not yet - his dancing career is too important. He believes he has a talent which should be fully exploited. Anderson feels Nureyev is `proud but not arrogant' - Nureyev smiles (46.38). Note: Film sequences from: CAPTIVATED BY SIBERIA, DOWN THE BELAYA RIVER, WHEN THE SPIRIT SOARS IN FLIGHT, I AM A DANCER, AN EVENING WITH THE ROYAL BALLET and DON QUIXOTE. Extracts from BBC programmes MONITOR (tx 25/2/62), RELEASE (tx 2/3/68) and REVIEW (tx 29/11/69). Penman catalogue no. 190. (NFA Catalogue)
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Title
Nureyev (Original)
Category
Non Fiction