Rudolf Nureyev

RUDOLF NUREYEV d1993. Tatar ballet dancer from The Soviet Union widely considered to be one of the best known and most celebrated of the 20th century. He defected to the West in 1961, despite KGB efforts to stop him. According to KGB archives studied by Peter Watson, President Krushchev personally signed an order to have Nureyev killed at the time. Nureyev's artistic skills explored innovative expressive areas of dance and provided a new role to the male ballet dancer who had previously served only as support to their women partners. He enjoyed a now legendary relationship with Margot Fonteyn between 1962 and their final performance together in "Baroque Pas De Trois" on 16th September 1988 (when Fonteyn was 69 and Nureyev 50). It was said that the couple danced with "one body and one soul" and they remain unquestionably the most famous ballet couple of all time..... Rudolf Nureyev died of Aids aged just 54 in 1993.