Serendipitously, the force of the legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev has come into our life.
First, through personal accounts of a two-year experience with the greater than life icon, from acclaimed dance writer Elizabeth Kaye, who traveled with and spent countless hours in conversation with Nureyev during the final two years of his life.
Elizabeth has generously donated the audio recordings from this period to the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts cited under the heading Rudolf Nureyev / Elizabeth Kaye.
Having attended several of Elizabeth’s alluring pre-ballet performance talks at Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Lana and I enthusiastically signed up for her four-part lecture series as shown in this poster.
This is where we learned of Elizabeth’s extraordinary experience with Rudolf Nureyev.
Second, and equally serendipitously, through our dear friend Anna Korotysheva, who in response to my relay of Elizabeth’s story informed me that she had danced on the same stage with Nureyev in the production La Sylphide during his 1989 visit to his alma mater company, Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
Anna was able to dig up this photo of the historical moment in her ballet career treasure chest, where she stood center stage only a foot or two from the famous dancer. Though Anna’s face is partially visible behind the soloist standing in front of her, engaged in the scene with Nureyev, we highlighted this unforgettable moment in the life of our long-time ballet liaison.
