Second life for “Nureyev”: At its premiere in Russia, the ballet was highly praised and celebrated, but in 2022 it vanished from the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre’s program as new Russian laws targeted “LGBTQ-propaganda.” Now it returns to the stage at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, directed by the gay, regime-critical Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov.
It is “something very special” to revive the piece about the famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev in Berlin, says Brazilian David Soares, who, along with several other soloists, performs the title role, to the AFP news agency. The 28-year-old had already participated in the staging in Russia, but fled to the West just as director Serebrennikov did after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Nureyev” traces the life of the prize-winning, openly gay dancer who defected from the Soviet Union to France in 1961 and died in 1993 from AIDS-related illness. In 2023 the piece was banned in Russia for allegedly spreading non-traditional values and LGBTQ propaganda.
Tens of thousands of Russians have since fled their homeland—similar to what Nureyev did in his time. Many of them have found refuge in Berlin, seen as the unofficial capital of the Russian opposition.
The Putin regime pursued Serebrennikov for years
The celebrated premiere of “Nureyev” at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre in December 2017 was something the director Serebrennikov could not attend in person—he was under house arrest on charges many observers regarded as politically motivated. In 2022 he escaped to Berlin, where he lives in exile today.
The message of the piece for Western audiences remains the same as at its original debut more than eight years ago in Russia, says the 56-year-old director: “Because we live in a time when freedom and common sense are in short supply.”
Rudolf Nureyev, for him, embodies a “rebel” who does not belong to any single era. He is more “a model for how to resist gray, dull normality,” Serebrennikow tells AFP.
For solo dancer David Soares, it is “impossible to truly embody Nureyev.” He was “more than a ballet star; he was a personality,” says the 28-year-old. To prepare for the role, he studied Nureyev’s interviews to learn his behavior, how he stood, how he walked, and how he spoke with people. As a dancer, Nureyev possessed a “unique” style, with “explosive leaps, extreme expression, and artistic freedom in every sense of the word.”
In Berlin, “Nureyev” will be performed starting this coming Saturday with minor deviations, practically in the same choreography as the Moscow premiere in 2017. This was the request of the Berlin State Ballet’s intendant, says Serebrennikow.
