{"product_id":"9780307807342","title":"Nureyev: The Life","description":"Rudolf Nureyev had it all: beauty, genius, charm, passion, and sex appeal. No other  dancer of our time has generated the same excitement, for both men and women, on  or off the stage. With \u003ci\u003eNureyev: The Life,\u003c\/i\u003e Julie Kavanagh shows how his intense drive  and passion for dance propelled him from a poor, Tatar-peasant background to the  most sophisticated circles of London, Paris, and New York. His dramatic defection  to the West in l961 created a Cold War crisis and made him an instant celebrity,  but this was just the beginning. Nureyev spent the rest of his life breaking barriers:  reinventing male technique, \"crashing the gates\" of modern dance, iconoclastically  updating the most hallowed classics, and making dance history by partnering England' s \u003ci\u003eprima ballerina assoluta\u003c\/i\u003e, Margot Fonteyn--a woman twice his age.  He danced for  almost all the major choreographers--Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kenneth  MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit--his main motive, he claimed,  for having left the Kirov. But Nureyev also made it his mission to stage Russia's  full-length masterpieces in the West. His highly personal productions of \u003ci\u003eSwan Lake,  The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e La Bayadère\u003c\/i\u003e are the mainstays of  the Paris Opéra Ballet repertory to this day. An inspirational director and teacher,  Nureyev was a Diaghilev-like mentor to young protégés across the globe--from Karen  Kain and Monica Mason (now directors themselves), to Sylvie Guillem, Elisabeth Platel,  Laurent Hilaire and Kenneth Greve. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Sex, as much as dance, was a driving force for  Nureyev. From his first secret liaison in Russia to his tempestuous relationship  with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, we see not only Nureyev's notorious homosexual  history unfold, but also learn of his profound effect on women--whether a Sixties  wild child or Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill or the aging Marlene Dietrich. Among  the first victims of AIDS, Nureyev was diagnosed HIV positive in 1984 but defied  the disease for nearly a decade, dancing, directing the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographing,  and even beginning a new career as a conductor. Still making plans for the future,  Nureyev finally succumbed and died in January l993.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Drawing on previously undisclosed  letters, diaries, home-movie footage, interviews with Nureyev's inner circle, and  her own dance background, Julie Kavanagh gives the most intimate, revealing, and  dramatic picture we have ever had of this dazzling, complex figure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNOTE: This edition does not include photos.","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46513418469617,"sku":"9780307807342","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9780307807342_p0.jpg?v=1765408486","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780307807342","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}