Nureyev and Friends. Uris Theater, 3 week run, 1997 Repertory: Glen Tetley (Choreographer) for “Pierrot Lunaire”, Maurice Bejart (Choreographer) for “Songs of a Wayfarer”, Flemming Flindt (Choreographer) for “The Lesson”, Dancers: Rudolf Nureyev, Anne Marie Vessel, Vivi Flindt, and Johnny Eliasen.
Russian Ballet stars are like million dollar babies that you can’t spank. Despite that they have to know when they are wrong. Here are some fun episodes….
During a matinee performance at the Uris, not liking the tempo of the orchestra, Nureyev clapped his hands to stop the conductor and then beats the tempo he wanted. It was shocking. When the curtain came in on that piece, I ran after the conductor to make sure he was OK and wouldn’t leave the theater.
At times, at the end of show when bows were taken, Nureyev would say, “Do I have time for one more bow” He meant he didn’t want to go over time with a full orchestra in the pit….
Another fun fact about Nureyev during studio rehearsal period before opening date, his preference for ordering takeout from the Russian Tea Room . Such extravagance!
His dressing room at the Uris, was like an Art Salon complete with Jamie Wyeth painting his likenesses, guests coming in and out, endless glasses of hot tea and a rather large gentle giant of a body guard standing by. The scene reminded me of a stable for a very expensive thorough-bred race horse with all the stable mates to keep him comfortable. Cats, dogs and hens included!
When he was on stage if he heard applause thru the closed front curtain, he would want to know what famous ballerina was being recognized by his audience.
Later that year 1977, at the Lunt-Fontaine Theater on Broadway, Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were both guest artists in Graham’s season performing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet as a fund raiser for the company. They didn’t rehearse this so,I got a recording of the music and made Nureyev assistant talk me through the actions so I could be prepared to call there part of the show with the orchestra.
In 1978 and 1980 he was guest artist with the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Metropolitan Opera house. He was in the epic Clytemnestra as Aegisthus, and the preacher role in Appalachian Spring. During a rehearsal he didn’t come out for his bow and I went to look for him, I found him off stage in the wings and asked, “What are you doing?”. He replied “I didn’t do it very well” I said, ” Please take your bow, Martha is waiting”. She adored him.
The very last time I saw him was at the Paris Opera. By then he was the director of the Paris Opera Ballet. He was the director 1982-1989.
