Nureyev: A Portrait of the Artist

I finally finished Julie Kavanagh’s masterpiece of a biography. It only took me almost a year. Tremendous book. Not only eloquent on all of the events and characters in Nureyev’s life – but absolutely beautiful on Nureyev’s PROCESS, and who he WAS as an artist and interpreter. She makes me SEE it. She is eloquent on the differences between Nureyev and “Misha” (Baryshnikov) – who defected after Nureyev did and became the “new boy in town”. What was it that Nureyev had that Barishnikov did not, and vice versa? I also loved to hear that while there was obviously competition between the two (and competition is healthy – especially among athletes in a similar sport, it helps you do better, strive harder) – they were deep and close friends, bonding on their Russian-ness in the midst of a sometimes bewildering Western world. The book brought me to tears at the end, not to mention the terrifying portrait of the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic, and how frightening it was, and how nobody knew ANYTHING, although there were a few pioneers who saw what was coming (Rudolf’s French doctor being one of them) and did their best to prepare. Nureyev was not ready to die. When he passed, he was still making plans. Life is precious. A precious gift. I’ll be writing more about the book – just wanted to say it is an amazing accomplishment, a true “portrait of the artist”.