{"id":115122,"date":"2026-03-17T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=115122"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:04:44","slug":"happy-birthday-rudolf-nureyev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=115122","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;A pas de deux is a dialogue of love. How can there be conversation if one partner is dumb?&#8221; &#8212; Rudolf Nureyev"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/D3fZooQW0AE3q9h.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"564\" height=\"705\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-203916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/D3fZooQW0AE3q9h.jpg 564w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/D3fZooQW0AE3q9h-160x200.jpg 160w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/D3fZooQW0AE3q9h-320x400.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/D3fZooQW0AE3q9h-80x100.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 564px) 100vw, 564px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Rudolf Nureyev &#8212; born on this day &#8212; was once asked how he got so much height in his legendary jumps. He replied, &#8220;When I am at the peak of the jump, I just pause a little bit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As though gravity didn&#8217;t work on him the way it works on us mere mortals. <\/p>\n<p>And he was right. <\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600.jpg\" alt=\"02ballet-600\" width=\"600\" height=\"330\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-115128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600-100x55.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600-200x110.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/02ballet-600-400x220.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Joan Acocella, dance critic for <i>The New Yorker<\/i>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Almost everyone who describes Nureyev eventually compares him to an animal. They bore you to death with this, but it was true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ag_r-_lPvJ8\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<i>Rudolf Nureyev&#8217;s solo debut on American TV, 1963<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\nAll quotes below come from <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0375704728?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=thesheivari-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0375704728\">Nureyev<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=thesheivari-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=0375704728\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><\/i>, by Julie Kavanagh, a wonderful biography. <\/p>\n<p>But first: Here was MY introduction to Nureyev.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aHbGqJ_MonU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Excerpt from Kavanagh&#8217;s book:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We have to remember what Rudolf looked like back then on a staid British stage,\u201d says writer and photographer Keith Money: \u201cThe bare midriff and all that glitzy Soviet campery were to some the absolute height of bad taste.\u201d Most people, however, were transported by the sight of this exquisite youth yearning up toward Margot as the curtain fell, his fingers splayed, his back arched and pelvis thrust forward \u2013 \u201clike a great Moslem whore\u201d. And it was not only his passion and animality that were so stirring, but the speculation their union prompted about the ballerina\u2019s own sexual depths. It made Verdy think of the King Kong legend \u2013 a \u201cscene of seduction and cruelty \u2026 like the whole thing really was a bedroom \u2026 and you were watching through the keyhole.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn.jpg\" alt=\"rn\" width=\"707\" height=\"520\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-115123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn.jpg 707w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn-100x74.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn-200x147.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/rn-400x294.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nRudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn<\/p>\n<p>\n\u201cThey seemed aware of each other even when their backs were turned. When their eye met, a message was passed.\u201d \u2014 Alexander Bland <\/p>\n<p>\u201cCombine the smolder, the mystery, the dynamic presence, the great streaks of vivid movement which Nureyev gives us with the beauty, the radiance, the womanliness, the queenliness and the shining movements of Dame Margot\u00e2\u0080\u00a6\u201d \u2014 Walter Terry, ballet critic, on Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2.jpg\" alt=\"margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2\" width=\"625\" height=\"339\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-115127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2.jpg 625w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2-100x54.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2-200x108.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/margot-fonteyn-rudolf-nureyev-great-ballet-partnerships-2-400x217.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Nureyev and Fonteyn<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband called [the partnership] a celestial accident. To probe into its componenets is like trying to analyze a moonbeam.\u201d \u2014 Maude Gosling, (ballerina wife of writer Nigel Gosling \u2013 good friends of Nureyev \u2013 and the two wrote a dance column together, under a joint pseudonym, Alexander Bland, see first quote above)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmotionally, technically, physically \u2013 in every way. They were just meant to meet on this earth and dance together.\u201d \u2014 Ninette de Valois<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-oc_GvdFen0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<i>Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, &#8220;Romeo and Juliet,&#8221; 1966<\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe become one body. One soul. We moved in one way. It was very complementary, every arm movement, every head movement. There were no more cultural gaps; age difference; we\u2019ve been absorbed in characterization. We became the part. And public was enthralled.\u201d \u2014 Rudolf Nureyev<\/p>\n<p><big>\u201cHe was transfigured when he danced. I\u2019d never seen such unearthly beauty. He seemed unreal; not of this world \u2013 like an archangel.\u201d \u2014 Ballet fan on Nureyev<\/big><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker.jpg\" alt=\"2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker\" width=\"1000\" height=\"791\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-115124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker-100x79.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker-200x158.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2006ah5584_rudolf_nureyev_in_the_nutcracker-400x316.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<small><em>Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here&#8217;s a link to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.venmo.com\/u\/Sheila-OMalley-3\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">my Venmo account<\/a>. And I&#8217;ve launched a Substack, <a href=\"https:\/\/sheilaomalley.substack.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sheila Variations 2.0<\/a>, if you&#8217;d like to subscribe.<\/em> <\/small><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/sheilaomalley.substack.com\/embed\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" style=\"border:1px solid #EEE; background:white;\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rudolf Nureyev &#8212; born on this day &#8212; was once asked how he got so much height in his legendary jumps. He replied, &#8220;When I am at the peak of the jump, I just pause a little bit.&#8221; As though &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=115122\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[1507,2197,690],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115122"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174486,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115122\/revisions\/174486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}