Rudolf Nureyev - A Portrait

Nureyev will be forever the best dancer in the history of ballet! He was charimatic, handsome, extremly talented, great actor, excellent technique, with a commanding presence on stage! even if there were a thousand dancers on stage you could only see Nureyev!I was at the opening of Marguerite and Armand with Fonteyn, and it was the perfect ballet for them: she was mature, experienced, with greatmusicality and a wonderful ballerina and he was young, with a great personality, a dashing suitor for Marguerite; I can still remember and Ishiver as I do when he came from the back of the stage to Marguerite, who was dying, he ran with a cape and you could feel his anguish anddespair! I cried when the curtain came down. You will enjoy this DVD and watch it over and over again.

I love everything about Nureyev! I saw him in S.F. when I was very young and too young to appreciate his beauty. I really wanted to see his partner, Margot Fonteyn or both of them together. Thanks for all the film recordings and the improvements/enhancements on those past recordings and movies that allow us to enjoy his magnificence or their partnership as often as we want!

Nureyev was the greatest ballet dancer and perhaps greatest athlete of all time, with a life history so interesting and unique it can never be equaled. Because this was produced with his full cooperation, many of his less than admirable qualities are ignored, so if you want a balanced view I suggest you read Diane Solway's "Nureyev: His Life", a thoroughly engrossing biography. The other drawback is that this was filmed before he was diagnosed with AIDS (or at least before anyone admitted it), but that makes the more-or-less happy ending all the more tragic and ironic. The plethora of commentary by and interviews with the icon himself make this an irreplaceable document. Fascinating.

If you recall the career and brilliant dancing of Rudolf Nureyev but know little about the man and the dancer, this video definitely fills that void. There are very interesting interviews with people who influenced him, both in his little town in Russia as well as in Europe, including ballet directors, instructors, and dance partners. Nureyev himself is interviewed and does a lot of explaining of this life including, of course, his defection. There is nothing of his personal life in this video (except to say how lonely he was and that he had seven homes where he spent an average of a few weeks in each one) as this is how the dancer himself would want it. Nevertheless, it is quite an interesting chronicle of his career.

This documentary contains many very well chosen excerpts of Nureyev's extraordinary dancing (far better chosen than those in "Fonteyn and Nureyev") and an interview with Nureyev himself that gives great insights into key events in his life. It describes his career in detail and is a must-have for anyone who wants to know about one of the greatest dancers in the 20th century.

I didnt realize it was taped so long ago, and so picture quality wasnt what I expected/hoped for.

Wonderful as a period piece but most of all provides a rare opportunity to enjoy the artistry of the underappreciated and fabulous Erik Bruhn. Despite the small performance space and lack of camera angles, Erik Bruhn's talent shines through....incomparable upper body movement and exquisite partnering (especially with Carla Fracci). No wonder Nureyev considered him the only person he would want to emulate. The wonderfully corny introductions also take you back in time. Despite the technical limitations of the period, this is a winner.

He is the dancer of our lives. He speaks frankly about leaving Russia and about celebrity in the free world. I fell in love with him as did almost everyone who ever met him. He was gay but I adore him regardless of his orientation. He was a delicious person and will remain so in my mind forever.

This DVD is an excellent purchase for anyone who is interested in dance and in particular Nureyev, it delivers both compassionate and an informative view. The DVD is both autobiographical and biographical told in part by Nureyev himself as well as some of those who knew him along the way in his early years. The film gives the viewer some interesting incites into Nureyev's thought processes and his main driving force, dance - to be a dancer and to be the best he could be, give the most that could be given with everything he took on. The documentary, the central focus, is on Nureyev's passion for dance, how it started, where it led him to and the great gifts that he gave to the Art, (his immortality) during and after his parting.We see through his own words, his intelligence, humour, passion, compassion, creativity, love of dance, strength, sacrifice, loneliness and sadness. As the documentary comes to an end one can not help but be moved and touched by the enigma that was Nureyev.

I loved and I understand no good quality in sound and image but is wonderfulIt could be restored. All about Rudolf should be restored

Ils ont rejoint tous deux les étoiles : ils en étaient déjà, par leur art et par leur amour...La danse leur doit d'exister .

Wer mit Ballet nichts am Hut hat, für den ist das natürlich nichts. Aber wer ihm einmalim Leben wirklich, live, wahrhaftig begegnet ist, der hat erlebt, dass er nur ein Leben hat:den Tanz. Ich war dabei, als er Raimonda neu choreografierte. Gern hat er pro Note einenSchritt dafür gesetzt. Also alles in allem eine sehr anstrengende Choreo. Nichts mitausruhen zwischen den Takten. Seine Filme Valentino/Expodes sind, na ja. Man merkthalt, dass er nur 1,72 cm groß ist. Privat war er einer der schlimmsten Egoisten überhaupt,die mir jemals begegnet sind. Von seinem begnadeten Talent freilich war man trotzdemrestlos überzeugt. Er ist gestorben, man sagt wohl: 'Verreckt wie ein Hund.' Aber er hat demvergangenen Jahrhundert seinen unverrückbaren Stempel aufgedrückt. Ein im Sturm gelebtesLeben hat eben seinen Preis ... alles hat ein Ende ...

Im Prinzip eine sehr schön gemachte hommage an den Ausnahmekünstler Nurejev, aber mit kleinen Fehlern. Zum einen ist der Sprecher fast ausnahmlos nur in Englisch zu hören, wenigstens sind in der schriftlichen Beilage ein paar deutsche Brocken. Und zum anderen gibts unheimlich viel Gelaber von Leuten, die eigentlich niemanden groß interessieren. Zum Beispiel ellenlanges von seiner Volkschullehrerin, von seinen Weggefährten, etc. Vom privaten Leben Nurejevs zeigt es bis auf ein paar Szenen auf seiner privaten Insel leider gar nichts.