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 Glimpsing Nureyev

Nureyev and Friends, a recent tribute event at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, opened with an introduction from Charles Jude, the longtime protégé of Rudolf Nureyev at the Paris Opera Ballet. Jude’s remarks were brief but laced with devotion and gratitude for his mentor. They set the stage for a program that was designed not only with excellence, but with an obvious amount of care. 

Performance

Nureyev and Friends Gala

Place

Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Hong Kong, March 22, 2025

Words

Alice Courtright

Dorothée Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio in pas de deux from Nureyev's “Swan Lake.” Photograph by Tony Luk

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The show opened with a gorgeous pas de deux from Act III of “La Bayadère”danced by Mariinsky Ballet first soloist Maria Khoreva and Dutch National Ballet principal Jacobo Tissi. They moved together with such restraint and sensitivity, the air of the Hong Kong Cultural Center was filled with a throbbing tenderness. 

The backdrop changed to an overly conspicuous scene of a graveyard: it was time for “Giselle.” Kentaro Mitsumori, principal dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet, threw his arms open wide at the start of his solo, as though invoking Nureyev’s presence. He dazzled the audience with his high leaps and serious demeanor. 

As the dances unfolded, each one honored aspects of Nureyev’s legendary career. Hamburg principal Alexandr Trusch brought to mind Nureyev’s famous partnering with Margot Fonteyn as he swung around his Lady in White, Alina Cojocaru. Royal Ballet first soloist Luca Acri in the thrilling “Le Corsaire” pas de deux was a crowd pleaser, lifting up Nureyev’s showmanship and popularity with the audience, in what was Nureyev’s first ever encore. Tissi, in glittering gold and white for the “Sleeping Beauty” variation, reminded me of many costumes Nureyev wore, some of which were featured in the foyer of the Cultural Center, out of Charles Jude’s private collection. 

Dorothée Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio in the pas de deux from Nureyev's “Cinderella.” Photograph by Tony Luk

One particularly delightful and well-chosen pair was Paris Opera Ballet étoile couple Dorothée Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio. They danced scenes from Nureyev’s “Cinderella” and “Swan Lake.” Their partnership was not just evocative, it was creative. Gilbert in particular understood the kinds of shapes Nureyev was trying to create and how to embody them. She swooped down and up with Ganio in “Swan Lake,” looking just like the peculiar, magnificent bird Nureyev must have intended. In the adagio pas de deux from Act I of “Cinderella,” she wore a fabulous silver flapper dress right out of The Great Gatsby. She was artistic and playful; she masterfully moved her feet in curious rotating circles while in a lift. For a moment, the audience was inside Nureyev’s mind and the modern period that inspired him.

Perhaps the most exciting and rich moment of the tribute show came in the second act, when Lam Chun-Wing performed a solo from Nureyev’s “Manfred.” Chun-Wing, originally from Hong Kong, is now a sujet for the Paris Opera Ballet. He was the first Chinese dancer hired there, and dancing in Hong Kong for a home crowd felt charged. The crowd was poised to whoop and cheer for him, but Chun-Wing did not come out for another princely pas de deux or spectacle of technique and prowess. Instead, he delivered a performance that powerfully and hauntingly evoked Manfred’s anti-heroic spirit. He became the wretched Byronic protagonist who had “a strong curse” upon his soul for his awful sins. Chun-Wing revived the cold, tortured, frustrated seeker of absolution, oblivion and even death, an unrepentant communer of the dead and of the spirit world. It was moody, psychological, and fantastic.

Lam Chun-Wing in Nureyev’s “Manfred.” Photograph by Tony Luk

In a video clip after intermission, Mikhail Baryshnikov remembered his contemporary. His eyes were bright as he spoke slowly and poetically. “Rudolph emerged to everybody’s surprise in the early ’60s, like discovering a wild flower which had never existed before,” Baryshnikov said:

This flower emerged in the middle of nowhere, practically, emerged somewhere like in a desert or on a mountain. A flower of infinite beauty. You could admire it, you could be amazed by it, you could touch it, but you could never cut this flower, because this flower had very strong roots, a very strong stem which supported that beauty. Rudolf was an unusual man in all respects: an instinctive intelligence, constant curiosity, extraordinary discipline. That was his goal in life. And of course a love of performing. He loved strong women, loyal men. He loved his life. I learnt a lot from him, although we were very different performers, and I’ll miss him for the rest of my life, that’s for sure.

The show was an education in itself and a pleasure to behold. Wandering through the costume exhibit afterward, I felt full of awe for this great dancer who lived before my time, whom I can now only experience in vintage footage. Watching the video of Nureyev, though, I’ve the strong sense that though the celebrations of his work and life live on through dance—crafted with excellence and intention by the best we have—I’ve only glimpsed who Nureyev was, that I’ve never seen anyone like him dance in my life. I wonder if I ever will. I hope so. 

“Nureyev & Friends” was expertly designed by David Makhateli, Chun-Wing, and Jude. A documentary and charming talk with Jude rounded out the auxiliary events.

Alice Courtright


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