Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala, Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Rudolf Nureyev was the Soviet dancer whose leap to freedom at Paris Orly Airport in 1961 at the height of the Cold War forever changed the West's view of male ballet dancers. Audiences on this side of the Iron Curtain were simply not used to the explosive jump, the borderline arrogant look-at-me attitude, the electric animal charisma Nureyev brought to the stage. The virtuoso qualities now so common among male ballet dancers are a direct result of the technical evolution that came about because of what he showed was possible.

It's perhaps worth reminding ourselves of what made Rudolf Nureyev so exciting with this clip of one of his signature roles, Le Corsaire. It's an old, fuzzy bit of film, but it does give an idea of his unparalleled vitality and artistry.

Rudolf Nureyev went on to have a stellar career as a dancer, later turning his hand to choreography and ending up as director of Paris Opera Ballet, before his death of AIDS in January 1993 at the desperately early age of 54. In the UK he was best known for his legendary partnership with The Royal Ballet's sole prima ballerina assoluta, Margot Fonteyn. In the mid-60s they rivalled The Beatles in popularity and public adulation.

Now, just short of 30 years after Rudolf Nureyev's death, international ballet stars come together in a special gala, Nureyev Legend and Legacy, that pays homage to this very special figure.

The programme was put together by the former Royal Ballet principal Nehemiah Kish and will be hosted by former Royal Ballet Director Dame Monica Mason, who was one of Nureyev's stage partners, and Ralph Fiennes, director of the 2018 film The White Crow, which tells the story of Nureyev's defection.

Among the 22 names already announced as participants in the gala is The Royal Ballet's Russian superstar, Natalia Osipova.

Natalia Osipova in Swan Lake. The Royal Ballet © 2018 ROH. Photo: Bill Cooper
Royal Ballet dancers joining her include Marcelino Sambé, Francesca Hayward, César Corrales, Vadim Muntagirov, Yasmine Naghdi and William Bracewell. From Dutch National Ballet comes the stunning Maia Makhateli; while Iana Salenko will come from Staatsballet Berlin. Oleg Ivenko who played the role of the young Nureyev in The White Crow, will dance too; as will the Brit Xander Parish, until recently a principal at the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg.

Xander Parish in Le Corsaire. Photo: Carmen Mateu
Also participating are artists from English National Ballet, Hamburg Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada. Live music will be played by The Royal Ballet Sinfonia under the baton of David Briskin. Costumes which draw on archival footage of Nureyev’s performances have been created by ballet dancer turned designer, Natalia Stewart.

Each piece in the programme has been chosen to represent one aspect of Rudolf Nureyev's life and work. And in keeping with the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation's educational mission, which reflects Nureyev's own values, a proportion of tickets for the production will be offered free of charge to ballet students and NHS workers.