Rudolf Nureyev - Dance to Freedom


Rudolf Nureyev - Dance to Freedom

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ARCHIVE VOICE-OVER: 'Rudolf Nureyev.

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'The critics have exhausted their fondest superlatives.

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'The audiences have cheered until their voices have departed.

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'Today, in our own time,

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'the tradition of the supreme dancer flames again

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'in the blazing intensity of this young disciple of movement.'

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CHATTER

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Are you going to stay?

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It is such an incredible story that the man escape

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at that time from the KGB, and he jumps!

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-TRANSLATION FROM RUSSIAN:

-The story hit like an atom bomb.

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It was like a film.

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It was incredible.

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And this is the last time I will speak of Rudolf Nureyev!

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Nureyev was in danger. He betrayed his country.

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The KGB had plans to destroy him.

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He said to me, "I won't have to hide myself behind an Iron Curtain."

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For him, freedom was something new.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Telling the truth is not always the best thing.

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He was a difficult partner.

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You know, he was such a star.

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APPLAUSE

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He wanted to conquer the world,

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and it was his right to conquer the world.

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It was a miracle.

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A miracle.

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-TRANSLATION:

-One day,

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while I was walking along the gallery of the rehearsal studio,

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I saw a young dancer I hadn't seen before.

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His stature was exquisite.

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The tension in his body...

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..the extension he got in his arabesque...

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he was unique.

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He wasn't perfect.

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But Nureyev was so exciting - he had an enormously expressive

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technique of revolving on the very tips of his toes.

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You could feel his expression.

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TRANSLATION: Of course, we were looking at him with great interest.

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Whenever he had classes, we always came to see how he trained.

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The same classroom we are in now!

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-TRANSLATION:

-We all felt very privileged

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that we got into this famous school.

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It was the dream of every young dancer.

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It was very hard to get a place.

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And so, when Rudik climbed so quickly to dance as a soloist,

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this was just unprecedented.

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The person that made that happen

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was the woman who chose him as a partner - Natalia Dudinskaya.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Dudinskaya was a prima ballerina.

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Dancers aren't defined like that any more,

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but she was a prima ballerina back then,

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the grandest of them all.

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She was our inspiration, first of all.

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The company treated her with great respect.

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Natalia Dudinskaya had been a huge star from the 1930s.

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Her husband, Konstantin Sergeyev,

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was the artistic director of the Kirov.

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He was a very important dancer for the company, and a noble one,

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someone who represented the ideal Soviet dancer.

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But Sergeyev and Nureyev had a very complicated relationship.

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Stop!

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Stop, stop, stop, spasibo.

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Sergeyev clearly believed in him as a dancer,

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he knew that he was capable of carrying the company

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and carrying those roles with his wife.

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On the other hand, what Nureyev was doing,

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his behaviour within the company, was likely very upsetting,

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because Nureyev showed no respect.

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Rudik stormed in like a whirlwind, ripping everything apart.

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He was very impulsive, he would always do something extraordinary,

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unusual, and every time it was kind of a shock for everyone.

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It was his character.

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-TRANSLATION:

-He would just snap.

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He had a terrible temper.

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He was so rude and insulting.

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But he was honest, childlike, so somehow you were on his side.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Rudik had rivals in a professional sense.

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Yuri Soloviev had a great natural talent.

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He had what we call soft legs.

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He could take off and achieve such fantastic height with his jump

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that he was compared to Gagarin.

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He was called Cosmic Yuri,

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because he could keep himself in the air for a longer time than Nureyev.

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But the most talented dancers

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aren't those who rely on their natural talents,

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but those who can overcome any shortcomings they have.

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And that's what made Rudolf great.

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He was a great dancer, but he had bad attitude.

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We had traditions.

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It was our responsibility as students

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to wash the floor after class.

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Rudik would never do it.

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Rudolf.

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He spoke like a prince to his servant.

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To Sergeyev, if you can believe it!

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He was not just the head of the theatre,

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but one of Russia's best dancers of the 20th century.

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Yuri Soloviev appeared and said to him,

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"Water it immediately or I'll beat you up."

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Yuri was quite a big boy.

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He did it, but he was so angry,

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because he was made to water the floor like the rest of us mortals.

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TRANSLATION: Their characters were very different.

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Nureyev's temperament meant he pushed and pushed the whole time.

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Yuri was less driven to get the good parts.

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He had patience. Rudolf was impatient.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Of course, he was a part of the Kirov theatre company,

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but he was always an outsider, he had no friends there.

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A part of the collective, but a very individual part.

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I became his confidante.

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I wasn't a dancer, so there was no jealousy -

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I was just happy to share in his success.

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He loved being photographed.

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When he looked at my photos, he said,

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"Look at this real narcissist!"

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He loved it that something would remain of these moments.

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Going to Paris meant a lot to him.

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He really wanted to go on that tour.

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I remember how obsessed he was with the idea of Paris.

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Nureyev had great expectations, because in 1961

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it was the very first time the company toured in the West.

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The company was founded in 1730,

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and no-one in any way... They never came to the West.

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By the time the Kirov was deciding on the final roster for the tour,

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Nureyev knew that he was on his final warning,

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and a meeting was held to reprimand him for his behaviour.

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The title of the meeting was

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"The conduct of party member Nureyev."

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And I said to Rudik, "This is your last chance.

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"I beg you, please don't say anything to make them mad."

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But Rudik always created tension with the KGB,

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the controlling organisations, as we say.

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How would he behave?

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But then again, he was unique in our theatre.

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Like him or loathe him, there was nobody like him.

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On stage, he would be the centre of attention.

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He told me that in the meeting, he was only given a verbal reprimand,

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so that meant he would be able to go abroad on the tour.

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Nothing was written down in his file.

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And I said,

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"Rudik, don't you realise you've really insulted Yuri Soloviev?"

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Yuri was stung by that insult, and it stayed with him.

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Rudolf hadn't been chosen.

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DOORS SLAM

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Everyone knows, if you're going to take anyone, take Rudolf.

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We tried to calm him down and control his emotions.

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This was a despair for him.

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There was another reason.

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Nureyev had the same repertoire as Sergeyev,

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and Sergeyev wanted to dance again.

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Sergeyev and Dudinskaya were hoping that those performances

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would be a swansong that would allow them to have a final triumph

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in the West as dancers of the Kirov.

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But the chance came with a young French lady called Janine Ringuet,

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and Janine Ringuet was sent to Leningrad to see the company

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and to organise the tour, and to organise also the cast.

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And Konstantin Sergeyev told her,

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"OK, you've seen all the ballets that should come to Paris."

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And in the evening,

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she saw that Don Quixote had to be performed.

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She said, "Well, there's Don Quixote,

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"I would like to see it, maybe it's interesting."

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And Sergeyev told her,

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"No, it's a very old production,

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"you will probably not appreciate it,

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don't go, it's really no interest."

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She had to see it.

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And Janine understood that she'd just found her star.

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And she sent a telegram to her boss saying,

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"I have found the best dancer of the world."

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And her producer answered her,

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"Janine, you are a little too young to say that."

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But she was right.

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Whoo!

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I remember it like it was yesterday.

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He's running towards me.

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"I will be dancing in Paris!" he said.

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"2-0, we win!

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"Sergeyev gave me Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty."

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So this is already...poor Nureyev, he just wanted to dance,

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he was refused, and suddenly he became a political problem.

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And, politically, it was a very difficult time.

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The Kirov would arrive at the top of the Cold War.

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Well, '61 was an extraordinary year.

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I mean, this is the year of the Cuban Revolution,

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this is the period of the building of the Berlin wall.

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It's also the year when the Soviet Union put Yuri Gagarin,

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the first man up in space.

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And this showed that the Soviet Union was scientifically

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and technologically ahead of the Americans.

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They were winning the Cold War.

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With the Kirov, "We will take this culture out to the West

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"to show to you that the Soviet Union is not only technologically superior,

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"we have a superior culture."

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So the Kirov coming as it did in 1961

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was an extraordinary step forward for the Soviet Union,

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and of course an extraordinary moment in the history of the Cold War.

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-TRANSLATION:

-This was going to be a crucial tour,

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an important mission for the KGB.

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A huge company travelling,

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performing in major Western capitals, Paris and London,

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which meant security and surveillance was paramount.

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The operative agent in charge was specially chosen.

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He was Vitaly Strizhevsky.

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I think he was sent from Moscow.

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TRANSLATION: Strizhevsky's main task

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was to prevent Nureyev from being involved in any kind of scandal.

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And the KGB had to ensure this person stayed within the bounds

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of socialist realism, as we used to say.

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He was an interesting-looking man,

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but I have to say these accompanying guys, as we called them,

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these agents, they were a special breed.

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You could tell from their walk.

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He isn't a dancer, he isn't a director or a coach -

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he's the accompanying guy.

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This word "accompanying,"

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it suited him, the one who follows your behaviour abroad.

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He knew that Nureyev was considered rude, ambitious, vain.

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He was just a complete anarchist!

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I came with them to the airport, and a rumour went round

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that somebody was going to be prevented from going.

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When Rudik heard this, he went pale.

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I said, "Rudik, relax - nobody can take your place."

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"That's not true," he said.

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In fact, it was a member of the corps de ballet who was sent back.

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Nothing to do with Rudolf.

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But in the heat of the moment, he was sure it was him,

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for all his sins.

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Paris was a fairytale, it was a dream.

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It was charged with this sense of freedom.

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Paris is a moveable feast, as Hemingway said.

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It filled me with joy.

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I felt so comfortable there.

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See, I'm shivering just thinking about it!

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It made feel that I could be liked.

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I can be loved and achieve success.

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I could break out of the way I'd been taught to think about myself.

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Once they got there,

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who on earth could bear to share a room with Rudik?

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It seemed to be that he was always tense and on edge.

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I could never have done it -

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I never felt any personal connection with Rudolf.

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The two great individualists of the company ended up in the same room.

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That was a surprise!

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One with an enormous jump, the other with an enormous attitude.

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THEY CHANT AND LAUGH

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They make a big reception in Paris Opera,

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you know, to introduce dancers for the press.

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This reception was in the Foyer De La Danse,

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just behind the stage in Paris Opera.

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And it was very strange, because all the Russian was in one side,

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and the French was to the right side,

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and in the middle was the photographers and press.

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In front of us, we could watch the Russians,

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and they looked very strange, you know, very old-fashioned.

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Only one boy was different from the other ones,

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and we just noticed him immediately -

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said, "Look, this one is different."

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Little by little he moved behind all the other ones,

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crossed behind the photograph and the press,

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and came to us and started to speak.

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Oh, merci!

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I'm Rudolf Nureyev.

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I don't speak French, but I speak English very good.

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'We start to talk, and he was talking in English already,

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'and he asked questions, and we said,'

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"Why don't we go to dinner with him if he's interesting?"

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And we ask him.

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"Oh, yes, I would like very much to go with you and talk to you,

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"ask you a lot of questions, but I need permission."

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'We went to talk to Sergeyev.'

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..to show Rudolf Paris? I think it's a very good idea!

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-Paris for Rudolf?

-Yes.

-No, it's not so good idea.

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And he looks so embarrassed, and he said,

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"No, no, you know, you need...

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"It's difficult, and the company, they are tired,

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"they need to go to bed very early..."

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..and Rudolf is tired, too.

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I'm not tired.

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"Yes, but, you know, we need another person - he could not go alone."

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I said, "Well, give us another dancer, it doesn't matter."

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So finally they gave us Soloviev.

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How many theatres are in Paris?

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There are a lot of theatres.

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How many people are in your company?

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'Rudolf was talking all the time.'

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Who is your tailor?

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'The other dancer, he was very shy, not talking very much, you know?'

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He was very shy and Rudolf was an extrovert.

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Have you been in Russia?

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Kirov, the best.

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You will see.

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What roles do you dance?

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'He was very, very curious about everything,'

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and he asked questions about ballet, the tradition, the French tradition,

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the French school, and we start to talk a lot.

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And so then, we said, "Now you have to come back to your hotel

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"because you need to sleep." "OK, OK, OK."

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So we went to the... He was living in the Place de la Republique,

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and we bring the both of them to the hotel.

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Soloviev go immediately to the hotel, but not Rudolf.

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He stand in front of the car and he look at...

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You know it was very strange, he was fixed on us.

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And I say, "What happened?"

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And so I go outside.

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And he said to me,

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"You know, it's been such a wonderful evening,

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"I stay outside because I'm sure we don't see each other any more."

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I say, "Why?" "Oh, because, you know,

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"they give me one permission but maybe not two permission."

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I said, "Don't be silly."

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Of course we will!

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No more permission.

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Rudolf...

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And there is a box of chocolate, and we said, "Take the box."

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"No, no, no!"

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-I take one.

-Good!

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"But if we see each other, I will take two more after,

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"then two more, and so on."

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THEY LAUGH

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'From the start, Nureyev was kept under constant surveillance.'

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Thank you for the evening.

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'Clearly, this wasn't going to be easy.'

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Strizhevsky needed to use everything in his power

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to succeed in his mission.

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Nureyev was not planned for the first night, for the first evening,

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which was certainly a way for Sergeyev to say,

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"OK, you are on the tour, but you are not on the first evening."

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But he danced at the rehearsal.

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And what the Soviets did not know

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is that there was someone like Rene Sirvin, who saw Nureyev rehearsing.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Nureyev danced the dress rehearsal

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the day before the opening night and that's where I first saw him.

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Immediately, I fell under the spell of this extraordinary young dancer.

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And he immediately tells to everybody in Paris,

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"There is a star at the Paris Opera."

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So when Nureyev's stage debut finally came, I could hardly wait.

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The corps de ballet entered in the middle.

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They went down the ramp, they turned sideways,

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and you could see one coming down, then two, then three, then four,

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up to 12.

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And people started clapping, thinking that was all,

0:27:490:27:52

but then there were 12 more, and then there were more.

0:27:520:27:56

Another 10!

0:27:560:27:58

There were 32 in total.

0:27:580:28:01

It was just extraordinary.

0:28:010:28:03

We had never seen anything like it ever.

0:28:030:28:07

We saw the shades of Bayadere, and then I really saw -

0:28:120:28:16

I'm not exaggerating - a bomb come on stage.

0:28:160:28:19

With his white feather, his blue tunic,

0:28:450:28:48

this man ran on stage to do his variation, I couldn't believe it.

0:28:480:28:53

I thought it was like a kamikaze!

0:28:530:28:55

It was new for us, and he kept the attention of everybody.

0:29:020:29:07

The little boy when we go outside is a great, great, great artist.

0:29:070:29:12

And he dance like...

0:29:130:29:15

..I could not explain, you know?

0:29:160:29:18

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:30:100:30:12

Nureyev captured the imagination of Paris.

0:30:200:30:25

He was so exotic. When he first appeared,

0:30:250:30:28

the audience couldn't believe their eyes,

0:30:280:30:30

couldn't believe what they were seeing.

0:30:300:30:32

APPLAUSE

0:30:320:30:34

-AUDIENCE:

-Incroyable! Fantastique! Bravo! Bravo!

0:30:340:30:38

-TRANSLATION:

-We had a huge success.

0:30:410:30:44

And then Sergeyev came over to us and said, "Congratulations.

0:30:440:30:48

"But Rudik, don't forget it's a Saturday.

0:30:480:30:52

"On Saturdays, you always get an easier, more welcoming audience."

0:30:520:30:56

'Rudik was furious.

0:30:590:31:01

'I took the criticism. Swallowed this grain of salt, as we say.'

0:31:010:31:07

But he stormed off.

0:31:070:31:09

Every actor needs reassurance and a good word.

0:31:090:31:12

He needed it more than anyone.

0:31:140:31:17

After the show, Sergeyev said, "Go talk to him, but not too much,

0:31:220:31:26

"and don't tell him that he's fantastic, it's not necessary."

0:31:260:31:28

Er...

0:31:300:31:31

Maybe you are tired?

0:31:310:31:34

Well, we went to see Rudolf, I said, "Wonderful," and he was so happy.

0:31:370:31:40

He said, "Tonight, I want to talk to you.

0:31:400:31:43

"We shall meet in the street nearby the hotel." OK.

0:31:430:31:46

And the first night, of course, it was very interesting

0:31:500:31:53

because he never saw Clara Saint before.

0:31:530:31:56

'She was a wonderful person, very nice, very beautiful, very calm.

0:31:570:32:02

'She knew le tout Paris, I mean, she knew everybody in Paris.'

0:32:030:32:07

So it was a relationship that attracted

0:32:070:32:11

and was agreeable to Rudolf.

0:32:110:32:14

-TRANSLATION:

-'Clara Saint was introduced to Nureyev that night.

0:32:140:32:19

'She was a rich, young socialite.'

0:32:190:32:21

Her fiance was one of the sons of the French Culture Minister,

0:32:210:32:25

Andre Malraux. And I'd say she fell in love with Nureyev.

0:32:250:32:29

This is Clara.

0:32:320:32:34

Clara Saint is a bit of a mystery in this story.

0:32:390:32:42

She played a very big role in Nureyev's life in Paris

0:32:420:32:46

and in his defection.

0:32:460:32:47

But she was always a very private person.

0:32:470:32:50

To this day, she refuses to be filmed and even to be photographed.

0:32:500:32:54

-CLARA:

-'It was incredible.

0:32:580:33:00

'He was 23 years old.

0:33:000:33:03

'He was very curious of everything, you know?

0:33:030:33:06

'And when you have someone asking all the time,

0:33:080:33:11

' "I want to see this, I want to go there," it's interesting.'

0:33:110:33:16

'She was kind of a little Don Juan at that time.'

0:33:160:33:19

She was very free and maybe she saw the fact of seducing Rudolf

0:33:190:33:25

like a little challenge like that. But he was gorgeous.

0:33:250:33:28

It was quite normal, in a way, that she was attracted to him.

0:33:280:33:32

-CLARA:

-'There was nothing sexual. C'etait beaucoup plus pur que ca.'

0:33:340:33:38

'He was much more pure?'

0:33:380:33:40

'Yup. He was like a child.

0:33:400:33:44

'I remember he wanted to have a wig. So we went and...

0:33:440:33:47

'He wanted to have the wig of Marilyn Monroe, blonde.

0:33:470:33:51

-'And the man was so surprised also.'

-SHE LAUGHS

0:33:510:33:56

Very quickly, Nureyev formed a small, small circle of friends

0:33:590:34:07

between Clara Saint and Pierre Lacotte.

0:34:070:34:11

One night, he said, "I would like to see a musical.

0:34:110:34:14

"West Side Story, I heard it's fantastic."

0:34:140:34:17

And, outside, when we went to the street,

0:34:170:34:19

he start to dance the cha-cha-cha.

0:34:190:34:21

At that time, it was the beginning of the rebellion

0:34:230:34:26

in western society,

0:34:260:34:28

the beginning of a sensation that you can do whatever you want.

0:34:280:34:33

He said, "I would like to see a cabaret,"

0:34:410:34:43

and we thought the Crazy Horse Saloon would be a good thing for him to go,

0:34:430:34:47

so we went there.

0:34:470:34:48

-CLARA:

-'Well, we took a table there and he was...

0:34:500:34:54

'He couldn't believe what he saw.

0:34:560:34:58

'All the girls, they dance.

0:35:000:35:03

'It was perfect. He was so surprised.

0:35:090:35:12

'Surprised and seduced.'

0:35:150:35:17

We know today Nureyev had relationships

0:35:200:35:22

with both men and women over the course of his life.

0:35:220:35:25

But, in 1961, Nureyev's sexuality was not something

0:35:260:35:30

that he discussed openly.

0:35:300:35:32

-TRANSLATION:

-My opinion is that, at this moment,

0:35:440:35:48

Clara Saint was more in love with Nureyev than her fiance.

0:35:480:35:53

I think that she was seduced and he became something wonderful

0:35:540:35:58

and then it became not easy and not possible.

0:35:580:36:02

And then she just said, "Bon, tant pis."

0:36:020:36:05

I love trains. I was born on a train.

0:36:170:36:21

-CLARA:

-'I remember he wanted to have un train electrique.

0:36:220:36:26

'So, I went with him to a shop called Le Nain Bleu.'

0:36:270:36:32

'Of course, Clara bought him the electric train.'

0:36:330:36:37

"Look behind me, there is somebody who will follow us.

0:36:380:36:41

"It's a member of the KGB."

0:36:410:36:43

'Were you aware you were being followed?'

0:36:440:36:47

'I didn't care, a black car maybe, I don't know.'

0:36:470:36:51

THEY WHISPER

0:36:510:36:52

All the time, we have those people behind us, always.

0:36:520:36:56

And at least one, maybe two.

0:36:570:36:59

What could we do?

0:37:020:37:03

TRANSLATION: Of course, Strizhevsky gathered information

0:37:050:37:09

about Nureyev's friends and their activities together.

0:37:090:37:12

All his reports were sent back to his KGB superiors in Moscow.

0:37:120:37:17

He was reporting the developing trend of Nureyev's bad behaviour.

0:37:170:37:22

-TRANSLATION:

-After the performance every evening,

0:37:380:37:42

he would watch for Rudik like a hawk.

0:37:420:37:44

He just couldn't keep up with Rudik.

0:37:470:37:49

It was impossible to get him.

0:37:490:37:51

We would sneak through the kitchen door,

0:37:560:37:58

through the restaurant, to fool the accompanying man.

0:37:580:38:02

"Who cares? I'll risk it. What's the worst thing that can happen?

0:38:020:38:07

"They won't take me on the next tour?

0:38:070:38:11

"But now I can live according to my heart.

0:38:110:38:15

"I want to live in Paris like I'm in Paris,

0:38:150:38:18

"not a provincial shit hole."

0:38:180:38:20

-TRANSLATION:

-He knew he was being followed. Openly followed.

0:38:250:38:30

And, one night, when he was in Maxim's,

0:38:300:38:32

he was being tailed by a woman from the KGB.

0:38:320:38:35

At one point, he said to the maitre d',

0:38:360:38:39

"Take this bread roll and water, and take them to this bitch.

0:38:390:38:43

"She doesn't deserve anything better."

0:38:430:38:46

And the maitre d' did it, of course.

0:38:460:38:48

'It must have been hard to swallow!'

0:38:490:38:51

-TRANSLATION:

-I remember Strizhevsky sitting in the lobby,

0:38:590:39:03

in a groggy state.

0:39:030:39:04

Like a suffering Hamlet.

0:39:060:39:09

"What am I to do?"

0:39:090:39:11

And, when Rudik appeared, he got incensed.

0:39:150:39:19

It was natural.

0:39:240:39:26

Once Strizhevsky realised he was not going to be able to stop Nureyev

0:39:300:39:34

from seeing his friends and from going out,

0:39:340:39:36

he started to include them in his reports

0:39:360:39:38

and to smear them as he went along, in part, to cover himself

0:39:380:39:43

in case anything went wrong.

0:39:430:39:44

We know from the files that were accessed in the early 1990s

0:39:460:39:50

after the perestroika,

0:39:500:39:51

that his reports included mention of Clara Saint being a CIA operative.

0:39:510:39:57

-CLARA:

-'Incroyable.

0:39:590:40:02

'And I was paid also(!)'

0:40:020:40:05

'So you were a paid CIA agent?'

0:40:050:40:07

'Yes, yes, I was.

0:40:070:40:08

'Yes, I was Mata Hari!'

0:40:100:40:12

-TRANSLATION:

-Strizhevsky was feeding Moscow with information he felt

0:40:140:40:20

would take the blame off his shoulders

0:40:200:40:23

and the shoulders of his bosses, for the ongoing problems with Nureyev.

0:40:230:40:27

On the opening night of a ballet called The Stone Flower,

0:40:430:40:46

I remember Nureyev invited Clara to join him

0:40:460:40:49

in the box reserved for Soviet artists.

0:40:490:40:52

Can you imagine the situation?

0:40:520:40:55

This young dancer, considered insubordinate,

0:40:550:40:59

seeing the performance in the official box with this young lady,

0:40:590:41:05

very rich, the emblem of capitalism.

0:41:050:41:09

Sergeyev was furious, of course, but Nureyev just couldn't care less.

0:41:120:41:17

BALLET MUSIC

0:41:190:41:22

It was during this performance that Clara learnt

0:41:310:41:35

that her fiance and her fiance's brother, the two sons of Malraux,

0:41:350:41:40

had died in a car accident.

0:41:400:41:42

Of course, it was a terrible shock.

0:41:440:41:48

'It must have been terribly difficult.

0:41:480:41:50

'Rudolf just became part of this turmoil, this tourbillon,'

0:41:510:41:56

to try and fill in this terrible vide.

0:41:560:42:00

-CLARA:

-'The two brothers died in a car accident in the south of France,

0:42:030:42:10

'coming back from Corsica.

0:42:100:42:13

'It was my car.

0:42:150:42:17

'I didn't want to look at the magazines,

0:42:170:42:21

'all the newspapers telling this story.

0:42:210:42:24

'For me, it was very important to plus penser.

0:42:250:42:30

'To not think any more?'

0:42:300:42:31

'Yeah.'

0:42:310:42:32

She was very, very strong, in a way,

0:42:340:42:37

but she need to be surrounded with friends

0:42:370:42:40

and she don't want to be alone any more,

0:42:400:42:43

so she was with us all the time.

0:42:430:42:45

PIANO PLAYS BALLET TUTOR GIVES DIRECTIONS

0:42:500:42:54

Nureyev was the discovery of the Paris tour for the audience

0:43:000:43:04

and, to an extent, the glory he brought to the Kirov in Paris

0:43:040:43:09

reflected on everyone.

0:43:090:43:12

At that point, they had been so successful, the Kirov was supposed

0:43:120:43:16

to move to the arena that had 5,000 seats to fill, the Palais Des Sports.

0:43:160:43:21

-TRANSLATION:

-The Palais Des Sports was a challenge.

0:43:220:43:24

To fill 5,000 seats in that era was a challenge.

0:43:240:43:28

They didn't know if it could be done with a ballet.

0:43:280:43:31

But, in response to Strizhevsky's reports,

0:43:510:43:54

Moscow decided to issue a recall order for Nureyev.

0:43:540:43:58

It put Sergeyev in a very difficult position

0:44:090:44:12

and Sergeyev knew that Nureyev was meant to open Swan Lake.

0:44:120:44:16

The responsibility for the success of the tour

0:44:210:44:24

came to lie with the Soviet embassy.

0:44:240:44:27

Reading their reports, it is clear the ambassador became involved.

0:44:270:44:32

He had tried to save the tour by keeping Nureyev in Paris,

0:44:320:44:36

against the recall order from Moscow.

0:44:360:44:38

Now, ironically, Sergeyev has to become Nureyev's protector.

0:44:520:44:56

MUSIC FADES IN

0:45:400:45:43

'It was extraordinary for him.'

0:45:490:45:52

The freedom was something new.

0:45:520:45:54

And, you know, for instance they asked him don't go with us,

0:45:540:45:59

he said, "Why do I have to hide myself behind an Iron Curtain?

0:45:590:46:03

"I'm there to profit of life, I will go."

0:46:030:46:07

He had his own character, very strong.

0:46:070:46:10

'The first opening night of Swan Lake, in the third act,

0:46:100:46:13

'he stopped the orchestra during the performance.

0:46:130:46:16

AUDIENCE GASPS

0:46:220:46:24

ORCHESTRA STOPS

0:46:280:46:30

He stand up and he said...

0:46:390:46:41

-TRANSLATION:

-The whole auditorium went quiet.

0:46:410:46:44

And, of course, Sergeyev was furious against him -

0:46:550:46:59

furious, furious, furious.

0:46:590:47:00

'Nothing like this had ever happened before.'

0:47:040:47:07

And he came back, and he said to the conductor, "You can go."

0:47:090:47:13

And, in myself, I said, "My God, you have to dance much better than ever."

0:47:130:47:18

So he started to dance, and he danced...beautifully.

0:47:250:47:29

And, the next day, the press wrote that Nureyev,

0:47:330:47:36

with a regal gesture, stopped the orchestra

0:47:360:47:40

and demonstrated his virtuosity.

0:47:400:47:42

MUSIC FINALE

0:47:440:47:46

AUDIENCE CHEERS

0:47:460:47:48

'That made him feel invincible.

0:47:480:47:50

'And, from this point, his success reached new heights.'

0:48:000:48:03

He became intoxicated with himself

0:48:100:48:12

and started to think that anything was allowed.

0:48:120:48:15

-TRANSLATION:

-Of course, all of this tried Strizhevsky's patience.

0:48:280:48:32

-TRANSLATION:

-You never know what can explode a person from the inside.

0:48:380:48:42

STRIZHEVSKY SHOUTS ANGRILY

0:48:420:48:46

That was a hard mission for Strizhevsky.

0:48:460:48:49

TRANSLATION: Yuri didn't tell me much about what happened

0:49:160:49:19

between him and Rudik that night, but I heard the rumours.

0:49:190:49:24

The forbidden fruit is too sweet, so to speak.

0:49:240:49:27

I don't know exactly what happened but, when you share a room on tour,

0:49:400:49:45

it's natural to ask your roommate for a massage.

0:49:450:49:48

-TRANSLATION:

-I don't want to talk about it.

0:49:580:50:01

Yuri never told me what happened about that.

0:50:010:50:04

He made hints and Alla Osipenko told me, "Yes, there was some incident."

0:50:040:50:09

Yes, there was some incident.

0:50:260:50:28

That's why Yuri pushed him out and they parted company.

0:50:280:50:31

He needed to do anything at this point

0:51:040:51:07

to turn the mission to his advantage.

0:51:070:51:09

It was his right to use the influence

0:51:100:51:12

of other members of the company against Nureyev.

0:51:120:51:15

While I was a KGB officer,

0:51:560:51:59

I was able to see the agents' operative documents.

0:51:590:52:03

And it's clear, from this moment,

0:52:030:52:05

Yuri Soloviev became Strizhevsky's main informer

0:52:050:52:10

and what he had to say made all the difference.

0:52:100:52:13

You know, they accused me to push Rudolf to leave the company.

0:52:190:52:23

That I know they did it and it was so stupid

0:52:260:52:29

because if really we wanted to do it,

0:52:290:52:31

don't you think it would easier to go to the police?

0:52:310:52:35

Even if the KGB was behind us and say to Rudolf,

0:52:350:52:39

"If you want to leave, you go there and sign, 'I want to stay in.' "

0:52:390:52:44

It was very strange... Very easy.

0:52:440:52:46

Just before the company was going to move to London, a recall order,

0:52:460:52:51

a new recall order came in, ordering Nureyev back to Moscow

0:52:510:52:56

and this time it could not be avoided.

0:52:560:52:58

This time, the final ultimatum came from the highest authority,

0:53:020:53:07

the Central Committee.

0:53:070:53:09

Could there be any further delay?

0:53:090:53:12

No. The order said, "Put him on a plane to Moscow immediately,

0:53:120:53:17

"when the rest of the group is travelling to London."

0:53:170:53:21

APPLAUSE

0:53:240:53:26

CLARA: 'He was not so free.

0:53:330:53:35

'I remember we had the conversation about that and I said,

0:53:380:53:43

' "Well, don't be sad, because we are going to come to see you in London."

0:53:430:53:47

'I remember I saw a rat, a big rat like this - "Ah, a rat!"

0:53:490:53:55

'And he said to me, "There are many rats in Paris."

0:53:550:53:58

LAUGHING: 'And I said, "Yes."

0:53:580:53:59

'I don't know why I remember that and not things more interesting...'

0:54:020:54:05

SHE LAUGHS

0:54:050:54:07

'It's bizarre, no?'

0:54:070:54:09

HE COUGHS

0:54:130:54:15

'At the airport, I go to say hello to Rudolf.'

0:54:340:54:37

THEY SPEAK IN FRENCH

0:54:370:54:40

'They were all there, and immediately Sergeyev was very...'

0:54:400:54:44

very quiet, completely different. And we start to talk,

0:54:440:54:49

very nicely with Dudinskaya and Sergeyev,

0:54:490:54:52

and we talk completely normally for the first time.

0:54:520:54:55

'He said to me, "Why don't we have a coffee together?" #

0:54:550:54:58

-OK?

-OK.

0:54:580:55:00

And Sergeyev go to talk to Rudolf, and I stay there with Dudinskaya,

0:55:120:55:18

drinking my coffee.

0:55:180:55:20

And I saw Rudolf going white, completely white.

0:55:200:55:23

And he said, "Pierre, you don't know what happened,

0:55:300:55:32

"I'm punished. They want me to come back to Moscow.

0:55:320:55:35

"Do something - I don't want to come back.

0:55:350:55:37

"I will never dance any more.

0:55:370:55:39

"Do something for me or I kill myself!"

0:55:390:55:41

In my place, he saw a paper knife in silver that I bought in Mexico.

0:55:430:55:49

And he said, "Oh, I like that." I said,

0:55:490:55:51

"Take it, it's yours, for you."

0:55:510:55:53

But I could not do anything. They took him.

0:55:540:55:56

C'est bien, c'est bien, my friend.

0:55:560:55:58

And I realise that he was lost.

0:55:580:56:00

OK, goodbye, goodbye, it was nice to meet you.

0:56:000:56:02

He realised that the danger is there and he was shaking.

0:56:020:56:06

He was very, very, very, er...

0:56:060:56:09

afraid about the situation.

0:56:090:56:10

I saw the last moments when Rudolf was sitting on a bench

0:56:140:56:17

with Alla Osipenko.

0:56:170:56:20

While everyone else was boarding, I saw that Rudik

0:56:200:56:24

was in tears...

0:56:240:56:26

And Alla was trying to console him in her arms.

0:56:300:56:34

And I still have that picture in my mind.

0:56:380:56:40

And in my heart.

0:56:410:56:43

It's an awful thing.

0:56:430:56:44

I was still there and then suddenly Vitaly Strizhevsky pushed me

0:56:490:56:54

to the departure gate.

0:56:540:56:56

I turned to see Rudik...

0:56:560:56:58

He showed me this.

0:57:040:57:06

He makes that sign.

0:57:060:57:08

It means prison.

0:57:090:57:11

And that's it.

0:57:120:57:13

The curtain closes.

0:57:160:57:17

And at that point, no-one could do anything.

0:57:200:57:23

I look at the watch and he said, "My God, now look at the time."

0:57:290:57:33

And suddenly I saw Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and he came here,

0:57:330:57:38

and I said, "Jean-Pierre, do something.

0:57:380:57:40

"that is the telephone of Clara, call her and say that it's urgent,

0:57:400:57:44

"she has to come because Rudolf have a big problem

0:57:440:57:47

"and we need somebody.

0:57:470:57:48

"Maybe in half an hour it is too late - we can not do anything."

0:57:510:57:55

PHONE RINGS

0:57:570:57:59

'I was sleeping.

0:57:590:58:01

'Because I spent a lot of the night walking.'

0:58:010:58:06

Oui?

0:58:060:58:07

' "Are you Clara Saint?" I said, "Yes."

0:58:080:58:11

'And he said,

0:58:110:58:12

' "I am at the Aeroport Le Bourget and I just spoke with Nureyev.

0:58:120:58:18

' "Please come, he wants to see you."

0:58:180:58:21

'And I said, "He's going on the plane to London."

0:58:210:58:26

' "No, no, the plane already left." '

0:58:290:58:32

SHE SIGHS

0:58:330:58:34

During that time, the KGB said, "Listen, Mr Lacotte,

0:58:430:58:46

"don't stay here, look, he look at you,

0:58:460:58:49

"he think that you could do something,

0:58:490:58:51

"and, of course, you could not do anything."

0:58:510:58:53

And suddenly, behind me, Clara was there

0:58:560:59:01

and she said, "What can I do?"

0:59:010:59:03

I said, "Clara, you have to do something immediately."

0:59:030:59:05

CLARA: 'And I went to him and the bodyguard went to me

0:59:070:59:10

'and said, "What do you want?"

0:59:100:59:12

'And I said, "I want to speak to my friend."

0:59:120:59:14

'OK, well, they... They were not very afraid of me, I think.

0:59:160:59:18

'He's too big.

0:59:180:59:20

'And he said to me, "Please do something."

0:59:210:59:25

'And I said, "Are you sure you want to stay here?"

0:59:250:59:27

'And he said, "Yes, absolutely, absolutely sure."

0:59:270:59:30

'That I remember very well.

0:59:300:59:31

'I saw this arrow saying, "Police - First Floor,"

0:59:360:59:42

'so I went there and I said, "Listen, there is someone downstairs

0:59:420:59:47

' "that is with two bodyguards

0:59:470:59:50

' "and they want to send him by force to Moscow.

0:59:500:59:55

' "He is a dancer."

0:59:550:59:56

'And they said, "Are you sure he's a dancer?"

0:59:560:59:59

'And I said, "Yes, I'm sure he's a dancer."

0:59:591:00:02

'And they say, "We cannot go to him,

1:00:021:00:05

' "we're not allowed to take him, he has to come to us."

1:00:051:00:10

'And I said, "OK." '

1:00:101:00:12

You just have to run and say, "I want to be free."

1:00:131:00:17

I said to Clara, "Of course,

1:00:171:00:19

"but how could...? Look, the police is around him."

1:00:191:00:21

What could we do?

1:00:211:00:23

'Instead, I went again.

1:00:231:00:25

'The men, they said, "Well, she's crazy." '

1:00:251:00:28

SHE CHUCKLES

1:00:281:00:30

'And I said to him,

1:00:321:00:34

' "You see these two men, French police, you have to go to them."

1:00:341:00:37

'It's like in a ballet, you know, he jumped!

1:00:371:00:40

'The French policemen took him

1:01:081:01:12

'and the two bodyguards, you know, they run and there was a fight

1:01:121:01:17

'between one of the French policemen and one of the bodyguards.

1:01:171:01:22

'I remember the French policeman said to the Russian,

1:01:221:01:25

' "Ah, don't touch me!"

1:01:251:01:28

'Screaming, "Vous etes en France ici." '

1:01:281:01:31

My uncle, Mr Gregory Alexinski,

1:01:411:01:43

He worked in Le Bourget as a commissar.

1:01:431:01:48

Was responsible for the security of Le Bourget.

1:01:481:01:52

He spoke with Rudolf in Russian.

1:01:531:01:56

I think when you met him, you were impressed,

1:02:151:02:18

because he had this kind of calm of the hero, you know,

1:02:181:02:22

the people who can deal with danger.

1:02:221:02:25

'I remember this office.'

1:02:271:02:29

Mademoiselle, non.

1:02:301:02:32

'Rudik asked, I think, for a cognac he was really like this...

1:02:321:02:38

'And they said to me...

1:02:381:02:40

' "The first thing he has to have - papers."

1:02:411:02:45

'Et puis, like 20 minutes after I arrive...

1:02:501:02:54

'The attache culturel, the ambassade de Russie.

1:02:541:02:58

' "Ah, but, Rudik, you cannot do that to us, oh, my God.

1:02:581:03:03

' "My God, it is crazy, you know, you are going to go to Russia

1:03:101:03:13

' "you are going to be such a star,

1:03:131:03:15

' "we don't want to do nothing to you, we respect you so much..." '

1:03:151:03:21

My uncle said that his office was a small office

1:03:251:03:30

and that it was probably very chaotic

1:03:301:03:32

with the Russian and the French.

1:03:321:03:38

In this office, there was two doors -

1:03:381:03:40

so he ask Rudolf to decide

1:03:401:03:44

if he wanted to take the plane...

1:03:441:03:48

..with the Russian agents of the KGB

1:03:491:03:53

or wanted to stay in Paris, France.

1:03:531:03:56

He had to choose.

1:03:571:03:59

This is a beautiful idea, it's very simple and it's very abstract.

1:03:591:04:04

Two doors.

1:04:041:04:05

You take the left door or the right door

1:04:061:04:10

and it's not the same end, you know.

1:04:101:04:13

They said to me, "Do you have some place to put him?

1:04:301:04:34

"Because they're going to follow him."

1:04:341:04:37

And I said, "Yes, I have a friend, no problem."

1:04:381:04:41

"And he cannot go outside."

1:04:431:04:45

I said, "OK." "Don't go and see him because you're going to be followed."

1:04:451:04:50

The real story, it's such an incredible story that the man

1:04:521:04:58

escaped at the time from the KGB - he is the most famous world dancer,

1:04:581:05:05

he's very beautiful, he's very young, he's a dandy

1:05:051:05:08

and he's flamboyant, you know, flamboyant, and he jumps!

1:05:081:05:13

He jumped, he escaped, he was the winner.

1:05:141:05:20

He had a very good instinct of people,

1:05:211:05:24

and he had this ability to meet the right people at the right time.

1:05:241:05:29

It's like a film.

1:05:311:05:35

It was like I was not in the story...

1:05:351:05:37

Very strange.

1:05:391:05:40

TRAFFIC

1:05:451:05:48

Next morning,

1:05:511:05:53

on the way to breakfast, in the lobby...

1:05:531:05:55

..there was a newspaper

1:05:561:05:59

with a photograph of Rudolf dressed in white making a stage leap,

1:05:591:06:04

and the headline,

1:06:041:06:06

"Dance To Freedom".

1:06:061:06:09

It was on the whole page.

1:06:091:06:11

The jump to the Free World.

1:06:121:06:15

We were so shocked, we went into our hotel room and quietly whispered.

1:06:201:06:26

Telling each other it could not have happened.

1:06:261:06:28

It must be a mistake.

1:06:281:06:31

Our Rudik couldn't have done it. He couldn't have done it.

1:06:311:06:35

It was a betrayal of our motherland. This was my feeling.

1:06:351:06:40

The story hit like an atom bomb, and the blast wave grew into legend.

1:06:411:06:48

After Rudik defected, in London, I was locked in my room.

1:06:551:07:00

I was let out only to go to rehearsals and the shows.

1:07:001:07:04

Can you believe that? It was horrible, how I was treated.

1:07:041:07:09

I was a ballet dancer with a reputation,

1:07:091:07:12

known all over the world.

1:07:121:07:13

The West could claim a victory in the Cold War.

1:07:231:07:26

That was the simple message of the Nureyev defection,

1:07:261:07:30

"We are freedom, we are an open society,

1:07:301:07:35

"we permit artistic expression,

1:07:351:07:37

"Nureyev has escaped to achieve his artistic goals

1:07:371:07:42

"and he can only do that," so the West claimed,

1:07:421:07:45

"within the... within the West."

1:07:451:07:47

So it was a huge... a huge propaganda coup.

1:07:471:07:51

The Soviet Union had a very strong interest in not publicising this,

1:07:511:07:54

because, after all, from their point of view,

1:07:541:07:57

it was a propaganda disaster.

1:07:571:07:59

Not least for Shelepin, head of the KGB.

1:07:591:08:03

The letter Shelepin wrote after Nureyev's defection

1:08:041:08:08

is the explanation from the KGB head of what had happened.

1:08:081:08:13

It reveals he never knew what was going on.

1:08:131:08:17

The whole thing had caught him off-guard.

1:08:171:08:20

This story of Le Bourget

1:08:211:08:23

was so much a tragedy for the KGB

1:08:231:08:26

and proof that the KGB was absolutely not competent at all.

1:08:261:08:31

So the first thing that the KGB has to do is...

1:08:311:08:36

is to destroy this, er...

1:08:361:08:38

this defector.

1:08:381:08:40

And Nureyev knows that.

1:08:421:08:45

He must have been terribly moved and in a terrible turmoil.

1:08:451:08:48

Waking every morning, wondering where he is.

1:08:511:08:54

I mean, every awakening must have been difficult for a long time.

1:08:541:08:57

He found himself trapped in an apartment

1:09:011:09:04

that he couldn't leave for fear that the KGB would find him.

1:09:041:09:08

The irony is, when he defected,

1:09:081:09:10

that wild animal whom the world was seeing or imagining to be free,

1:09:101:09:15

all of a sudden was finding himself in a cage again.

1:09:151:09:18

-CLARA:

-He was living there, it was a big apartment, very nice,

1:09:211:09:24

on the Jardin du Luxembourg.

1:09:241:09:26

And he had nothing, so I went to buy toothbrush and shirts

1:09:281:09:34

and jeans and all these things. He had nothing, nothing, nothing.

1:09:341:09:38

Nureyev was in danger even the day after.

1:09:411:09:44

The KGB were in front of all of the apartments -

1:09:441:09:47

of Clara Saint, of Pierre Lacotte.

1:09:471:09:49

Two KGB was in front of my place.

1:09:491:09:53

PHONE RINGS

1:09:531:09:56

'Somebody was ringing, they called me.'

1:09:561:09:58

'It was a newspaper.'

1:09:581:09:59

"Listen, I would like to know where is Rudolf Nureyev."

1:10:011:10:04

I said, "I don't know."

1:10:041:10:05

"Why are you lie? You have to tell us,

1:10:081:10:10

"we need to for our information, for the newspaper." I said...

1:10:101:10:14

And they said, "I will give you some money."

1:10:161:10:18

I say, "I don't want anything." And they were ready to sign a cheque

1:10:181:10:21

and I said, "I don't want it, I don't know where he is

1:10:211:10:25

"and even if I know where he is, I never tell you."

1:10:251:10:28

And I hang up.

1:10:301:10:31

DEAD TONE

1:10:311:10:34

PHONE RINGS

1:10:391:10:41

Hello?

1:10:471:10:49

What I know is that Nureyev was very, very anxious.

1:10:491:10:53

KNOCK ON DOOR

1:10:561:10:58

He was scared.

1:10:581:10:59

And he was... he was right to be afraid,

1:11:011:11:05

because the KGB had plans to, er...to destroy him.

1:11:051:11:09

FOOTSTEPS

1:11:121:11:16

DOOR CREAKS

1:11:191:11:21

There is a version that Nikita Khrushchev gave an order

1:11:331:11:37

to break Nureyev's legs, to end his dancing career.

1:11:371:11:42

Really?

1:11:421:11:43

I don't deny that, in private,

1:11:431:11:46

he was so furious he could drop a phrase like that, as we say.

1:11:461:11:51

But that he ordered it, that he would action it?

1:11:511:11:56

It's unthinkable in this context.

1:11:561:11:58

Nureyev had no scientist secret, that's true.

1:12:011:12:05

He just had one thing - he offended the government

1:12:051:12:09

and he betrayed his country.

1:12:091:12:12

PIANO MUSIC

1:12:211:12:23

The London premiere was in three days' time.

1:12:301:12:34

Sergeyev was in a panic, trying to think what to do.

1:12:341:12:38

For him, it was a life-or-death question.

1:12:381:12:41

He would carry the can unless he could make the show a triumph.

1:12:411:12:45

He approached Soloviev to take over Sleeping Beauty and Bayadere.

1:12:451:12:49

I did Swan Lake.

1:12:491:12:51

We had no time to introduce young Yuri Soloviev into the show

1:12:541:12:58

and we were rehearsing day and night.

1:12:581:13:01

He wasn't tall enough for me,

1:13:041:13:06

so I was on full fingers.

1:13:061:13:08

Rudik unwittingly gave him his break.

1:13:161:13:18

And he moved into the role of soloist.

1:13:181:13:21

I felt it would have been better if it happened gradually.

1:13:211:13:25

Instead of maturing, it came in a rush of panic.

1:13:251:13:28

'You know, everything was difficult.'

1:13:321:13:34

KNOCK ON DOOR

1:13:341:13:35

'I said to Clara,'

1:13:351:13:38

"Rudolf, now, he have to work."

1:13:381:13:41

You know, he was going crazy.

1:13:411:13:42

Where have you been?

1:13:521:13:54

Don't like this shirt, it's too big.

1:13:571:14:00

-CLARA:

-'He didn't like the shirt I bought.

1:14:021:14:04

'Can you believe it?'

1:14:071:14:09

Can you do something?

1:14:091:14:10

' "I don't like that shirt." '

1:14:121:14:14

SHE IMITATES HIS GRUMBLING

1:14:141:14:16

' "Ah, but these jeans...

1:14:161:14:18

' "And you know, the apartment I'm staying in - it is full of marble."

1:14:181:14:22

'I said, "Yes, it's a very beautiful place."

1:14:221:14:25

' "Yes, but it's cold, it's very bad for me, it's cold."

1:14:251:14:28

' "Merci beaucoup." J'ai dit, "Thank you very much." '

1:14:311:14:35

He have to work and we talk about...

1:14:381:14:41

I say, "What about in Paris Opera?"

1:14:411:14:43

It's impossible politically, it was a national theatre,

1:14:431:14:46

they could not take somebody who escaped from Russia,

1:14:461:14:49

otherwise never will the company go to Russia any more.

1:14:491:14:53

The only thing was the ballet company of Marquis De Cuevas.

1:14:581:15:03

Clara called Raymundo de Larrain.

1:15:051:15:09

Raymundo de Larrain was the director of the ballet

1:15:091:15:13

of the Marquis de Cuevas.

1:15:131:15:15

CLARA: 'Raymundo, I call him - he said,

1:15:161:15:18

' "No! Tell him I'll hire him! We are going to produce Sleeping Beauty." '

1:15:181:15:25

And Nureyev had seen Sleeping Beauty,

1:15:251:15:28

and he met Raymundo de Larrain during his tour with the Kirov,

1:15:281:15:33

and he told him the production was awful

1:15:331:15:37

and the costumes were so kitsch.

1:15:371:15:39

And two weeks after his defection, what did he dance?

1:15:421:15:46

Sleeping Beauty with the Marquis De Cuevas company.

1:15:461:15:49

CHATTER

1:15:491:15:51

There was a press conference in the morning,

1:15:561:15:59

at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees.

1:15:591:16:01

Of course, I was there,

1:16:011:16:03

but there were also hundreds of journalists and photographers.

1:16:031:16:07

NUREYEV: I will never return my country,

1:16:101:16:13

but I can never be happy in yours.

1:16:131:16:16

The whole world was watching. So the KGB couldn't do anything.

1:16:181:16:23

Nothing could have been worse for Russia

1:16:231:16:25

than if they had tried to get to him at that point.

1:16:251:16:28

He had the event, the main event in ballet world.

1:16:311:16:34

Raymundo had it in his hands

1:16:341:16:36

from the moment Rudolf accepted to come.

1:16:361:16:39

Well, he came like un grand fauve,

1:16:391:16:41

like a wild animal.

1:16:411:16:43

And we were fascinated.

1:16:431:16:45

I was especially fascinated by the way he worked.

1:16:451:16:48

He would lock himself up, somehow,

1:16:481:16:50

when he wanted to be alone, with the pianist.

1:16:501:16:53

Into to the foyer

1:16:531:16:55

of the Theatre des Champs Elysees, and he would do his own class.

1:16:551:16:58

Pardon.

1:16:581:16:59

Rudolf told me that he was redoing carefully,

1:17:011:17:04

precisely, the class of Pushkin, not to forget it, not to lose his shape.

1:17:041:17:09

One thing he was very afraid of by passing to the West

1:17:091:17:12

is to lose his shape,

1:17:121:17:14

because he wouldn't have the same training any more.

1:17:141:17:18

So he used to do that class very slow, very... It was fascinating.

1:17:181:17:23

I had never seen somebody work so thoroughly,

1:17:231:17:26

with so much precision and slowly correct a movement

1:17:261:17:30

until it was perfect. This was absolutely incredible.

1:17:301:17:34

On the night of Nureyev's debut as Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty,

1:17:381:17:42

he asked that nobody disturb him in his dressing room.

1:17:421:17:47

But a journalist managed to get in and gave him three letters.

1:17:471:17:51

One from his father, one from his mother,

1:17:511:17:54

and one from his coach, Pushkin.

1:17:541:17:57

All of them told him he could not betray his homeland.

1:17:571:18:01

They all told him to come back and that there would be no punishment.

1:18:081:18:12

I think it was the Communists, of course,

1:18:131:18:16

want to organise a big evening against Rudolf...

1:18:161:18:19

..to make him afraid and to shock everybody, to say,

1:18:201:18:23

"Look, that boy, he did something wrong,

1:18:231:18:26

"he's leaving his own country."

1:18:261:18:27

But only the Communists could think that way.

1:18:271:18:30

That evening, everything was done to demoralize him.

1:18:301:18:34

He understood this straight away, and he was furious.

1:18:341:18:37

Then, as he approached the stage,

1:18:371:18:40

he heard abuse coming from the auditorium.

1:18:401:18:42

SHOUTING

1:18:421:18:44

It was not spontaneous,

1:18:441:18:46

it was really organised, you could feel that.

1:18:461:18:49

When he came from the wings, he came very close to my left

1:18:491:18:53

and I remember his eyes -

1:18:531:18:56

he was in total panic.

1:18:561:18:57

They were yelling, "Traitor - go back to your country."

1:19:011:19:05

They were throwing coins, broken glass on stage -

1:19:051:19:08

GLASS BREAKS

1:19:081:19:09

They did everything possible to unnerve him.

1:19:161:19:20

But he kept going.

1:19:201:19:21

That was, for me, the proof of his, the strong-ness of his character.

1:19:231:19:28

In the middle of all that situation, he proved his own personality,

1:19:301:19:34

his strength.

1:19:341:19:36

That day, he really became free.

1:19:361:19:39

He had broken off with everything from the past.

1:19:391:19:44

APPLAUSE

1:19:441:19:45

He wanted to learn, he wanted to know, he wanted to do,

1:19:481:19:52

he wanted more, he didn't want to be blocked,

1:19:521:19:55

he didn't accept the fact to be limited.

1:19:551:19:58

CHEERING

1:19:581:20:01

And he's so right, I mean, he wanted to conquer the world,

1:20:011:20:04

and it was his right to conquer the world.

1:20:041:20:07

His perfect right. How dare the people stop him from that?

1:20:071:20:11

APPLAUSE

1:20:131:20:16

CHEERING

1:20:181:20:21

When we got back,

1:20:421:20:44

they declared Nureyev to be an enemy of the nation,

1:20:441:20:49

and that he committed treason.

1:20:491:20:51

That's what they always used to say

1:20:521:20:55

when people did something extraordinary.

1:20:551:20:57

I remember it like yesterday, the day they returned to Russia.

1:21:031:21:08

I had to find out what happened, from Yuri Soloviev.

1:21:081:21:11

Everyone was asking, "How could it have happened?

1:21:481:21:51

"What did happen?"

1:21:551:21:57

Yuri was taken repeatedly to the grey house - the KGB headquarters.

1:21:571:22:01

Of course he was influenced.

1:22:011:22:03

They put pressure on him.

1:22:031:22:05

It took a heavy toll.

1:22:051:22:07

That pressure didn't stop. It continued relentlessly.

1:22:141:22:19

We used to talk, sometimes, in the locker room.

1:22:201:22:23

"Sergei," he said...

1:22:231:22:25

"..what a success we've become.

1:22:281:22:30

"But what's the point of it all?"

1:22:351:22:38

He was sinking into some darkness and this inclination...

1:22:381:22:45

This would not have taken place if Rudik hadn't defected.

1:22:471:22:52

It was a complex time, I think, you know.

1:23:091:23:11

I don't understand what it is about this guy.

1:23:161:23:19

That was a kind of thing

1:23:221:23:24

that you never feel that you know everything about it.

1:23:241:23:27

And I think with Rudolf, we don't know everything.

1:23:271:23:31

My feeling is that it was decided in advance,

1:23:341:23:39

that Rudolf would leave to stay in France.

1:23:391:23:43

It's possible.

1:23:441:23:46

Uncle Greg - I remember that what he told me

1:23:481:23:51

when I ask him one day, "What's happened exactly?"

1:23:511:23:54

He said, "In the morning,

1:23:541:23:56

"there was a call telling me that something could happen.

1:23:561:24:01

"I had to be very careful and to help -

1:24:021:24:05

"somebody was probably going to escape the Russian guards

1:24:051:24:12

"to come inside the French frontier."

1:24:121:24:15

The final order to secure Nureyev's immediate return to Moscow

1:24:231:24:27

at the airport was a provocation.

1:24:271:24:31

The final push to make this man take that step.

1:24:311:24:35

I am completely convinced that the Central Committee

1:24:351:24:39

really knew what they were doing.

1:24:391:24:42

They were provoking Nureyev in order to make

1:24:521:24:55

a strike against the KGB chief, Alexander Shelepin.

1:24:551:24:59

The Central Committee really didn't like Shelepin -

1:24:591:25:03

he was a rival to their power,

1:25:031:25:06

and they would do anything to get rid of him.

1:25:061:25:09

He was kept in the dark and he missed it.

1:25:091:25:12

His security services failed to prevent the defection of Nureyev

1:25:131:25:19

and, thanks to this event, Shelepin was taken down.

1:25:191:25:23

-INTERVIEWER:

-Why do you think Shelepin was deposed?

1:25:251:25:27

Well, I'm sure this was connected, this was surely...

1:25:271:25:30

It must have been connected to... to the defection.

1:25:301:25:33

There was also an extraordinary degree of factionalism,

1:25:331:25:35

pure power struggles, control of the political agenda.

1:25:351:25:39

This is what happens when you open up to the West, this is what happens

1:25:391:25:42

when you try to engage the West and allow people to travel to the West.

1:25:421:25:46

You're going to end up with these kinds of disasters.

1:25:461:25:49

How somebody has the ability in their life to escape,

1:25:511:25:58

it's difficult to say.

1:25:581:26:00

But I think some people have luck in their blood, you know?

1:26:011:26:07

-CLARA:

-I don't remember very well,

1:26:181:26:20

but after all that, he became a star, of course.

1:26:201:26:24

I went with him to this shooting...

1:26:241:26:30

And then they said to me - "You know, you can stay now"

1:26:301:26:34

"but then you have to leave

1:26:341:26:36

"because I want to photograph him naked."

1:26:361:26:39

And I said, "OK, yes, I'm not going to stay."

1:26:391:26:41

SHE CHUCKLES

1:26:411:26:43

"How long?

1:26:431:26:44

And he said, "Well, come back in one hour if you want."

1:26:441:26:47

INTERVIEWER: What do you think you meant to him?

1:26:491:26:52

-I don't know.

-Did he love you?

1:26:521:26:55

No, I don't think so.

1:26:551:26:56

No, he thought...

1:26:591:27:01

..that I was...

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an interesting person.

1:27:051:27:07

I was free - I didn't work at that time.

1:27:071:27:10

I was completely free.

1:27:101:27:12

Everything was easy with me, you see?

1:27:141:27:17

But, you know, he was such a star.

1:27:191:27:22

I was, I was happy for him.

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And this is the last time I will speak of...

1:27:281:27:30

SHE LAUGHS

1:27:301:27:32

..Rudolf Nureyev.

1:27:321:27:33

PIANO MUSIC

1:27:401:27:44

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