Customer Reviews

Nureyev: Dancing Through Darkness

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3 star:		(1)
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The subjects of artists and AIDS has never been discussed enough. How do creative minds deal with the fact that their bodies are deteriorating? How do artists handle a public that may want to know about their health more than their work? Does an incurable illness spur creativity or hamper it? These are all questions that have not been answered enough.

When Newsweek had a cover story on AIDS and the arts, they showed Nureyev on the cover. They barely touched the gay issue and stated that Nureyev never spoke out much about his illness. Either in the article or in comments to the editor, a close confidante said that Nureyev feared that someone would sue him for infecting them, as Rock Hudson's ex-lover did. However, here, those who know Nureyev speak openly about his gay identity and HIV status. The owner of the bathhouse he frequented even participated in an interview.

This documentary features men and women equally talking about the Nureyev they knew. Discrimination against the HIV-positive is only hinted at here. But one does get to see many people, of all genders and sexualities, supporting Nureyev and not giving a care about his illness, even though he died during tense years of prejudice against PWAs. This work show people talking about Nureyev and barely shows any clips of the dancer speaking for himself; this may disappoint his hardcore fans.

I wish this film had put Nureyev in context more. Like Martina Navratolova (sp?), he is an Eastern European who defected. Did many gays and lesbians do this or only the famous one? Were other HIV-positive ballet dancers treated well like Nureyev or did his celebrity make him an exception? This film show Nureyev gaunt, but unlike footage in "Black Is/Black Ain't" where one sees Bill T. Jones' lover Arnie dancing and coughing, you never see Nureyev physically struggling here.

Unlike most documentaries, this one actually had foreign language subtitles. This was helpful at times because many of the interviewees had poor English skills. This work is not subtitled in Russian, Nureyev's mother tongue. Because more and more Russians are moving to the United States, that would have been helpful to those viewers and I wish the DVD makers had thought about that.

I am so grateful to have found this video. It fills in the missing years of a great dancer and an extraordinary man. Visually it is breathtaking, quite wonderful to visit and spend time at the Paris Opera House in this way.There were many who were critical of the way that Nureyev dealt with his illness,but here is much that explains the man and his immense need for solitude and privacy. I strongly recommendthis to those who love the dance and remember the extraordinary contribution this one man made on so many levels. There is much footage of his younger days and equal footage of the days before his death. His great beauty, his genius, his compulsive drive,his eccentricity, his personal loneliness in spite of his accomplishments, all are evident in this film. Nureyev added great beauty to my life. To see him dance was a celebration of courage determination and spirit. This video is a gem, to be treasured by those with an appreciation and love not only for dance but for the triumph and beauty of the human spirit.

In the last ten years of his life, Rudolf Nureyev endeavored to find new directions for his career, as he struggled against the progress of a cruel disease. This video describes his success and his untimely death, through interviews with colleagues and friends, and provides some glimpses of extraordinargy performances by this brilliant and driven artist. There is much natural drama here, indeed perhaps to find the stage in the future as some variation of "Long Day's Journey Into Night". It would make sense to view this video as a final chapter of his life and work, complemented by the earlier "Nureyev", and at least one full-length ballet-- such as "Romeo and Juliet". A "must" for all of us who saw him twenty or thirty years ago, and lost touch when he became artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

I've seen this video a few times, as well as the one by Patricia Foy. It's amazing to me that nobody was able to interest Nureyev in sitting down for multiple interviews to build a video of substance about his life and his influence on 20th Century dance. This film is a little annoying to look at because they often obscure a clear view of the man with fuzz and keyhole techniques, so you don't get to see him teaching or demonstrating to the dancers at Paris Opera Ballet. What a missed opportunity. Maybe there are some archives as yet untapped, I certainly hope so. I would have loved to see the right person engage this guy's interest for an extended conversation. He was so smart, so witty, and had such good insights, yet almost none of that is evident in any of the three main biographical videos. What a pity.

Very personal narrative provided by friends of Nureyev, some sincere and some shallow. A voyage through his European life and to it's end.

Best video yet on the life of the world's greatest male dancer. A must for ballet devotees!

A very important message that shows the ravages of AIDS. It shows one of the greatest athletic dancers of the age reduced to a mere skeleton of himself.