A new ballet about Russia’s most famous dancer has premiered at the Bolshoi Ballet.

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Nureyev depicts the life and achievements of the legendary Rudolf Nureyev.

Earlier this year the work was cancelled just days before it was due to open, with suggestions that there would be concerns over depictions of the famous dancer’s sexuality.

Russia’s strict anti-gay propaganda laws were suggested as the reason behind the sudden cancellation. The Bolshoi Ballet’s director, Kirill Serebrennikov, was also placed under house arrest, with authorities claiming he was being investigated for misappropriation of funds.

The Bolshoi had previously announced that the production would be delayed until May 2019. Now the ballet has been staged for two performances with the few tickets that were available to the public quickly snapped up.

Nureyev defected to the west in 1961. It was the first defection of a soviet artist at the height of the cold war, and it caused an international sensation.

The dancer went on to tour the world, appearing in hundreds of ballets and gaining international acclaim as the world’s greatest dancer. He also became a celebrated choreographer.

It dancer’s homosexuality was well documented and he died of an AIDS related illness in 1993 aged just 54.

The new ballet tells stories of Nureyev’s life through the story telling mechanism of an auction of his positions after his death. Each possession triggers a story about part of his life. The production also features a narrator to guide the audience through the story, which is most unusual for a ballet.

While a nude image of Nureyev that was featured in rehearsals for the new work was cropped to remove any depiction of genitalia, the work reportedly does have gay themes through.

OIP Staff, image by Allan Warren published under a Creative Commons licence.