- Hardcover: 194 pages
- Publisher: Mainstream Publishing; First GB Edition edition (23 Aug 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1840188111
- ISBN-13: 978-1840188110
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
882,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Performing Arts > Dance > Ballet
- #91 in Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Classical Music > Ballet
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Scotsman August 27th, 2004
...Carolyn Soutar has scored so well with her new book. Soutar paints vividly through her own experience. (20 words)
Product Description
The Real Nureyev is an intensely personal, under-the-skin depiction of ballet's greatest hero. Written by Carolyn Soutar, Nureyev's stage manager at the London Coliseum during the 1980s, it focuses on the last, intensely creative, six-year period in the dancer's life - when he was still at the peak of his powers, yet just a few years away from an untimely death.The author draws upon her own experiences and - exclusively - those of Robert Tracy, Nureyev's lover and then companion during the last 14 years of his life; Bill Akers and Roger Myers, who first met and worked with Nureyev in 1962 in Australia; and Yoko Morishita, Prima Ballerina with the Matsuyama Ballet Company, Tokyo, who partnered Rudolf for most of the '80s. From Akers and Myers, we learn of the changes in Nureyev: from a young man eager to learn, searching for perfection in a body he believed to be flawed, to the knowledgeable and difficult superstar that he would become. They quash the rumours and set the record straight on Nureyev's relationship with Margot Fonteyn, while Morishita describes what it was like to dance with Nureyev, recalling their first meeting, their friendship both on and offstage and his pride, care and attention when teaching her certain roles. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, yet always deeply human, this is an intimate insider story of what the man himself was really about. It combines unique first-person accounts and reminiscences of the two aspects of his life which have been veiled from public view: Nureyev the man and lover, and Nureyev the professional at work.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am not a balletomane - far from it - but it didn't matter when I started to read "The Real Nureyev" I just couldn't put it down and was irritated by interruptions. It is brilliantly written by his one-time stage manager, with love and a desire to understand the strange Russian who leapt onto her London stage. Carolyn Soutar gives us a pretty complete picture (even, like the Emperor, without his clothes!) His too-early death did not deter her from her search for the real Rudi. She sought acros the world for his lovers, friends and fellow dancers and revived their memories. It is a voyage of discovery, a quest. And it is not necessary to know a pas de deux from a pirouette to enjoy the fun and intrigue of travelling to the end.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
So much has been written about Rudolf Nureyev that it is difficult to see what another book can possibly contain.
It is a delightful surprise to be proved so wrong. This is a perceptive personal portrait of Nureyev as a person. The Author is not a world famous ballerina, but it is always the Stage Manager who sees the real picture. She worked with Nureyev as Stage Manager at Nureyev Galas during several of the final years of his stage life.
This is a superbly readable book - perhaps a little too long to be read in one sitting, but still compelling. With some very good pictures, this book should be on the shelf of all of us who saw Nureyev and who have looked since for another dancer with that style and skill.
For those looking for an expose of his life, look elsewhere. This book is written with affection and respect.
Get your copy now!!!
15 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the worst book I have ever read about the great Rudolf Nureyev or anyone else for that matter. It shows a complete misunderstanding of the man and of Ballet in general. The interviews used were with just a handful of people and they were weak and gave no insight into this man who was one of the most charismatic men of the 20th Century. Don't waste your money on this book. It is written with an arrogance and captures none of his magic. It is like a teenagers diary. The timeframe of this memoir takes place during saddest part of his life and career and you need to see the bigger picture to understand him. Notice that she had never seen him during the height of his career or spoke to any of his partners from the sixties and seventies. A dreadful book. Even the descriptions of Covent Garden are inaccurate.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Close Up of an Icon
I spent many years going to the Royal Ballet to see Nureyev and Fonteyn dabcee together. Then during the 'downsidse of the ecstasy' at the London Coliseum when Nureyev danced at... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2005 by "meldrew05"
A Welcome Blast from the Past
As a retired professional dancer and alumni member of School of American Ballet in New York City;I was taken back to those magical days when Nureyev would often be just a studio... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2004 by Samarees Sword
Backstage with Nureyev
In her book, Carolyn Soutar gives us a fascinating look behind the dazzling stage persona of Rudolph Nureyev, one of ballet's greatest stars. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2004
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