Dancer (Paperback)

Nureyev's "wild and feral" style of dance meshes perfectly with McCann's prose. Paralleling the athleticism and drive of Nureyev, McCann's writing is bold and straightforward, characterized by short, powerful, descriptive sentences, often in a simple subject-verb-object pattern. Avoiding all frills and sentimentality, McCann favors strength over lyricism, and power over prettiness.

Through the first person observations of almost two dozen characters who touched Nureyev's life in some way, McCann shines light on Nureyev's personality and his development as a dancer. His family, teachers, lovers, and even a schoolboy bully, a stilt-walker, and the captain of an airplane, who filed an "incident report" about his atrocious behavior aboard a plane, all comment on his actions and the choices he makes, personally and professionally, as his career soars.

The deprivation and sadness experienced by most of these sensitive observers in their own lives contrasts vividly with the excesses and hedonism of Nureyev's adult life and illuminate, without need for authorial comment, his arrogance and boorishness. At the same time, however, these multiple viewpoints also humanize Nureyev in many ways by showing the extent to which these other characters are connected by love to others and to their history, while Nureyev becomes a "living myth...cared for and coddled and protected by the mythmakers."

Filled with intriguing characters, ranging from simple Russian peasants to Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams, John Lennon, Truman Capote, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and the stars of ballet, the novel is a monument to the power of the creative spirit and a testament to the dangers inherent in a life from which all other controls have been removed. Rudi always "tore [a] role open...by the manner in which he presented himself, a sort of hunger turned human." McCann brings this voracious human to life. Nureyev leaps off these pages in a huge and stunning grand jete. Mary Whipple

We first meet Rudi in 1943 as he is dancing for the Russian soldiers in his small town. The Second World War is in full swing. Russia is poor and the soldiers have little or nothing, but they give Rudi little bits of their nothing as a present for his dancing. Rudi is rescued from this poverty by his ballet teacher and taken to Moscow where his dancing life begins.

The stories told by Rudi's friends take us to Paris, Rome, Caracas and New York City, We meet Margot Fonteyn, probably the person who had the biggest influence on his life but the only one who did not sleep with him. Victor, the Venezuelan hustler, who meets Rudi in the lower East side of New York City. Victor introduces Rudi to the Gay celebrity set, and the drugs and seedy side of Gay life. We hear of John Lennon and the famous stars of the 70's and 80's and all of Rudi's friends.

Rudi was a perfectionist and he was never able to meet this need. He was willful and driven, and drove everyone else in his way and in his life to become that which was impossible. He danced until his feet bled and bled some more. He had the followers and the takers in his crowd. And, in the end, he loved Victor the best.

I was not aware that this was a fictional biography unitl I read the back cover of the book. In the end, it did not make any difference. The story of this great man was told with grace and with some shock at times. The jest of the man, the dancer is there for all to see. The book caught the spirit of this man, the greatest of all ballet dancers, with the span from Russia to New York in forty years. It ends with his first visit home to Russia-what goes around, comes around. Fabulous tale. prisrob