"UFA. NUREYEV" concerts will be held in Ufa to mark Rudolf Nureyev’s 80th anniversary

UFA, 6 March 2018. /Bashinform News Agency, Leila Aralbaeva/. A series of concerts "UFA. NUREYEV" will be held on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth of Rudolf Nureyev in Ufa. The project includes a performance of the M. Gafuri Bashkir Drama Theater "Rudy - Never off ..." (March 15), the ballet "Crane Song" by Lev Stepanov and Zagir Ismagilov (March 16), as well as a gala concert on the stage of the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater (March 17).

As the chief PR specialist of the theater Larisa Sakaeva informs, the gala concert will include performances by:

- students of the Rudolf Nureyev Bashkir Choreographic College (Ufa);

- winners of the 13th International Competition of Ballet and Choreographers, students of the Moscow State Choreography Academy Elizaveta Kokoreva and Denis Zakharov (Moscow);

- a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, winner of the Bolshoi Ballet TV program Renat Shakirov (St. Petersburg);

-a soloist of the Primorsky stage of the Mariinsky Theater, Honored Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan Irina Sapozhnikova (Vladivostok);

- a soloist of the Musa Jalil Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet Theater Ilnur Gayfullin (Kazan);

- a winner of international competitions, resident-choreographer "London Russian Ballet School" Dmitry Antipov (London);

- leading soloists of the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater.

Rudolf Nureyev grew up and made his debut in Ufa. His way to the ballet began with a bright childish impression – inspired by performance of Zaytuna Nasretdinova in the ballet "Crane Song", which he saw as a seven-year-old boy. It was this performance that predetermined the creative destiny of the future dancer.

In 1953, Rudolf Nureyev graduated from the ballet studio at the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1955, as part of the theater crew, he went to Moscow to participate in the Decade of Bashkir literature and art. Rudolf Nureyev successfully performed a dzhigit in the "Crane Song" presented by the theater within the framework of the decade, and received flattering reviews from critics and teachers of the Vaganova’s Leningrad Ballet School. The same year he entered the school, where he studied in the class of the famous teacher Alexander Pushkin.