Rudolf Nureyev As I remember him by Patricia Boccadoro

 The first time Rudolf Nureyev saw the ballet, he was utterly enchanted. Seeing the ballet took the young boy from a dull, poverty-stricken background into another world, and transformed his life. His destiny was set, but it was a hard road. This isn’t the usual chronological biography, but written from the point of view of the author’s friendship with him, other friends and his students. She wants to restore his reptation, and tell us what this giant of dance was really like.

She does tell us about his career, his legacy and his relationship with the great Margot Fonteyn, but there are many details of how he changed actual ballets, such as The Nutcracker. The author writes so beautifully about the ballets, that you feel that you are almost in the audience watching them! I would prefer a biography, but she has turned me off the available ones, which concentrate on scandal and gossip, in her opinion. Any ballet lover will enjoy this book.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.