23 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012
museums & galleries
THE DE YOUNG MUSEUM hosts Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance, from October 6 to February 17, 2013. This special exhibition is dedicated to the life and work of the legendary dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev (1938–1993). It will showcase more than eighty
costumes and fifty photographs from the dancer's personal collection, entrusted to the Centre National du Costume de Scène by the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, and will incorporate key loans from active ballet companies. The Soviet-born Nureyev was a rising star in his native country before he defected to France in 1963. Incredibly driven, he traveled the world to work with leading figures in the dance world in order to absorb their techniques and to promote Soviet dance. Nureyev loved sumptuous shows and was particular about his costumes, often imposing changes and improvements. The costumes on view expose the wear and tear of daily use, bearing witness to the lives and bodies of Nureyev and his partners Margot Fonteyn, Noella Pontois and many others. Shown are Rudolf Nureyev, 1977, Romeo costume by Ezio Frigerio and Mauro Pagano, and Jean de Brienne costume by Nicholas Georgiadis. Nureyev photograph by Francette Levieux, costume photographs by Pascal François/CNCS.
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, California 94118; 415.750.3600; deyoung.famsf.org.