“Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian Tatar dancer from the former Soviet Union, primarily known for his work in ballet. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women. He defected to the West, despite KGB efforts to stop him. According to KGB archives studied by Peter Watson, Nikita Khrushchev personally signed an order to have Nureyev killed”.

Photo: British ballerina Margot Fonteyn (Margaret Hookham) (1919 – 1991) and her professional partner during his tenure with the Royal Ballet Rudolf Nureyev. (Photo by Potter/Express/Getty Images). 12th December 1965. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Australian ballet dancer Marilyn Rowe prepares to perform Swan Lake with the Australian Ballet at the Canberra Theatre in 1978. Rowe was appointed director of the Australian Ballet School in 1999. (Photo by John Crowther/The Guardian)

A contestant prepares backstage before performing at the “Grand Prix of Siberia” international ballet competition, held as part of the 4th International Forum “Ballet. XXI Century”, at the State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, November 11, 2016. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Principle Ballet Dancer, Ekaterina Bulgutova, of the Russian State Ballet, with the Nutcracker part of Christmas Ballet Season in Cardiff which starts at St Davids Hall on December 20, 2016 in Cardiff, England. (Photo by Kiran Ridley/Barcroft Images)

A Ballet dancer prepares backstage during the final dress rehearsal for the famous Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky at the Joburg Ballet, Johannesburg, South Africa, 04 October 2018. The premiere of Nutcracker is scheduled for 05 October and the show will run for two weeks. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

A ballet dancer brushes on blush as she prepares for a street ballet performance in Mexico City, Saturday, July 28, 2018. In this sprawling megalopolis notorious for its clogged streets, a theater company sent out tutu-clad dancers out to delight motorists at snarled intersections with snippets from ballet classics like “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake” all in the 58 seconds it takes for the light to go from red to green. (Photo by Emilio Espejel/AP Photo)

Young dancers perform in a ballet adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland” during the Baghdad Ballet Academy's annual gala at Rasheed Theatre in Baghdad on August 29, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

A Ballet Paraisópolis student wearing a face mask rehearses amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on August 13, 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Ballet Paraisópolis is a project that teaches dance to children and young people in the Paraisópolis community in order to encourage them to seek better life opportunities. Founded in 2012 by ballerina, teacher and choreographer, Monica Tarragó, Ballet Paraisópolis has a total of 200 students and another 2,000 on the waiting list. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)