Overview
- Staatsballett Berlin will present Nureyev on March 21 at the Deutsche Oper, marking the production’s first staging outside Russia with former Bolshoi dancer David Soares in the title role.
- The Bolshoi Theatre dropped the ballet in 2023, with director Vladimir Urin citing laws against so‑called LGBT propaganda and offending traditional values.
- The Berlin staging restores elements previously curtailed in Moscow, including depictions of same‑sex relationships, drag scenes, and Richard Avedon’s full‑stage nude photograph of Nureyev.
- Creator Kirill Serebrennikov, who left Russia in 2022 and was under house arrest during the 2017 premiere, leads a team of fellow exiles now working in Berlin.
- The production has drawn criticism over the inclusion of choreographer Yuri Possokhov, who continues to work in Russia, as Berlin’s ballet director frames the revival as a rejection of authoritarianism.