Margot Fonteyn – Landgraf on Dance

“Nureyev”
State Ballet Berlin
Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Germany
March 21, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Last weekend, Yuri Possokhov’s and Kirill Serebrennikov’s joint production Nureyev premiered with the State Ballet Berlin. I remember well the piece’s 2017 world premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre and the troubles preceding it. In 2022, Nureyev was removed from the Bolshoi’s repertory following new Russian anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that made it illegal to promote the success and power of queer personalities, per Serebrennikov’s explanation.

Bringing this ballet back to life could have been a tribute to not only Rudolf Nureyev but also Russian ballet as well as a gift to the Bolshoi, which celebrates its 250th anniversary this year. Continue reading “Unrealistic”

“Ballet Talk” (with Jürgen Rose, Marcia Haydée and Reid Anderson)
Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart State Opera
Stuttgart, Germany
October 28, 2017

The jubilees pile up for Stuttgart Ballet this season. John Cranko, the company’s founder, would have been ninety years this August. His “Onegin” – its second, revised version to be precise – received its first performance half a century ago on October 27, 1967. Its stage and set designer – the internationally renowned and much admired Jürgen Rose – just celebrated his 80th birthday this August. His career is closely connected with Cranko and Stuttgart Ballet. Moreover, this season is artistic director Reid Anderson’s twenty-second and last one. In short, one special events follows the other. Continue reading “Looking Back”