Staatballett Berlin performs Nureyev, ballet banned in Russia

Staatsballett Berlin (State Ballet Berlin) premiered ballet Nureyev, or Nurejew in German, on 21st March 2026.

Nureyev was created based on legendary Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s life by Yuri Possokhov and stage and film director Kirill Serebrennikov. It world-premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, in 2017 after a delay because of the poor quality as an official reason.

Eventually, the ballet was banned. "After the tightening of LGBTQ laws in 2022, Nureyev was removed from the Bolshoi’s repertoire on the grounds that it violated the ban on so-called "propaganda of non-traditional values,"" Staatsballett Berlin's website says.

You can watch Staatsballett Berlin's performance from Arte Concert.

The casting is:

• Nureyev  David Soares

• The Student  Anthony Tette

• The Diva  Polina Semionova

• The Ballerina  Marina Duarte (read about her pointe shoe secret)

• Erik  Martin ten Kortenaar

• Margot  Iana Salenko

Here is the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0osmLH_Drs

As a personal experience, I watched a very short segment of Nureyev at Icon's Gala in London a long long time ago -- it was danced by the title role dancer and a ballerina with a black top with a pink romantic tutu. I remember thinking, "Actually, it was not that bad." Please let me know what part of the ballet it was that I watched.

Nureyev is shown at Deutsche Oper Berlin until 18th April 2026 then it will be revived in April and May next year.