- Erik Bruhn
Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (
October 3 ,1928 –April 1 ,1986 ) was a Danishballet dancer ,choreographer , director,actor , andwriter .Biography
Born in
Copenhagen ,Denmark , he began training with theRoyal Danish Ballet at the age of nine. He later joined the company at the age of eighteen and was promoted to soloist two years later.He was best known for his roles in "
La Sylphide ", "Giselle ", and "Swan Lake ", in which he combined subtle precision with a flair dance style.He appeared in a Russian-style pas de deux with French ballerina
Zizi Jeanmaire in the 1952 Goldwyn film "Hans Christian Andersen " which starredDanny Kaye . It was his first trip to the US.He authored the book "Beyond Technique" with
Fred Fehl , as well as co-authoring with Lillian Moore "Bournonville and Ballet Technique: Studies And Comments On August Bournonville's Etudes Choregraphiques,". He was the subject of the book "Erik Bruhn: Danseur Noble" by John Gruen.Erik Bruhn met
Rudolf Nureyev , the celebrated Tatar dancer, who was on a tour in Denmark. Bruhn became Nureyev's lover, his closest friend, and his protector for many years.He was director of the
Swedish Opera Ballet from 1967 to 1973 and theNational Ballet of Canada from 1983 to 1986. A posthumous film biography, "I'm the same only more," by Danish filmmaker Lennart Pasborg won a Cannes award for use of archival material.His death in 1986 was attributed to lung cancer. However, according to Pierre-Henri Verlhac (Nurejew. Bilder eines Lebens), he may have died of
AIDS .External links
* [http://www.abt.org/education/archive/choreographers/bruhn_e.html ABT Biography and Credits]
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=9149&mod=bio NYT Biography]
* [http://www.the-ballet.com/bruhn.php Ballet Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.national.ballet.ca/InsideTheCompany/showBio/ad_erik_bruhn The National Ballet of Canada Biography]
* [http://www.glbtq.com/arts/bruhn_e.html glbtq Biography]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/65/br/Bruhn-Er.html Erik Bruhn entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia]
* [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9358150/Erik-Bruhn Erik Bruhn entry in the Concise Encyclopedia Britannica]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50717F9355F0C718CDDAD0894DE484D81 NY Times obituary byJohn Rockwell , April 2, 1986]
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