85 years ago, in a train carriage in Siberia, a boy was born who would change the classical dance and influence classical dance forever: Rudolf Nureyev. It was Rudi, as his friends called him, who gave prominence to male dancers, who fled cinematically from the repressive Soviet Union in search of knowledge and freedom, who was an actor, conductor, and choreographer, and who left us, too soon, at the age of 54, a victim of AIDS.

I had the privilege of seeing him on stage in the last few years before he retired. He was a genius, he was indomitable, and he is still irreplaceable.

Here is a tribute to the artist who loved dance and who warned us that, while his ballets were being mounted, he would live on. So be it!