At the height of the cold war, a young Tartar, who was born on a train in Siberia on 17 March 1938, was causing a sensation dancing in Moscow.

When on tour in the West, he spent his time hopping in and out of bed with various male and female lovers, as he led his KGB secret agents on a frenetic dance around the bars, and strip clubs of Paris.

He was recalled to Russia, but sneaking away from his Russian minders, he threw himself into the arms of the airport gendarmes and asked for asylum.

Within a year of becoming director of the Paris Opera Ballet Company, Nureyev was diagnosed as HIV positive. He went on living with AIDS until he died in 1993, aged 54.

He's buried at the Russian Cemetry at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. 

Acrylic on canvas

50x70cms