Pierre Lacotte: French dancer who helped Rudolf Nureyev defect dies

The legendary Rudolf Nureyev was helped by French ballet choreographer Pierre Lacotte, who died at the age of 91. Ghislaine Thesmar, his wife and a retired main dancer, stated, “Our Pierre departed us at 4:00 am.”

In 1961, Lacotte assisted Nureyev in eluding Soviet investigators in Paris so he could seek refuge at the city’s Le Bourget airport. In the Ralph Fiennes-directed film The White Crow from 2018, his part in the well-known defection was recalled.

According to Ms. Thesmar, her spouse passed away as a result of a septic cut. As a young man, Lacotte began his professional career with the Paris Opera Ballet before focusing on the resurrection of long-forgotten 19th-century works.

He met Nureyev in 1961 while he was on tour in Paris, and they became friends. Lacotte said to the BBC in 2012 that he went on multiple tours with Nureyev of the city’s eateries, bars, and museums.

As a result, Nureyev was informed that he would be sent home by the KGB agents who were travelling with him. Nureyev thought he wouldn’t be permitted to leave the country once more.

At the airport, Nureyev begged Lacotte to stay at his side but was mobbed by KGB agents. Clara Saint, a socialite, and Lacotte requested the agents if they might bid their friend goodbye before he went.

“I said, listen Rudolf, look behind me there is Clara Saint, and behind Clara Saint is a policeman. You just have to come to him. You kiss me, you kiss Clara and you say you want to be free. And it’s done,” Lacotte said.

“I said don’t be afraid, stay quiet and do as I say.”

Nureyev then made a dash towards two French police and declared that he wished to remain in the West.

Despite being recognised as one of the greatest dancers of his era, Nureyev and his family paid a heavy price. He was only allowed back to the USSR more than 25 years later when his mother was dying, while his Soviet friends’ careers were made to suffer.

Lacotte focused his emphasis on the 1968 Paris Opera archives after suffering an ankle ailment.

These included La Sylphide, which debuted in 1832 and was the first ballet to be performed entirely “en pointe,” or with the dancers standing on the tips of their toes.

The Red and the Black, a 2021 production that was based on the 1830 novel by French author Stendhal, was his final piece of work. His wife said that he was still employed at the age of 91.

“That makes me sad. He was still working on a book and has several other projects “Added she.

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