Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a soviet ballet and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Named Lord of the Dance, Nureyev is regarded as the greatest male ballet dancer. In addition to his technical prowess, Rudolf Nureyev was an accomplished choreographer. He produced his own interpretations of numerous classical works, including Swan Lake, Giselle, and La Bayadère.

Nureyev had his early career with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. He defected from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961. He went on to dance with The Royal Ballet in London and from 1983 to 1989 served as director of the Paris Opera Ballet. At the Royal Ballet, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn became long-standing dance partners. Together Nureyev and Fonteyn premiered Sir Frederick Ashton's ballet Marguerite and Armand, which became their signature piece. Nuriev and Fontaine holds the Guinness book record for the number of calls to bow - after the play "Swan lake" at the Vienna state Opera in 1964, the curtain rose more than eighty times.
Rudolf Nureyev participated in classical and modern productions, acted in films and on television, staged classical ballets. Nureyev was above all a stickler for classical technique, and his mastery of it made him a model for an entire generation of dancers.