Dance Choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov “Persecution of Gays in Russia is Unacceptable” and the Endowment of Nureyev
Dancer, choreographer, actor and eternal hottie Mikhail Baryshnikov told the No More Fear Foundation that he finds the persecution of LGBT people in his native Russia “unacceptable”:
My life has been immensely enriched by gay mentors, colleagues and friends and any discrimination and persecution of gay people is unacceptable. Equal treatment of people is a basic right and it is sad that we still have to even speak about this in [the] 21st century.I salute the No More Fear Foundation for stepping in so quickly to provide the much necessary assistance to gay and lesbian people who are fleeing prosecution and help them lead a proud life in their new country.”
No More Fear works to help LGBT emigres find asylum in the U.S.
Reports ‘gay’ men were taken to police station naked after the raid and are facing anal probe torture tests. Total arrests may be greater than 14
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Neighbors have broken into a gym and sauna in Egypt and ‘destroyed it’ after a police raid against gay sex, according to unconfirmed reports GSN has received.
It’s the latest development after at least 14 men were arrested for practicing ‘immorality’ or 'homosexual acts' inside the premises in the working-class El Marg district of Cairo.
A scene from “Steam: The Turkish Bath
Some reports are suggesting the 14 were paraded to the police station either naked or only partly clothed after the raid on Friday (11 October).
A prosecutor ordered they should be held for ‘forensic reports’. Again unconfirmed reports suggest this may include ‘anal probe’ tests to examine if they have engaged in gay anal sex.
These tests, often used in the Middle East and North Africa have been discredited as scientifically meaningless and are considered a form of torture by international human rights bodies.
The men who may undergo this range in age from just 18 to 57.
Egyptian media and GSN reported the number of arrests at 14 but it has now emerged that may just be the number of ‘clients’ rounded up in the raid. Workers and the ‘health club’ manager have also apparently been detained.
With the manager and staff away, locals are alleged to have broken into the center and vandalized it. However, this report from a GSN Egyptian contact has not been independently verified.
It may be the same people were the ones who tipped off the police about ‘fahesha’ or ‘immorality’ on the premises, sparking the police investigation and raid.
The prosecutor also ordered the premises should be shut down.
One western Egyptian LGBT expert, Scott Long, has added extra insight to the raid and analysis of what may have prompted it on his blog.
Of the raided ‘health center’ he says: ‘I have at least one friend who has visited. It was a small gym and sauna, converted from a private apartment and operating as a business for years.
‘It’s well known in the surrounding streets; when my friend went there about three years ago – before the Revolution – and asked directions, the neighbors said “Oh, the hammam!”, or baths, and pointed the way.’
Egyptian media reported the clients had paid E£50 to E£200 (Egyptian pounds) ($7 €5 to $29 €21) but Long disputes this.
He writes: ‘The entry fee was E£25 [$3.50 €2.70] back then [when his friend visited]. It’s unlikely the price has gone up eightfold in the interim, so the figures the police gave (with the strong suggestion of prostitution) are probably nonsense.
‘There is a good chance that the “pills and sexual stimulants” the police found are vitamins, or even steroids.’
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Rudolph Nureyev
Rudolph Nureyev born 17 March 1938 (d. 1993)Rudolph Nureyev was the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation - and one of the two most significant of the 20th Century - the other beingNijinsky.
Born on a train somewhere in Siberia in 1938, he was a small, sensitive, somewhat deprived boy, bullied and tormented by the other children. But he had a flair for folk-dancing, and was discovered, taught and encouraged by two exiled ballerinas living in Ufa. His father was less than pleased on his return from the Second World War to discover his son studying ballet - picture a Russian Billy Elliot. His natural ability and an unshakeable self-belief gave him his escape.
Aged 17, he found himself enrolled at the Leningrad Ballet School, where he was brilliant and difficult. In 1958, following graduation he became a soloist with the Kirov Ballet. Having always struggled with the confining rules of the Soviet way of life, he fell foul of the Soviet security regulations while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris in 1961, and rather than be sent back to the USSR, slipped his minders at the airport in Paris and sought political asylum in France - his 'great leap to freedom'.
Tried and convicted of treason in his absence, he spent the rest of his life fearing kidnap or assassination, for his defection had made headlines around the world and a superstar of the young Nureyev. His family, friends and teachers back home paid the price for his freedom.His physical beauty, extraordinarily athletic and sexual dance persona, and bags of Russian charm, made him a leading light in the glittering world of international cafe society. But his passport to lasting success was the way he transformed the role of the male ballet dancer, much as Nijinsky had done years before - the solo male again became electric and thrilling.
He became a soloist with the London Royal Ballet, the Chicago Opera Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, as well as forming his own touring companies and achieving great success as an artistic director and choreographer - particularly re-energising the established classics such as Giselle, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Romeo & Juliet.
His partnership with Margot Fonteyn [pictured] made both their stars burn brighter. His dancing career was long and he toured the world extensively, raising the profile of ballet and his own central role as its most shining star.Nureyev's other significance was his openness about his own sexuality - ballet was ironically very closeted because of its effeminate image. Because he made no effort to appear heterosexual and yet was an incredibly athletic and male performer, he was able to explore and express roles without restrictions, which gave a depth not only to his performances but to the range of artistic expression for other male dancers. This openness however, may have had much to do with his extreme arrogance and super-sized ego.
Famously well-endowed, his sexual life was the stuff of legend - the gay playboy of the western world. But he also enjoyed several long-term relationships - he spent the early 60s involved with an older Danish dancer named Eric Bruhn (1928-1986) but their relationship had suffered from something of a 'Star Is Born' nature as Nureyev's career rocketed and Bruhn became an alcoholic. In the 1970s, he had a long relationship with Wallace Potts, a director and archivist; and in 1978 he met a young dancer named Robert Tracy, who moved into his New York apartment and stayed for fourteen years until he was evicted, complaining that he had been treated `like a lackey'.In 1983, Nureyev was diagnosed with HIV. Rudolph Nureyev died of an Aids-related illness in Paris in April, 1993.
Leaving nothing to Robert Tracy (who took legal action and won), he left the bulk of his fortune to establish foundations to promote dance and medical research.
Rudolph Nureyev Foundation
Rudolph Nureyev - The Life
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