Orange County Register

Few ballet dancers become household names in America, but Rudolf Nureyev did after his momentous defection from the Soviet Union in 1961. Yet those of us who aren’t ballet aficionados know little of his life and work in the USSR.

This new documentary, under the umbrella of PBS’s “Great Performances” series, traces Nureyev’s early career, his rapid rise to the top echelon of the Kirov ballet company and the forces that led him to defect. It features footage never shown in the West before.

“Nureyev: The Russian Years” airs at 9 p.m. on KCET/28.

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