Now, even if you don’t know who Serge Diaghilev was or you never heard of his most famous protégé, Nijinsky, you still know that when it comes to defecting ballet dancers, Mother Russia comes in first. And to make my point, I will only drop two more names: you may be too young to remember Nureyev, but you should have seen the name of Jessica Lang’s husband, Mikhail Baryshnikov – more recently listed as an actor in the credits of various movies.
Hopefully, you got it: the only defecting ballet dancers are defecting to the West from the East, and East stands for Mother Russia. So, imagine the surprise when I read that we have a defecting ballet dancer, too. He comes from rural Idaho, but his defection brought him to Afghanistan, perhaps one of the few countries without a school of ballet and without a ballet theater to speak of proudly.
The story, as President Obama would tell it, does not dwell on the dancing ability of Sargent Bowe Bergdahl, whose first name brings to mind David Bowie. Even if his entire release story smacks of a cooked-up concoction. TPV is happy he can practice his dance again in the free world, and as a token of our congratulatory mood, and until the film version is released, to Bowe a Bowie/Mercury’s masterpiece, Under Pressure, via TPV:[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-rkJmRiFug[/embedyt]
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Inexplicable: What Would an American Nureyev Do in Afghanistan?
DANA NEACSU
My babe is a super talented musician and world class teacher, foreigner though, so she went for one of those special talent green cards – no dice – but the American Nureyev! America has another proud tradition, starting with Jefferson (and pretty much coasting to a, pause, with Kennedy) Fine Arts. A young country with an old, European soul – but flashier. Sure, men in tights (without masks…) is a little on the fringe, but I’ve heard this cat could shoot like Martin Riggs, too.