Music : Arnold Schoenberg – Choreography : Glen Tetley
In his desire to expand his art to other forms of dance, Rudolf Nureyev performed this choreography by Glen Tetley many times and in many countries, and included it in the repertoire of his “Nureyev and Friends”.
He identified with this tragic character as with Fokine’s Petrouchka, another of his favourite roles. Glen Tetley resisted during five years before giving him this choreography, fearing that the intense personality of the dancer would overwhelm the innocence of Pierrot, but Rudolf revealed a deep vulnerability in this role. While he was rehearsing Pierrot lunaire with Tetley, he was being filmed in Valentino, and had started to choreograph his version of Romeo and Juliet. It is just an example of the extraordinary density and variety of his schedules. Martine Kahane