Leonide Massine pt1

This is a rough cut of an unfinished doc I produced in 1971 featuring the famous Ballets Russes choreographer.
I met Massine in 1970 when I asked him to be a patron of my attempt to mount a production of Erik Satie's surrealist ballet Relache (whose Entr'acte, a film by Rene Clair, I had accompanied at the NFT as a silent film pianist). He invited me to his island in the Gulf of Salerno that summer. There we hatched the idea of a series of video-cassettes (at that stage a vapour-ware medium!) which would contain his 'late thoughts' as a choreographer. I came back to the UK fired up with the idea.
During the next 6 months the project coalesced into making a documentary re-establishing Massine's position in the public mind. With a great more enthusiasm than realism I begged and borrowed the £1800 I needed to shoot the footage & returned the following summer with the legendary tv director Rudolph Cartier, with whom I had distilled a script from Massine's a/b; and the cameraman Norman Yardy.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Massine & Rudy did not hit it off - in spades! And after a couple of shots Massine (if you spot where hes furious you'll guess the shooting sequence) wouldnt allow Rudy anywhere near the filming. Which was pretty awkward on a small island. I had planned to do sound but had to direct it all as well.
There was a cherchez la femme element to this - as Massine, then 78 had 2 children of 4 & 6 with his german secretary. Normally she was kept in Wiesbaden, but was allowed to come to Li Galli for the summer. She & Massine could only converse in english. Her mother came too, who had no english, and thus M's exchanges with the old lady were limited to courteous gestures.
It was Massine's habit to invite dancers from the Royal Ballet School, of which he was a patron, and one of these had already caught his eye. I think he was fearful that Rudy Cartier, who was 8/9 years younger would get there first. The supreme irony was that she was already sleeping with me, which he must have known, but didn't seem to mind at all. Strange how the mind works.
Continued in part 2

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• ballet
• diaghilev
• russes
• massine
• galli
• positano
• nijinsky

[vladdrac88]

:) A warning to all young Americans: When traveling in Europe, never let yourselves become the boy or girl toy's of calculating, social climbing Eurotrash. (Particularly former 'Barons' or 'Baroness's )Over the last half century or so, besides the personal damages, I've no doubt that the effluent has been seriously damaging to our culture. In the worst cases, they may even have turned good old American boys into colonialists. :)

[vladdrac88]

Maxwellsteer :) Thanks for leaving my story of "The Island of Sirens" as long as you have. Its been a Godsend to me. Instead of clogging you're business with my spiritual biography I'll take it to my you tube channel. It is a beautiful place, where those who might wish to meditate undisturbed for a time by the world, should most certainly think of going to, if they posses the ducats. :)

[vladdrac88]

@maxwellsteer Forgive me :) I removed the posts you're referring to. They caused me to attempt to communicate with the person I'd thought so much of all these years.I'd tried once before, when my mother, a former ballerina was dying. I thought a phone call from the former object of my affections would cheer her up. My lady was the daughter of people she had worked with in the ballet. Not wanting to disturb her household I asked a mutual acquaintance to request a call to my mother. No call came.

[maxwellsteer]

I was intrigued by these postings, because something very similar happened to me too. There was an extraordinary magic in the place.

Subsequent to my posting a year ago Ive found out that the islands are apparently still owned by the Nureyev Foundation, and are available to rent.

[pediatrapaola]

@kabardinka1 YES ISLAND'S NAME IS "LI GALLI"

[Tennekis]

Thank you so much for posting this. It brings back memories of the summer I spent there in the 70's with Leonide. When I talk about how beautiful it was there I can now share your doc. There was an article on the islands showing photos of the restoration that Nureyev did. I remember a photo showing how he had tiled a vaulted room in the tower building. Massine had had it rebuilt from the ruble of a roman tower.

[kabardinka1]

Massine actually owned 3 islands near Capri. Perhaps Lorca still owned one of them, but the main Massine house and dance studio were owned and rebuilt by Rudi.

[kabardinka1]

It's mentioned in both the Kavanaugh and Solway biographies of Nureyev and is mentioned here: "an island between Capri and Positano. The island had previously belonged to the dancer and choreographer Massine and, in a Saracens tower, there is a fully equipped dance studio. The island had been unoccupied for ten years ...Rudolf set about making it habitable. A helicopter pad was made and building materials and furniture began to arrive."

Rudy bought the island.

[TouchSensitive]

This is not true. Leonide left it to his son Lorca who was certainly living there until recently.

[kabardinka1]

Rudolf Nureyev bought Massine's island and villa and restored it.