DANCE

Rudolf Nureyev was thrown one whale of a birthday party at the Metropolitan Opera in New York Monday--even though his 50th birthday was in March. A performance by the corps of children from Nureyev’s Paris Opera Ballet performed for the ballet star, followed by former colleagues Dame Margot Fonteyn, Mikhail Baryshnikov and “Sesame Street’s” Miss Piggy. The Met’s music director, James Levine, conducted the orchestra and soprano Jessye Norman sang a Mahler Lied while Nureyev danced the Maurice Bejart setting of “Song of a Wayfarer.” And naturally New York Mayor Ed Koch made an appearance, presenting Nureyev with a crystal apple.