Nureyev and Paris Opera Ballet Choreograph Ugly Legal Battle

Rudolf Nureyev’s stormy six-year stint at the Paris Opera Ballet ended today when rising French star Patrick Dupond, 30, was named to succeed him as the troupe’s new dance director.

But a bitter dispute over the copyright and control of the ballets Nureyev choreographed for the opera house is only just beginning, Pierre Berge, chairman of the Paris Opera, said.

“Nureyev has launched a takeover bid on the Paris Opera,” Berge said of the Soviet-born dancer who defected to the West with a spectacular leap over a customs barrier at a Paris airport in 1961.

Nureyev was eased out as head of the Paris ballet last year, but he stayed on as chief choreographer while Berge started the search for a successor.

“I do not trust him,” an embittered Berge said after a news conference today to announce Nureyev’s successor.

He said tough negotiations were going on between French officials and the Russian dancer over the staging of classic ballets such as “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Giselle” and “Cinderella.”

Nureyev, 51, who staged the works during his 1983-to-1989 stay in Paris as star dancer and director, was demanding that he should continue to wield artistic control over new performances of the ballets, including such decisions as naming the lead dancers, Berge said.

“We have no objection to paying him copyright but it is unreasonable for someone no longer at the Paris Opera Ballet to try to impose his wishes from a train in Anchorage, Tokyo or elsewhere,” he added angrily.

“If he refuses to come to an agreement, we will perform these ballets with a new choreography,” Berge said. “If he thinks we have destroyed them, he can take us to court. I will never compromise.”

The war between the two began when Berge attempted last year to tie Nureyev down to spending at least six months each year in Paris. Nureyev refused and lost his post.