A ballet about Rudolf Nureyev that Russia pulled from its stages is getting its United States premiere in San Francisco. The San Francisco Dance Film Festival opens next Friday, Oct. 23, with a live performance capture of Nureyev, screening at the Lucasfilm Premier Theater before a live Q&A with members of the creative team.
A Ballet With a Complicated Journey to San Francisco
The festival describes the screening as the United States premiere, according to sfdancefilmfest.org. The ballet was choreographed by Yuri Possokhov in collaboration with stage director Kirill Serebrennikov, with a score by composer Ilya Demutsky, per the same festival page. Possokhov, notably, got his choreographic start at San Francisco Ballet and now serves as the company's choreographer-in-residence, per seed reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Nureyev premiered at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in December 2017, according to Staatsballett Berlin. The Chronicle reports the work received international acclaim that year. But its run in Russia didn't last. The festival's own page states the ballet was permanently removed from the Bolshoi's repertoire in 2022 under Russia's expanded gay propaganda law, while Staatsballett Berlin's materials state that Nureyev was removed from the Bolshoi repertoire after LGBTQ laws tightened in 2022.
Why Russia Shelved the Production
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the Bolshoi Theater removed Nureyev from its repertoire after Russia tightened its law on so-called gay propaganda, and that Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin said some scenes in the ballet could be regarded as LGBT propaganda. Staatsballett Berlin notes that Nureyev's relationships and his open expression of his homosexuality are part of the ballet's narrative, which traces the life of the Soviet-born dancer who defected to the West.
Germany's Staatsballett Berlin became the first company outside Russia to stage the work in 2026, bringing it to the stage for the first time outside Russia, per the company's own account. Pointe Magazine quoted someone involved in the revival saying, “I am proud that we are the first to revive it.” The Berlin cast featured David Soares as Nureyev and Iana Salenko as Margot Fonteyn, according to Seen and Heard International. Staatsballett Berlin has additional performances scheduled from April 23 through May 17, 2027.
From Deutsche Oper Berlin to the Letterman Digital Arts Center
The version screening in San Francisco is a live performance capture film of that 2026 Staatsballett Berlin production, according to San Francisco Classical Voice. It was recorded in March 2026 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and directed by Myriam Hoyer. Bel Air Media produced the film in co-production with ZDF and ARTE, the festival page notes.
The screening starts at 7 p.m. next Friday at the Lucasfilm Premier Theater, 1 Letterman Drive, as the kickoff to the 17th annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival, per the Chronicle's reporting. Afterward, audiences can stick around for a live Q&A — the festival page describes it as featuring composer Ilya Demutsky and co-stager Dana Genshaft, moderated by SFDFF Artistic Director Garen Scribner, while the Chronicle reports the onstage conversation will also include stage director Kirill Serebrennikov.
Dozens More Films Across San Francisco Through November
From there, the festival continues through Nov. 8, with Classical Voice reporting roughly 80 dance films shown in local theaters before the program streams worldwide from Nov. 9 through Nov. 30. The Chronicle reports the in-person run includes 18 screenings presenting more than 80 films at venues including Delancey Street Theater, Catherine Clark Gallery, Shack15 and Brava Theater.
Among the other titles on the slate, per the Chronicle: The People's Palace, filmed in 2024, highlights San Francisco aerial choreographer Joanna Haigood's site-specific dance inside San Francisco City Hall's rotunda. My Benjamin, from 2025, presents a double portrait of Paris Opera Ballet star Benjamin Perch and Mexico-based director Victoria Clay Mendoza. And Otter Lake, receiving its world premiere, follows the rising career of choreographer Emma Portner, who has worked with major companies and pop stars including Justin Bieber and FKA twigs.
Single tickets for the festival run $20 to $125, while festival passes cost $35 to $175, according to the Chronicle's reporting.
