Synopsis
Russian ballet star Irek Mukhamedov has been called the Nureyev of his generation. But unlike Nureyev, who had to defect to dance with the Royal Ballet, Mukhamedov made history by simply leaving the Bolshoi in Moscow and taking up a London contract with the Royal. The charismatic Tartar is bringing the flamboyant Russian tradition to bear on the more restrained English classical tradition. And taking the British stage by storm. Omnibus documents Mukhamedov's first year at the Royal, and examines how his bravura athleticism has been absorbed into the English tradition. Mukhamedov is filmed in class, in rehearsal, at home with his wife and baby, and dancing in specially shot extracts from Manon, Giselle and Winter Dreams, the ballet recently created for him by Sir Kenneth MacMillan.