On 6 January 1993 the dance world lost a revered giant: Rudolf Nureyev, whose talent had an indelible influence on generations of dancers and choreographers. Kader Belarbi, a danseur Étoile (the highest rank possible) during the Nureyev years at the Opéra de Paris, wanted to pay tribute to him, thus giving the dancers of the Ballet de Capitole the opportunity to tackle a remarkable exercise in academic style, made possible through technical mastery and quality of execution.

The Ballet du Capitole embraces his ballets, performing a hypnotic Shadows Scene (act III) from La Bayadère, a reproduction of Kirov’s version, two Pas de deux and one Pas de trois in the purest academic style but heavy with a great lyricism in Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan lake and, lastly, the final celebratory act of Don Quixote where all of the joy, vivacity and good humour of the Spanish dances and of Basil - a role that Nureyev was particularly fond of - burst forth.