Leap to the Bar

Madame Furtseva's latest smash hit abroad is Leningrad's Kirov Opera Ballet Company, which last week wound up a ten-day stand in Paris. A star of the show was Rudolf Nureev, 23, whom Paris critics hailed for his spectacular leaps in the famous Bluebird pas de deux in Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. But word had spread through the dance company that Nureev intended to defect, and when the dancers arrived at Le Bourget Airport for departure to London, Nureev, sullen and tense, was accompanied by two Russian strong-arm men, euphemistically described later as "unofficial" members of the company. "I won't go!" he screamed. The gorillas grabbed him. But Nureev broke away and raced for the airport bar, screaming "Protect me! Protect me!" to airport police. The police took him in tow, and despite warm persuasion from half a dozen Soviet embassy employees who rushed up, Nureev demanded political asylum. Protectively convoyed by French cops, he was taken back into Paris, smiling for the first time that day.

Rebounding fast, the Russians blamed it all on love, specifically a 21-year-old Parisian redhead. "We are sad about it," they said. "But he is young, and the girl is very beautiful."

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