Dancer Eric Brun was born on October 3, 1928 in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the fourth child and first son of Ellen Brun (née Evers), the owner of a hairdressing salon, and Ernst Brun. His parents got married shortly before the birth of the boy. Brun began training with the Royal Danish Ballet when he was nine years old. His unofficial debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen took place in 1946, where Eric played the role of Adonis in the Harald Lander ballet Thorvaldsen.
Eric Brun: biography
In 1947 he was admitted to the ballet troupe. At that time, the future star of the ballet was only eighteen years old. Eric Brun took the first of his vacations (which will then become quite frequent) in 1947, performing for six months seven days a week with the Moscow ballet troupe in England, where he danced in partnership with Bulgarian ballerina Sonia Arova. He returned to the Royal Danish Ballet in the spring of 1948, and was promoted to soloist in 1949. This is the highest title a dancer can achieve in Danish ballet. Later, in 1949, he again took a vacation and joined the American Ballet Theater in New York, where he will dance regularly for the next nine years, although the Royal Danish Ballet Company remained his native troupe.
The path to fame
The turning point in Brun's international career was the first of May 1955, when he made his debut as Albrecht in the ballet Giselle, where he danced with Alicia Markova, who was almost twenty years older than him. The performance was a real sensation. Dance critic John Martin, a New York Times writer, called the day "historic." In an article entitled “The Morning Play That Made History” in the newspaper Dance News in June 1955, P.V. Manchester wrote:
“From a technical point of view, the role of Albrecht does not go beyond the capabilities of any competent artist, but Eric Brun was infinitely more than that. He is probably the most gifted dancer of his time, with impeccably clean technique, which he developed only through a combination of huge talent associated with daily training from an early age ... "
World fame
Brun formally resigned from Danish ballet in 1961, and by that time he had become a world famous star. He continued to periodically dance with the troupe as a guest artist. In May 1961, he returned to the Ballet Theater for performances in New York. Eric Brun's personal life at that time was clearly homosexual in nature: he met with many men and completely ignored women.
Over the next ten years, Brun collaborated not only with the ballet theater, but with all the major ballet companies in Europe and North America, including the New York Ballet Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Paris Opera Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London. He was best known for his leading roles in La Sylphide, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Ashton and Swan Lake. John Cranco staged Daphnis and Chloe with Eric Brun in 1962 at the Stuttgart Theater. Brun considered this ballet his favorite among all the dance productions created especially for him. He also became famous for dramatic roles such as Gene in Miss Julie Birgit Kulberg, Moor in Pavan Maura Jose Limona and Don Jose in Carmen Roland Petit. In addition to Sonya Arova, Brun danced for a long time with a large and unusually diverse number of ballerinas: American Cynthia Gregory, Nora Kai, Allegra Kent and Maria Tallchif, Russian Natalya Makarova, Danish Kirstin Simone, British Nadia Nerina and, oddly enough, with Italian prima ballerina Carla Fracci.
Brun as a writer
In his book Beyond Technique (1968), Brun described his thoughts on partnership:
“I noticed that I was able to work with many ballerinas, and in most cases we managed to become a team for a season or two. And this is because I always wanted to work with them. Each ballerina has its own differences: she must have a special style, or she will not be a ballerina. This will influence my style and shape my approach. I remain true to myself, but I let them influence me, just like they let me influence them ... A good partnership can somehow crystallize what you have already done together. When the right people get together, they improve thanks to each other ... With the right person, this becomes a situation, not a game ... The role absorbs you, and you become it. And then it seems that you can do nothing wrong, because you are completely absorbed in this creature. "
Homeland Recognition
Brun became a knight of the Order of Dannebrog, one of Denmark's highest awards, in 1963. In the same year he was awarded the Nizhinsky Prize in Paris. After retiring as Danseur Noble (honorary dancer) in 1972, Brun danced characteristic roles such as the role of the witch Madge in La Sylphide. He was the director of the Swedish Opera Ballet from 1967 to 1973 and the National Ballet of Canada from 1983 until his death in 1986. Although he was twice offered the post of director of the Royal Danish Ballet, he twice refused the post. His performances of full-length classical ballets such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Coppelia and the somewhat controversial Swan Lake for the Canadian National Ballet were well received, as were his performances of the pas de deux from Bournonville’s repertoire. An excellent teacher and trainer, Eric Brun devoted himself to making the dance clean, perceiving it as a drama, not a spectacle. He believed in "full identification" with the character being portrayed, "but under complete control, because if you completely lose yourself, you will not be able to communicate with the public." In 1974, he played a major role in the play "Rashomon" on stage in Denmark, for which he received another acclaim.
Rudolf Nureyev and Eric Brun
Brun met Rudolf Nuriev, the famous Russian dancer, after Nuriev moved to the West in 1961. Nuriev was a big fan of Brun, seeing the Danes filmed performances on tour in Russia with the American Ballet Theater, although both dancers were very stylistically very different. Eric became the greatest love in the life of Nuriev, and they were close for 25 years, until the death of Brun.
As Rudolph himself said, Eric Brun was always his greatest love. Men never parted and, despite mutual betrayal, were constantly together. Rudolf Nuriev and Eric Brun were one of the most famous and durable same-sex couples of their time. But the erratic sexual relations characteristic of members of sexual minorities destroyed their lives - both are rumored to have died from AIDS. Photo by Eric Brun with Nureyev is still adorned with many photo exhibitions around the world. On them, however, the dancers look only like old bosom friends.
Death
Eric Brun died on February 1, 1986 in a Toronto hospital at the age of 57. The official cause of his death was lung cancer. However, according to Pierre-Henri Verlack, he may have died of AIDS. He is buried in a grave without a monument at the Maribierg Cemetery in Gentoft, a wealthy northern suburb of Copenhagen, near the house where he grew up.
Reaction in the world
Dance critic John Rockwell, in his obituary on Brun's death, noted:
“Mr. Brun was adored by the whole world more as the embodiment of courageous elegance and sensuality than as a virtuoso technician. As a partner, he was serious and respectful to his fellow dancers, but he never allowed himself to be in the background. And as a true artist with a poetic character, he raised the role of men in ballet to outstanding peaks ... "
Mikhail Baryshnikov, learning about the death of a famous dancer, said: "He was undoubtedly one of the greatest dancers we have ever seen, and his dignity and style were a model for all of us, so he cannot be replaced."
Clive Barnes called Eric Brun “the greatest classical dancer of his time,” even when Brun resigned in 1972. In gratitude for Brun's accomplishments, dance critic Anna Kisselhoff (The New York Times) wrote:
“Then he was a model of a perfect dancer - precise in every movement, masterly technician, noble and elegant in every gesture. His figure was extraordinary, his foot minted every movement is simply amazing. “His moral authority was very high for the whole world ballet, awakening in all artists the concentration and seriousness with which he devoted himself to every role.”
Posthumous memory
Brun was posthumously awarded the 1987 Paguria Prize for “Model Contribution to Canada’s Art and Culture,” becoming its first nominee. Nureyev was very upset by the death of his partner and mentioned him in almost all interviews. As Rudolph has argued many times, Eric Brun was the greatest ballet choreographer of Europe at that time and the best person he knew.
In 2014, the Toronto Legacy set up a memorial plaque outside of George Street in the St. Lawrence Market area of Toronto. He lived there for many years.
Brune Award
In accordance with his posthumous will, part of Brun's fortune was turned into the Eric Brun Prize, dedicated to dancers from the three theaters with which he was most closely associated. Among them were the Royal Danish Ballet, the American Ballet Theater and the National Ballet of Canada. Each of the theaters was asked to send one man and one woman dancer to a contest held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brun specified that this prize is awarded to two young dancers who "reflect the technical abilities, artistic achievements and dedication that I tried to bring to the ballet." Competitors for the prize are dancers aged 18 to 23 years. For competitions, each dancer performs in the classical pas de deux, modern pas de deux or solo program.
Brun's first prize was awarded in 1988. The winners personally entrusted to her winners daughter Eric Brun.
Conclusion
Eric Brun was, along with Nuriev, the greatest dancer of his time. All newspapers and magazines of the 50s and 60s wrote about him, several streets and a whole ballet award were named after him. Numerous recordings of his performances, which have survived to the present day and are available on the Internet (as well as a photo of Eric Brun), are a real treasure for young dancers who dream of mastering the amazing and elegant technique of the genius Dane. For ballet dancers, he became almost the same as Marlon Brando became for the actors of the 50s and 60s - an idol, teacher and moral authority, who want to imitate and want to follow an example.
The day of Brun's death was mourning not only for Denmark and not only for Rudolf Nureyev personally, but also for the entire civilized world, who was still breathingly watching ballet art. Now, however, his name is half forgotten due to the fact that ballet, like all classical dance genres, has somewhat lost its relevance. But history knows many examples of how long-forgotten genres and art forms rose from the ashes, again capturing the minds of people and determining the cultural face of the planet. It is likely that the same thing will happen to ballet someday.