Eric Brun: biography, personal life, career, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Dancer Eric Brun was born October 3, 1928 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen Brun (née Evers), a hairdressing salon owner, and Ernst Brun. His parents got married shortly before the boy was born. Brun began training with the Royal Danish Ballet when he was nine years old. His unofficial debut at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen took place in 1946, where Eric played the role of Adonis in Harald Lander's Thorvaldsen.

Eric Brun: biography

In 1947 he was accepted into the ballet troupe. At that time, the future ballet star was only eighteen years old. Eric Brun took the first of his holidays (which would then become quite frequent) in 1947, performing for six months seven days a week with the capital's ballet company in England, where he danced in partnership with the Bulgarian ballerina Sonya 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 took another leave of absence and joined the American Ballet Theater in New York. York, where he would dance regularly for the next nine years, although his home company was still the Royal Danish Ballet.

Road to Glory

The turning point in Brun's international career was May 1, 1955, when he made his debut as Albrecht in Giselle, where he danced with Alicia Markova, who was almost twenty years his senior. The performance was a real sensation. Dance critic John Martin, writing in The New York Times, called the day "historic". In an article en titled "The Morning Performance That Made History" in The Dance News in June 1955, P. W. Manchester wrote:

“From a technical point of view, the role of Albrecht is not 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 an impeccably pure technique that he developed only through the combination of a huge talent associated with daily training from an early age …"

World fame

Brun formally retired from Danish ballet in 1961, by which time he had become a world-famous star. He continued to dance intermittently with the company 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 distinctly homosexual in nature: he dated many men and completely ignored women.

Over the next ten years, Brun collaborated not only withBallet Theatre, but also with all the major ballet companies in Europe and North America, including the New York Ballet Theatre, 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 Sylphide, Giselle, Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake. John Cranko staged "Daphnis and Chloe" with Eric Brun in 1962 at the theater in Stuttgart. Brun considered this ballet his favorite among all dance performances created especially for him. He also became famous for dramatic roles such as Jean in Birgit Kuhlberg's Miss Julie, the Moor in Maura José Limon's Pavane, and Don José in Roland Petit's Carmen. In addition to Sonya Arova, Brun danced for a long time with a large and unusually diverse number of ballerinas: Americans Cynthia Gregory, Nora Kay, Allegra Kent and Maria Tallchief, Russian Natalia Makarova, Danish Kirstin Simone, British Nadia Nerina and, oddly enough, with an 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 that's because I've always wanted to work with them. Every ballerina is different: she has to have a particular style, or she won't be a ballerina. This will influence my style and shape my approach. I stay true to myself but I let them influence mejust like they let me influence them… A good partnership can somehow crystallize what you've already done together. When the right people get together, they improve through each other… With the right person, it becomes a situation, not a game… The role absorbs you and you become it. And then it seems that you can't do anything wrong, because you are completely absorbed in this being.”

Recognition at home

Brun became a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, one of Denmark's highest honors, in 1963. In the same year he was awarded the Nijinsky Prize in Paris. After retiring as Danseur Noble (Honorary Dancer) in 1972, Brun danced character roles such as Madge the Witch in La Sylphide. He directed 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 turned down the position twice. His productions of full-length classical ballets such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Coppelia and the somewhat controversial Swan Lake for the National Ballet of Canada were well received, as were his pas de deux performances from the Bournonville repertoire. An excellent teacher and trainer, Eric Brun has dedicated himself to shaping the dance as a drama rather than a spectacle. He believed in "total identification" with the character being portrayed, "but under complete control, because if you lose yourself completely, you will not be able to communicate.with the public." In 1974, he played the title role in the play "Rashomon" on stage in Denmark, for which he received another recognition.

Rudolf Nureyev and Eric Brun

Brun met Rudolf Nureyev, the famous Russian dancer, after Nureyev moved to the West in 1961. Nureyev was a big fan of Brun, having seen filmed performances of the Dane on tour in Russia with the American Ballet Theatre, although the two dancers were stylistically very different. Eric became the biggest love of Nureyev's life and they were close for 25 years until Brun's death.

As Rudolf himself said, Eric Brun has always been his greatest love. Men never parted and, despite mutual betrayals, were always together. Rudolf Nureyev and Eric Brun were one of the most famous and longest-lived same-sex couples of their time. But promiscuity, characteristic of representatives of sexual minorities, ruined their lives - both, according to rumors, died of AIDS. Photos of Eric Brun with Nureyev still adorn 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 Verlac, he may have died of AIDS. He is buried in a grave without a monument at the Maribjerg Cemetery in Gentoft, an affluent northern suburb of Copenhagen, not far from the house where he grew up.

Reaction in the world

Dance critic John Rockwell noted in his obituary on Brun's death:

“Mr. Brun was adored around the world more as the epitome of masculine elegance and sensuality than as a virtuoso technician. As a partner, he was serious and respectful towards his female ballerinas, but he never allowed himself to be in the background. And as a genuine artist with a poetic disposition, he raised the role of a man in ballet to outstanding heights …"

Mikhail Baryshnikov, having learned about the death of a famous dancer, said: “He was, without a doubt, one of the greatest dancers we have ever seen, and his virtues and style were a model for all of us, therefore he cannot be replaced”.

Clive Barnes called Eric Brun "the greatest classical dancer of his time" when Brun retired in 1972. In gratitude for Brun's accomplishments, dance critic Anna Kisselgoff (The New York Times) wrote:

“Then he was a model of a perfect dancer - precise in every movement, virtuoso technique, noble and elegant in every gesture. His figure was extraordinary, his leg minted every movement is simply amazing. His moral authority was very high for the entire world ballet, awakening in all artists the concentration and seriousness with which he himself devoted himself to each role.

Death Memory

Brun was posthumously awarded the 1987 annual Paguria Prize for "exemplary contributions to Canada's arts and culture", the firstnominee. Nureyev was very upset by the death of his partner and mentioned him in almost all interviews. As Rudolph stated many times, Eric Brun was the greatest ballet choreographer of the then Europe and the best person he knew.

In 2014, Heritage Toronto erected a plaque to him outside George Street in the St. Lawrence Market area of Toronto. He lived there for many years.

Bruna Prize

In accordance with his posthumous will, part of Brun's estate was turned into an Eric Brun Award dedicated to dancers from the three theaters with which he was most closely associated. Among them were the Royal Danish Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, and the National Ballet of Canada. Each theater was asked to send one male and one female dancer to the competition, which is held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brun elaborated that the award is given to two young dancers who "reflect the kind of technical ability, artistic achievement and dedication that I have tried to bring to ballet." Competitors for the prize are dancers aged 18 to 23. For competition, each dancer performs in a classical pas de deux, modern pas de deux, or solo program.

The first Brun Prize was awarded in 1988. The daughter of Eric Brun personally presented it to the winners.

Conclusion

Eric Brun was, along with Nureyev, the greatest dancer of his time. All newspapers and magazines of the 50s and 60s wrote about him, several streets and a whole ballet prize were named after him. Numerousrecords of his performances that have survived to this day and are available on the Internet (as well as photos of Eric Brun) are a real treasure for young dancers who dream of mastering the amazing and elegant technique of the brilliant Dane. For ballet dancers, he became almost the same as Marlon Brando became for actors of the 50s and 60s - an idol, a teacher and a moral authority that one wants to imitate and whose example one wants to follow.

The day of Brun's death was a mourning not only for Denmark and not only for Rudolf Nureyev personally, but for the entire civilized world, which still followed ballet art with a breath. 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 arts have risen from the ashes, capturing people's minds again and defining the cultural face of the planet. There is a possibility that the same will happen to ballet someday.