Dance Australia contributor Leila Lois is developing a new short dance film inspired by the celebrated partnership between Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, following an archival research and poetry project tracing the pair’s history on and off stage.
One Body, One Soul began with Lois’s research at the Arts Centre Melbourne archives, where she examined photographs, programs, articles, costumes and other material connected with Fonteyn and Nureyev’s tours with The Australian Ballet.
The title comes from Nureyev’s description of dancing with Fonteyn as “one body, one soul”. Their partnership began in 1962, when Fonteyn was 42 and Nureyev 23, and would become one of ballet’s most famous pairings, despite the considerable difference in their ages, backgrounds and careers.
Lois’s initial research developed into a poetry collection exploring the relationship beyond conventional romantic definitions, looking instead at the intimacy, trust and artistic dependence created through decades of dancing together.
The project is now being expanded into a short film built around a single uninterrupted duet. Lois says the work will move through aspects of Fonteyn and Nureyev’s private and professional history, from the intensity of the rehearsal room to illness, displacement and the long friendship that endured beyond their stage careers.
Lois will perform alongside James Domeyko, with filmmaker Jeremy Brick directing. Composer Anita Haack is creating an original score drawing on breath and footfall rather than a traditional orchestral soundtrack.
The creative team is currently raising funds for the production through a Boosted crowdfunding campaign, with contributions going towards artist fees, filming and equipment, studio hire, the original score and post-production. The team also hopes to submit the completed work to film festivals.
For Lois, the project is also an opportunity to consider the lives behind one of ballet history’s most mythologised partnerships. Nureyev defected from the Soviet Union in 1961 and spent much of his career navigating life as an exile, while Fonteyn’s international career and Anglo-Brazilian background similarly placed her between cultures. Their partnership, Lois argues, offered both artists a form of chosen family as well as an extraordinary artistic collaboration.
One Body, One Soul is currently in development, with its Boosted campaign now open.