Don Q Fan Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) On Friday 5 January 2018 I finally took a trip I have been meaning to make for ages. I went to see the grave of Rudolf Nureyev in the Russian Cemetery outside Paris. It took me about an hour to get there from Paris. You take the RER C line to Sainte Genevieve-des-Bois then you pick up a local bus - the 3 towards Croix Blanche will get you to Piscine stop and from there it is a minutes walk to the cemetery. You can use single tickets for Paris on the local buses. It cost me about EUR15 to do the trip. Whilst at the cemetery on the way to Nureyev's grave I also saw that of Serge Lifar, Ballet Russes Principal. The Russian Chapel at the cemetery is only open at weekends and visitors will be relieved to know there are toilet facilities there too. Going back to the station I got a number 1 bus from over the crossroad near the bus 3 return stop and the return buses are headed for Gare RER. The tomb of Nureyev, I should say that the colours are far more vibrant in real life it's just my photo that is little dull. Flowers and pointe shoes left in tribute to Nureyev. Little did I know it was actually 25 years since his death the very next day on 6/1/2018. Fringe detail of the carpet mosaic. Serge Lifar's grave. Had it not been so bitingly cold I would have stayed a little longer to see other famous graves but it was too chilly to hang around! I would definitely recommend a visit though as the cemetery is lovely, and Nureyev's grave is a work of art - he collected carpets hence the mosaic carpet tombstone. Edited January 10, 2018 by Don Q Fan 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Bless you, Don Q Fan, it is very touching. Two remarkable ballerinas are also resting at Sainte Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery: Olga Preobrajenskaya and Mathilda Kshessinskaya. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thank you so much for posting this, Don Q Fan, including the wonderful photos. What an amazing tomb and it's so moving to see it. I can't believe it's 25 years ago that he died. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thank you for this account and the photos. It is a visit I have been meaning to do and your post has urged me on. Another evocative place for balletomanes to visit is the grave of Diaghilev on the island of San Michele, Venice. Stravinsky's grave is nearby. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stucha Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) Thanks for posting. I would love to see it too. If in Paris, you can visit Nijinsky's grave in the Montmartre cemetery which also has the graves of Adolph Adam and Leo Delibes. It is comparatively easy to get to and quite lovely. It is overrun with cats, like San Michele in Venice. Edited January 11, 2018 by stucha Add info 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Odyssey said: Another evocative place for balletomanes to visit is the grave of Diaghilev on the island of San Michele, Venice. Stravinsky's grave is nearby. The grave of the Nobel Laureate poet Josef Brodsky is also there. 49 minutes ago, stucha said: If in Paris, you can visit Nijinsky's grave in the Montmartre cemetery. Marie Duplessis is also there. However, it was not the first resting place for Nijinsky. When he died in London, the funeral service was at St. James' Catholic Church in George Street and he was buried at St. Marylebone Cemetery at East End Road (now it is East Finchley Cemetery). Three years later Lifar arranged his reburial at Montmartre cemetery, close to Antoine Vestris. Edited January 11, 2018 by Amelia spelling 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) When I visited his grave in 2001 I was driven to the Russian cemetery by a diplomat friend and we got lost. Realizing he'd gone too far along the motorway he did a U-turn across the centre reservation. Diplomatic immunity, don't you just love it? Edited January 11, 2018 by MAB 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 Fascinating replies! Yes Venice is another I wish to visit for Diaghilev. I think I saw Tchaikovsky's resting place when I was in St Petersburg. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Don Q Fan said: I think I saw Tchaikovsky's resting place when I was in St Petersburg. The memorial on Tchaikovsky's grave is beautiful: http://www.m-necropol.ru/chaikovskiy.html 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 That mosaic throw on Nureyev's grave is stunningly beautiful. Does anyone know anything about it, such as who the artist is, was it commissioned by anyone, how was it made, who paid for it? Just amazing! Thanks for any info you can give me. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 That is absolutely beautiful. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Sim said: That mosaic throw on Nureyev's grave is stunningly beautiful. Does anyone know anything about it, such as who the artist is, was it commissioned by anyone, how was it made, who paid for it? Just amazing! Thanks for any info you can give me. The following is detailed on the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation website:- According to his last wishes, Rudolf Nureyev was buried in the Russian cemetery at Sainte-Geneviève-des-bois, near Paris. The ceremony took place on January 12, 1993. Rudolf Nureyev's memorial was unveiled on Monday 6th May 1996 in the Russian cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois close to Paris. It was designed and built by set designer, Ezio Frigerio who often designed Nureyev's choreographies sets. This mosaic memorial resembles one of the oriental kilim rugs that Nureyev loved so much. Another blog says that his friends and admirers had the memorial made. http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/magnificent-mosaic-rug-carpet-on-rudolf.html?m=1 Edited January 11, 2018 by Don Q Fan 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Thank you very much for this Don Q. I remember the tomb cover was like an oriental rug but I didn't realise it was so splendid. the photos capture it beautifully.it must make it easy for anyone looking for his tomb. No mistaking where he is buried! the design reminds me of POB Bayadere which of course was Rudolf's last and possibly most wonderful production which Ezio Frigerio designed. The only ballet grave I have visited was Petipa's in the Alexander Nevsky cemetery in St Petersburg. My husband and I were on a Baltic cruise and as we didn't have visas we had to take the guided trips and one of them was round 3 cathedrals and the cemetery was next to one of them. The guide gave us a brief tour around some of the better known composers/writers buried there; Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Dosteovsky and then mentioned there are other ballet related people buried there. I asked if my husband and I could go and look and reluctantly he agreed. But it was very rushed as everyone on the coach was waiting and of course all the inscriptions was in Cyrillic! We were just giving up when I saw Marius Petipa written in English! So was able to take a quick picture and dash back to the coach. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Amelia said: The memorial on Tchaikovsky's grave is beautiful: http://www.m-necropol.ru/chaikovskiy.html Wonderful! Thank you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanj2000 Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Don Q Fan - Fantastic! Thank you very much for posting your photos, the detailed description of how to get there (I will do, when next in Paris), and also sharing your personal moments there. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Many many thanks for the pics and info Don Q .....that grave looks well worth visiting and I found it rather moving too..another person who died far too young ....so something else to accomplish when in Paris next ....and in fact St Petersburg too. Ive only ever visited Chopins grave in Pere Lachaise in Paris but only to discover that his heart had been removed and is in a church in Warsaw. I had already been to Warsaw to Zelazowa Wola to his birth place but didn't realise that part of him was in the church in Warsaw. This was way back in the 70's before the Internet age of being able to find out information so quickly! I'd like to see Nijinsky's grave as well .....maybe need a grave visiting holiday! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 I should have added that the RER C has 4 lines east and only 2 go to St Genevieve des Bois it's the line C to Dourdan or St Martin - see map of the line C routes:- https://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/map-rer-line_c-2017.pdf 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 So pleased to discover I'm not the only one who enjoys visiting cemeteries, if there is someone's grave you want to visit, find a grave makes it easy: https://www.findagrave.com/ I used it to visit the resting place of Pavarotti on a trip to Italy, we bought flowers and the local florist took us to the exact location. I was very moved by the simple family tomb where the great man rests alongside his parents and baby son. Novodevichy in Moscow is a beautiful spot where Shostokovich, Prokofiev and Ulanova among others are buried I really recommend a visit. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Thanks for the info about Moscow MAB but did you say Pavorotti had a baby son who died? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Yes, he died shortly after birth, his twin sister survived. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I did not know that how sad for him. Not uncommon unfortunately with twins. A friend of mine had twins ( okay going back 40 odd years ago now) but she did not know she was having twins till about a month before the birth because one twin was sort of hidden behind the other and in fact was born VERY small ....about 2lbs I seem to remember....and was in an incubator for ages....The other twin had been taking all the nutrition apparently! Against all the odds she did survive and is happily married with her own children now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Here are some memorials for dancers: Vaslav Nijinsky: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4346 Galina Ulanova: http://www.m-necropol.ru/ulanova.html Marius Petipa: http://www.m-necropol.ru/petipa.html Agrippina Vaganova: https://www.tripadvisor.ru/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g298507-d2619458-i155062975-Literatorskiye_Mostki_Museum_Necropolis-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_Distr.html Maris Liepa: http://www.m-necropol.ru/liepa.html Alla Shelest: https://www.tripadvisor.ru/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g298507-d2619458-i130902599-Literatorskiye_Mostki_Museum_Necropolis-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_Distr.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assoluta Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 On 1/10/2018 at 14:21, Amelia said: Bless you, Don Q Fan, it is very touching. Two remarkable ballerinas are also resting at Sainte Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery: Olga Preobrajenskaya and Mathilda Kshessinskaya. Several other remarkable ballet personalities rest there too, Amelia, Vera Trefilova is buried barely 20 yards away from Preobrazhenskaya, also Nina Vyroubova, incomparable as Giselle and the muse of Serge Lifar, Boris Kniaseff, Alexandra Balachova, "première danseuse" of Bolshoi, there are plenty of photos of her on the site of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, http://www.old.balletacademy.ru/biblio/foto/264-balashova-aleksandra-mihaylovna.html If I knew how to upload my photos of the graves of Preobrazhenskaya and Trefilova, I would have done that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assoluta Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 11 hours ago, Don Q Fan said: I should have added that the RER C has 4 lines east and only 2 go to St Genevieve des Bois it's the line C to Dourdan or St Martin - see map of the line C routes:- https://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/map-rer-line_c-2017.pdf And then you need to know which bus to take and where to go. The cemetery is far from the railway station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 2 hours ago, assoluta said: And then you need to know which bus to take and where to go. The cemetery is far from the railway station. Don Q Fan supplied this info in her first post. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Here is a photo that I took of Harriet Toby's grave in Père Lachaise. I wandered passed it when I was there and I was struck by the headstone. She was an American dancer, who was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1952, near Nice. There is a photo of her in Baron Encore. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 2 hours ago, assoluta said: If I knew how to upload my photos of the graves of Preobrazhenskaya and Trefilova, I would have done that. Here are more links to memorials: Olga Preobrajenska (Preobrazhenskaya): https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8486389 Nina Vyrubova: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20476519 Vera Trevilova: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13990775 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I went to Paris for a birthday treat, and decided to go to Pere Lachaise. People thought it was a very odd choice, but everyone loved it when we got there. Sadly, I must have missed Harriet Toby's grave. Next time, I will definitely visit the Russian Cemetery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assoluta Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Just now, Fonty said: I went to Paris for a birthday treat, and decided to go to Pere Lachaise. People thought it was a very odd choice, but everyone loved it when we got there. Sadly, I must have missed Harriet Toby's grave. Next time, I will definitely visit the Russian Cemetery. Did you visit Marie Taglioni, the greatest ballerina, her pedagogue Jean-Franços Coulon, one of the greatest ballet pedagogues in history, and incomparable as a dancer and as a choreographer, Jules Perrot? They are all buried at Père-Lachaise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Assoluta, I visited some years ago, and saw so many graves I can't remember whether I did or didn't! The only ones I can say that I definitely saw were Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf , Balzac and Chopin. Such a beautiful place, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, assoluta said: And then you need to know which bus to take and where to go. The cemetery is far from the railway station. I mentioned the buses in my original post at the start of the thread - bus 3 to Croix Blanche get off at Piscine, barely a minutes walk to the walled cemetery which you can't miss. Edited January 12, 2018 by Don Q Fan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos, DQF! The mosaic carpet is magnificent and I felt compelled to show it to my husband and eldest daughter who admired it very much too. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 (edited) Caught sight of Nureyev's imposingly monumental grave by following DonQFans excellent directions. I would just like to add two things if I might. (i) When taking the Number 3 Bus towards Croix Blanche I would suggest going one stop further than Piscine - e.g., to the actual CIMETIERE RUSSE stop itsefl. When you get off the bus simply enter through the main gates. The chapel will be on your left. Walk up the central path and bear to your right as it curves. Then keep walking straight up. Look at the graves to your left hand side. (There are no significant signs or maps here as at other major Parisian cemeteries.). As DonQFan so kindly suggests - you will first come to the exquisitely streamlined grave of Lifar and then shortly thereafter the vivid colour of Nureyev's kiln carpet will dawn unto your - again left sided - purvey. (The early morning sun was shining when I approached and it - [I almost said 'he'] - positively glittered.) (ii) IF you do not speak French it may be best to write out a request in French for the bus driver to alert you to that stop. You are out in the definite suburbs here and it struck me that few around would speak English. If you do speak French you can simply ask the driver as you get on as I did. It was in fact he (in this instance at least) who told me it was best to go the extra stop. Most kind. Edited June 29, 2018 by Bruce Wall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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