A wonderful meeting last night at the Palais du Festival in Cannes. Invited by its director Bernard Oheix to attend the prestigious annual international dance competition, at the end of the evening I was introduced to the great Russian dancer and choreographer Vladimir Vasiliev.
Vladimir Vasiliev, headmaster dancer and later director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, was, along with Nureyev and Barishnikov, the main star of post-war Russian ballet. The surprising thing I didn't know is that for years Vladimir has also been a very good painter. We talked about painting for some time. He is very kind and friendly, and he also speaks a little Italian, having worked a lot in Milan, at La Scala with the great Carla Fracci.