French ballet choreographer dies

PARIS: Pierre Lacotte, a French choreographer who as a young man helped ballet superstar Rudolf Nureyev defect from the Soviet Union, died aged 91 on Monday, his wife said.

“In 1961, after becoming friends with Soviet-born ballet legend Nureyev while he was on tour in Paris, Lacotte was among those who helped the dancer escape KGB agents and seek asylum at the capital´s Le Bourget airport, according to his account to a BBC documentary. His role in the famous defection was also recounted in a 2018 biopic titled “The White Crow” directed by Britain´s Ralph Fiennes. After suffering an ankle injury, Lacotte increasingly turned his attention to the archives of the Paris Opera from 1968.