Rudolf Nureyev was born on a Trans-Siberian train in 1938 and became arguably the most famous male ballet dancer of the 20th century. This episode follows a Tatar boy who did not enter a major ballet school until 17, reverse-engineered the mechanics of dance at the Vaganova Academy, and stopped a Kirov performance of Don Quixote rather than wear baggy trousers.

We revisit his 1961 leap to freedom at Le Bourget airport, his legendary partnership with Margot Fonteyn, and the pop-star mania that followed. We also explore how he expanded male roles, crossed into modern dance with Martha Graham, directed the Paris Opera Ballet, lived an extravagant and volatile life, and kept working through his final illness until his death in 1993.

• Why starting ballet at 17 became an advantage that let him question the art form’s rules
• The airport escape from KGB minders in Paris and why the defection was personal rather than political
• The 19-year age gap behind his iconic partnership with Margot Fonteyn
• How he transformed the male dancer from a support role into a virtuoso equal to the ballerina
• His years at the Paris Opera Ballet, his HIV diagnosis, and the final La Bayadère curtain call