On 15 October 1964 the ballet world looked towards Vienna. Rudolf Nureyev, the foremost dancer of the second half of the 20th century and just 26 years old at the time, had just choreographed „Swan Lake“ for the Wiener Staatsopernballett. It was a performance that went down in the history of ballet. Just three years after Nureyev had abs­conded to the West, the young choreographer from the Soviet Union succeeded in giving a new and convincing interpretation to the Tchai­kovsky ballet.