In Nureyev’s time

I am offended by The Times’ salacious reportage of Rudolf Nureyev’s private life [“Nureyev: Dancing Around the Lies,” Aug. 19]. What illumination can arise from attacks on Nureyev’s veracity, all these years after his death? Nureyev rose from the same stages as Bernhardt and Callas. Being larger than life was expected -- even if self-creation paved the way to legend. That’s the way you did things back then, before the age of the camera phone.

What enlightenment comes via kiss-and-tell tattles from Nureyev’s private bedroom? Nureyev grew up homosexual in a communist country. He danced with Margot Fontaine at a time when people in England still went to jail for being gay. If Nureyev had issues with his sexuality, who could blame him? Surely, broader critical thinking is deserved.

At a time when the arts are in peril, shouldn’t we concentrate on the artistry of an artist rather than accumulate anecdotes that have nothing to do with the reasons we remember the stardust?

Max Ember

Los Angeles