Although too erratic in technique to earn the distinction of virtuoso, Rudolf Nureyev still took a place among the most brilliant dancers in history. His flamboyance and charisma garnered him a truly massive audience; it's possible that his dancing has been seen by more people than that of any other

Bombast, Dramatic, Intense, Masculine, Mythic, Severe, Soviet ballet: the bolshoi and the kirov

Identity formation, the limits of linguistic signification, gender difference, and the possibility for political solidarity: Julia Kristeva has addressed them all. She serves up some of the most nuanced batches of critical theory to date, with all of the passion and rigor -- and often all of the enig

Dense, Feminism, Feminist, Poststructuralism, Severe, Silence, Structuralism

Shortly after arriving in Vienna to study at the Academy of Art, the 17-year-old Egon Schiele encountered the 45-year-old Gustav Klimt, then the leading figure in Austrian Art Nouveau and the Vienna avant-garde. The older painter would become Schiele's lifelong friend and mentor; his affect on Schiel

Agitated, Austrian expressionism, Dark, Erotic, Profane, Severe

Like Pina Bausch, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker has an affinity for the dramatic and overwrought -- Mark Morris even dubbed her "Anne Teresa de Tearjerker." However, we cannot overlook the rigor with which she approaches form. Her pattern-making has been compared to that of such Minimalists as Laura Dea

Dramatic, Euro-surreal expressionism, Hypnotic, Overflowing, Pathos, Severe