It is "a permanent collection that offers visitors a sense of his exuberant, vagabond personality and passion for all that was rare and beautiful.

"[10] The collection has historical artifacts from Nureyev's career including film and photograph material, in addition to 70 costumes.

A silver-blue jacket for his Prince Siegfried from the first act of a 1984 Swan Lake echoes the watery locale where the hero meets his true love, with metallic threads flowing over the shoulders like rapids.

For Don Quixote, Nureyev preferred a billowing sleeve, as evidenced by a creation from Greek designer Nicholas Georgiadis in rust, wine and gold.

The velvet cascades of the women's dresses, trimmed in coins and tassels, hint at the choreography's noisy fury.It was shown the De Young Museum in San Francisco, California through 17 February 2013 in a show entitled Rudolf Nureyev: A Life in Dance.

[11] Several stage companies and theatres, including the Comédie Française and Paris Opera, send their costumes to the museum after their final show.