It was in essence Rudolf Nureyev's final performance: a two-day sale of costumes, jewelry, art and furnishings owned by the famed dancer that drew fans from around the world. The items sold for $7.9 million -- twice the pre-sale estimate of $3.3 million to $4.8 million.


Christie's opened the Jan. 12 New York auction with theater memorabilia.


The event was marked by "the exhilaration of a gala first night at the ballet," according to The Times of London.


The balletomanes were not applauding a grand jet? by one of the world's most famous dancers, but the mementoes of a brilliant 30-year career.


Nureyev died in 1993 at age 54.


A pair of London art dealers paid $8,000 -- 40 times the estimate -- for four pairs of white ballet slippers stamped with Nureyev's name.


A single pair of pink slippers sold for $9,200.


The tunic worn by the 1961 Russian defector for his debut in "Giselle" at the Royal Ballet of London with his most-renowned partner, Dame Margot Fonteyn, sold for $51,750 -- far outstripping the estimate of $3,000 to $5,000.


Other items that went for prices far above their estimates were the dancer's Elizabethan oak-paneled canopy bedstead, which brought in $255,500 (estimate $15,000 to $20,000); a Venetian chandelier from his dining room, purchased for $338,000; and his copper bathtub, including nozzle and drain, which fetched $25,300.


Of the 50 costumes up for auction, 11 were withdrawn at the last minute and donated to the Royal Opera House.


According to The Times, although the costumes were found in Nureyev's New York apartment, the dancer had "forgotten" they did not belong to him.


Profits from the sale go to the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation in Chicago and the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation in Zurich to aid promising young dancers.