"He's not appearing," a spokeswoman said Wednesday. "His commitment to rehearsing a new work in Italy means he can't be there himself," she added, "but he is sending a message of support."
The tribute, scheduled for Sunday evening at the London Coliseum, is being organized by Crusaid, a British AIDS charity that hopes to raise ?100,000 ($149,000) on the night.
Hailed as the greatest dancer of his generation, Nureyev, who also fled the Soviet Union, died in Paris on Jan. 6, 1993, at the age of 54 after a long and wasting illness attributed to the disease AIDS.
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