The early success and later happiness of Ilze Liepa - a refined and brilliant lady of ballet and cinema

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Ilze Liepa, daughter of the legendary Maris Liepa, is known as the continuer of the famous ballet dynasty, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, teacher, theater and film actress. On the theatrical stage, she began performing at the age of 5 and very early reached creative heights in the profession. But personal happiness came to her quite late - she learned the joy of motherhood only at the age of 46. But she never managed to build a happy family …

Ilze Liepa never faced the question of choosing a future profession - she grew up behind the scenes of the theater. Her father, Marisa Liepa, was called the legend of world ballet, and her mother, Margarita Zhigunova, was an actress of the Moscow Drama Theater named after I. A. Pushkin. At the age of 5, Ilze first appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater - her father used her in an episode of his production, and from the age of 9 she studied at the ballet school. Even then, he told her: "". From childhood, the father inspired his daughter and son Andris that the path of a ballet dancer is service. At the same time, he did not demand brilliant results from his children, explaining to them that love for his profession and creative self-realization is real happiness.

Ilze graduated from the Moscow Academic Choreographic School and at the age of 18 she was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater - however, only after her father left there. Ilze started in the corps de ballet, but soon became a soloist and at the age of 26 she spent her first creative evening and since then has performed almost every year with her solo programs on the stage of the Concert Hall. P. Tchaikovsky and the Operetta Theater. She became the first Russian ballerina who decided to appear on stage in the role of Carmen after Maya Plisetskaya, and her recitals, where she danced Carmen Suite, were sold out. In addition, Ilze Liepa often performed abroad in solo and concert programs with classical and modern repertoire.

At the age of 21, Ilze Liepa made her film debut, starring in the title role in the film "The Shining World". After that, she often received new proposals from directors, and in the 1980s. played the wife of the main character in the film "Mikhailo Lomonosov", the Swan-mother in "Bambi's Childhood", Solomirskaya in the film "Lermontov", etc. severe depression due to the divorce of the parents. In the late 1990s. Ilze also tried her hand as a theater actress in entreprise performances.

In the professional sphere, she conquered any heights, and in all spheres of activity Ilze Liepa achieved constant success. But in her personal life, the beautiful ballerina, who had thousands of fans, was not happy for a long time. Her first husband was the violin virtuoso Sergei Stadler. Together they did not live long - their marriage broke up due to the collision of creative ambitions. Both strove for self-realization, but separately from each other. The couple did not have children - in those days, Ilze was focused on her career.

Once the ballerina was invited to star in a commercial for mineral water, and on the set she met the top manager of a large international company Vladislav Paulus. They got married in 1999. For a long time, the couple did not have children. Ballerinas rarely decide to have a child, because they have to choose: either sacrifice their profession to the family, or abandon children for the sake of a career. Ilze was not ready to make that choice. 10 years later, when she was already 46, she became a mother. Daughter Nadia was a very long-awaited and desired child and gave Liepa real happiness.

After the birth of her daughter, Ilze was going to take a break from work for a year, but after 3 months she again took the stage. She managed to find a balance between work and family life. To do this, she refused to participate in dramatic performances, and prepared for her ballet performances at home. Her parents served as an example for her, who did not divide life into work and family, trying to spend as much time as possible with their children.

Unfortunately, the birth of a child did not become a guarantee of a happy family life. When Nadya was only 3 years old, after 14 years of marriage, her parents divorced. For a long time, they did not wash dirty linen in public and did not comment on the reasons for parting. Ilze said only one thing about her attitude to family life: "". She did not hide the fact that her father and brother were always the ideal man for her, because they possessed what, in her opinion, was not in other men - generosity and a very kind heart.

She and her husband could not avoid high-profile trials, the details of which were covered in the press. For several years, Ilze did not even allow her ex-husband to see her daughter, and he refused to peacefully give her permission to take Nadya abroad, which became a reason for lawsuits. Ilze's desire to give his daughter his last name also became the cause of contention, but Paulus was able to win the court. In an interview, Liepa admitted that she considers her second marriage a "fatal mistake" and suspects her ex-husband of selfish intentions.

Work helped her through hard times again. Ilze Liepa's studio school became her second home and a real outlet. She also teaches classes in her own Pilates studio. This passion, combined with ballet techniques, allowed her to develop her own system of exercises, which she described in the book "The Liepa Method". In 2014, Ilze published a book for children "Theatrical Fairy Tales", which she began writing during her pregnancy. Together with her brother, she actively participates in the activities of the foundation named after her father Maris Liepa, aimed at the development of choreographic art.

Unfortunately, her father didn't get too early: What accelerated the departure of Maris Liepa.