Fading star Maris Liepa: What hastened the departure of the famous dancer

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

The star of the Soviet ballet could have turned 82 on July 27 Marisa Liepe, but 29 years ago his life was cut short. He was an artist of the Bolshoi Theater and an internationally recognized dancer, but in the 1970s. was left without work. What caused him to leave the theater, and what circumstances led him to a heart attack at 52 years old - read on.

Unlike many dancers who dreamed of ballet from a young age, Maris Liepa was not going to dance and did not dream of a theater. He was born in 1936 in Riga into the family of a master of the stage of the local opera and ballet theater, grew up very sickly and frail, and often ended up in hospitals. Friends advised his parents to send him to the sports section or to football, but the father decided to take his son to a ballet class at the Riga choreographic school. The boy was not delighted with these classes, he often skipped lessons. But his mother convinced him that in no case should one give up the case halfway through, and if he really took up something, he had to bring the case to the end. This became an incentive for a stubborn and purposeful boy, and he soon achieved his first successes.

At the age of 13, Maris Liepa had already performed not only in children's performances, but was involved in the "Bakhchisarai Fountain", "Romeo and Juliet", "Don Quixote" and "Prince Igor". In addition to ballet, the teenager was engaged in gymnastics and swimming. When he was 14 years old, he was noticed at the All-Union show of choreographic schools, and after 3 years he was invited to continue his studies in Moscow. By that time, the ballet captivated him so much that in the capital he not only did not miss a single lesson, but every day he came to the class before the teacher and worked hard.

The main role in the performance "The Nutcracker" on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater became the diploma work of Maris Liepa. Despite his success, after graduation he was not left on the main stage of the country. The dancer returned to Riga, and six months later he again found himself in the capital for a decade of Baltic art. Maya Plisetskaya was so impressed by his performance that she invited him to become her partner during her tour in Hungary. After that, the dancer was offered a job at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater.

In 1960, Maris Liepa was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. They say that the decisive argument in favor of his enrollment was that during the interview the dancer did not ask questions about his salary, but only inquired about his future repertoire. As a result, he was engaged in all the most outstanding productions of the Bolshoi Theater.

In 1964, a new choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich, came to the Bolshoi Theater, who played a fatal role in the fate of the dancer. On the one hand, it was he who lit the star of Maris Liepa. The first stage of their collaboration was very fruitful: the role of Romeo in Great Britain brought him the fame of "ballet Laurence Olivier", and the role of Crassus in "Spartacus" was the highest achievement, for which in 1970 he received the Lenin Prize. They said that it was simply impossible to surpass Liepa in this role. He himself in his book "I want to dance for a hundred years" wrote: "".

On the other hand, Grigorovich contributed to the decline of Liepa's star. In the 1970s. their relationship became strained, after Crassus for 14 years the dancer got only 4 new parties. They said that the choreographer was inclined to an authoritarian style of communication with artists, and Liepa did not like this. In 1979 g.in Pravda published an interview with the dancer, in which he criticized the choreography of Grigorovich's new ballets and his methods of leadership, which finally ruined their relationship.

Even the dancer's son Andris Liepa does not know what actually was the reason for their hostility: "".

In 1982, 46-year-old Liepa danced Crassus for the last time. And although the audience gave a standing ovation, he was retired due to his “incompetence”. Prior to that, Grigorovich wrote letters to the Ministry of Culture that the artist had lost his dance form. This severely crippled the dancer, who was still full of strength and energy. Of course, he did not remain without work - he was invited to lead the ballet of the Sofia Folk Opera in Bulgaria, he was engaged in teaching activities and wrote articles. In addition, he continued to act in films, where he came back in 1969. However, Liepa was deprived of the most important thing - his beloved work.

Several times Liepa applied for the position of choreographer at the Riga Opera House, but he was refused. He was not allowed to create his own theater in Riga either. And when he once decided to enter the Bolshoi Theater from the service entrance, the watchman took his pass with the words: "You are not allowed to enter." All these troubles could not but affect the health of the dancer and finally broke him. On March 26, 1989, Maris Liepa died of a heart attack.

When Liepa hovered above the stage in a jump, he was compared to another world ballet star: The dramatic fate of the "god of dance" Vaslav Nijinsky.