Alexander Godunov and Lyudmila Vlasova: love of the Cold War

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

Sometimes love combines two great talents in tandem. The flared up feeling helps them to create, allows the talent to manifest itself even brighter. At the same time, the difference in age, social and material situation, the opinion of relatives and friends are completely leveled. But not everyone is able to defeat ambitions, intrigues of politicians and distance.

Two stars

The ballet life of Alexander Godunov began in Riga. Mom brought the little boy to the Riga Choreographic School. In the educational institution, the future ballet star studied the basics of art, and next to the machine, his new friend, Misha Baryshnikov, was studying. A few years later, Alexander outgrew all his fellow practitioners, including Mikhail, and turned into a blond giant with the appearance of a hero of ancient myths and legends. The talented resident of Riga was noticed, he moved to Moscow and was accepted into the ensemble of Igor Moiseev. At the very beginning of the seventies, his dizzying career began at the Bolshoi Theater.

Little Lyudmila was very fond of dancing to the music from the loudspeaker that sounded in the corridor of a Moscow communal apartment and dancing to the harmonica of her neighbor. Noticing such a craving for the art of Terpsichore, my mother took her daughter by the hand and took her to the choreographic school. Upon graduation, she became a ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater. A talented and very beautiful ballerina attracted men. The first to appreciate her talent was choreographer Vyacheslav Vlasov. He became her mentor and first husband. Lyudmila Vlasova performed in the theater, at government concerts, went on international tours, starred in films. At 28, she and her friends went to a cafe after showing a film with her participation. He is 21, he is a rising ballet star and also turned down this cafe.

Vlasova noticed a torn off button on Godunov's clothes, he asked to sew it on. She said she might sew it later. Godunov long and persistently courted the married ballerina and achieved reciprocity. Despite the difference in age and position, Lyudmila Vlasova leaves her wealthy and popular husband and moves to Godunov's one-room apartment. They merried. At first, the family lived very poorly, and Lyudmila constantly had to sell her things. Godunov was very worried about this and vowed to fix the situation. Thanks to his incredible talent and skill, Alexander Godunov managed to earn money and provide for his family with dignity.

Glory and envy

The legendary Maya Plisetskaya chose Godunov as her partner in the Swan Lake ballet. He goes on tour with the troupe. Godunov at the height of his fame. He has a lot of fans, good incomes, the best parties, and also an appearance that is unusual for a Soviet person and a rebellious character. Following the glory, envious people appeared, scribbling denunciations where they should, and close attention from the KGB. In 1974, Mikhail Baryshnikov did not return from a foreign tour. Godunov immediately became restricted to travel abroad, which did not improve the artist's attitude to the government of the USSR.

The stigma of "potential defector" hung for a long time. In 1974, Godunov managed, at the request of Plisetskaya herself, to go on tour. While on the plane, he admitted to his partner that he did not want to return. Then the great ballerina managed to persuade Alexander not to let the troupe down and not ruin the recently shot film. Two years later, for his role in the ballet "Spartacus" Godunov was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. In 1978, the husband and wife played roles in the film June 31, which was prophetic for them, and a year later they brought the ballet Romeo and Juliet to the United States, in which Godunov danced the role of Tybalt.

There's an ocean between us

The ballet made a splash in the USA. Alexander Godunov was at the height of his fame. And he made up his mind. In the evening, without saying a word to his wife, he left the hotel and disappeared. Then it turned out that he was helped by the Russian diaspora, headed by his friend Mikhail Baryshnikov and the poet Joseph Brodsky. Lyudmila felt lost, she was taken under protection, diplomats and a representative to the UN got involved in the case. Alexander Godunov officially announced his desire to stay in the United States, asked for asylum and wanted his beloved wife to be returned to him. Vlasova had to choose - living in a foreign land with her beloved husband or returning home to her mother. She chose her mother and asked to send her home.

The Americans did not believe that after seven years of a happy marriage, Lyudmila could not support her husband, they accused the representatives of the USSR that the ballerina was being held by force. Through the diplomatic mission, Vlasova was taken to the airport and put on a plane. However, the dispatchers did not allow her and the other passengers to take off. The siege of the transport lasted for three days, in spite of the terrible heat. She was sitting at the window, he was on the runway at the window of the minibus. Brezhnev put an end to the confrontation, he called President Carter and demanded to release the Soviet citizens. Carter replied that it was not a political but a love issue. Vlasova returned home to her mother and continued her career. But Godunov stayed in the United States. Two years later, the marriage was dissolved in absentia, and the former lovers were forever divided by the ocean.

And further…

The fate of Lyudmila Iosifovna was decided by USSR Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev and US President Jimmy Carter.

But happy stories also happen in creative circles, such as the love story of Muslim Magomayev and Tamara Sinyavskaya.