Maris Liepa: biography, personal life, family, career and photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

In art there are special, "star" personalities who, in addition to outstanding talent, are endowed with incredible diligence, creative power, charm and some kind of inner light. Among them, no doubt, was this outstanding ballet dancer - Maris Liepa. His career was fantastic - she knew a dizzying rise, and worldwide fame, and a fall, and an early death unexpected for everyone.

Biography of Maris Liepa: childhood

On July 27, 1936, a boy was born in the family of the stage master of the Riga Opera Theater Eduard Liepa and his wife Lilia. The second child in the family, who was named Maris, was weak and sickly. He was haunted by colds, and he quite often found himself in a hospital bed. Doctors recommended parents to introduce the child to sports, for example, enroll him in any section.

Little Maris told his parents that he would like to swim in the pool or play football, but his father made a different decision - the boy will attendspecialized ballet class at the choreographic school of Riga. Maris was unhappy with the choice of his father, he did not like the classes in the ballet class and he began to skip classes. But the mother managed to find the right words for her son. She explained to the boy that it was impossible to leave the case halfway, one should prove one's worth not only to others, but also to oneself.

Ballet school

At first, Maris Liepa was no different from other students in the class. But when work began on the development of characteristic dance, ballet dancer and teacher Valentin Blinov drew attention to him. It was already clear to Valentin Tikhonovich that he was facing a rising ballet star.

Exhausting daily activities gradually formed the body and soul of the future star. In addition, Maris began to realize the imperfections of the body given to him by nature, and therefore he increased the load every day. Going to school, he took not only the necessary textbooks, but also added the heaviest ones to them - in order to develop the strength of his hands. He played races with cars and trolleybuses, tried to be the first to run to the appointed point. Maris of that period was characterized by constant rivalry with himself, with the capabilities of his body.

First performances

By the age of thirteen, the young dancer not only took part in children's performances, but also danced in Don Quixote, performed mazurka and Krakowiak in the Bakhchisarai Fountain, brilliantly played the jester in Romeo and Juliet and the Polovtsian boy in "Prince Igor" on the stage of the Riga theater. In addition to studying at the balletMaris also attended sports sections at school. He achieved good results in gymnastics, in freestyle swimming he became the champion of Latvia.

Invitation to Moscow

A significant event in the biography of Maris Liepa happened in 1950, when the young dancer, along with other students of the ballet school, was sent to the capital to review the country's choreographic schools. The Riga school, together with the Leningrad, Moscow and Almaty teams, was recognized as the most promising.

Three years later, Maris Liepa received an invitation to continue his studies in Moscow, which he accepted with joy and gratitude. However, he was not provided with scholarships at the capital's school, so the parents were forced to sell the country house so that their son could study at a prestigious metropolitan university. He studied brilliantly, and graduated from college with honors. At the final exam, Maris Liepa performed the main role in the ballet The Nutcracker.

A young and talented dancer dreamed of performing on the legendary, main stage of our country and becoming a member of a famous troupe, but in the Soviet Union, personnel were distributed among the Soviet republics, so Maris was sent to Riga.

Return to Moscow

The young man returned to the capital a few months after graduating from college. He was invited to participate in the decade of Latvian art and literature. Fortunately, it was at this time that the great Maya Plisetskaya noticed him. On her recommendation, Maris was invited on tour to Budapest as part of the Bolshoi Theater troupe. But the unexpected happened - on the generalrehearsals, the artist sprained the ligaments in his leg. Management immediately started looking for a replacement. But Maris was not going to give up, knowing full well that fate would not give him a second chance.

Bandaging his leg tightly, he stepped onto the stage. Admittedly, the press reviews of that performance were very favorable. Participation in one tour as part of the troupe of the main theater of the country could not radically change the fate, and Maris was forced to return to Riga again.

Musical theater

In the summer of 1956, a young artist went to Sochi on a tour to treat his injured leg. Walking around the city, Maris saw a poster of the Musical Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. The theater came to the city on tour. Maris knew that after graduating from college, he was noticed not only in the Bolshoi, but also in the Musical Theater. He decided to stay in Sochi to try to meet with the theater management. By that time, the ticket had already ended, money was running out. But the dancer was not going to leave.

On the outskirts of the city, he rented a corner, found a temporary job to pay for housing and food. Maris helped the owner of the house where he was staying to prepare firewood. As a result, he managed to meet with the head of the theater, who accepted him into the troupe.

Musical theater

Maris Liepa became famous on the stage of the Musical Theater, it was for his performances that people bought tickets, waited for their idol at the service entrance, hoping to get an autograph. But having received such popularity, Maris did not forget about his cherisheddream. Once again, a talented dancer was invited to tour the Bolshoi Theater in 1960 in Poland. After this trip, Maris had a conversation with Leonid Lavrovsky, the chief choreographer. He invited the artist to the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater.

Lavrovsky recalled that in the conversation, Liepa asked the only right question in this situation: “What will I dance?” The fact is that on the same day Lavrovsky had a conversation with two more applicants from Leningrad for a place in the troupe. One inquired about the possibility of getting an apartment, the other about a salary, and only Marisa was interested in his future repertoire.

A dream come true

Finally, the dream of a talented dancer came true, and he began performing on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. Very soon he was already busy in almost all the most famous and famous productions, from Don Quixote to Spartacus.

Four years have passed and personnel changes have taken place at the Bolshoi Theatre. Yuri Grigorovich became the main choreographer of the famous team. He tries to bring his vision to the performances. For example, in "Spartacus" Maris always played the main role, but Grigorovich offered him the role of another character - Crassus. The success of the performance exceeded all expectations. The troupe was awarded the Lenin Prize. On foreign tours, the artists received a warm welcome and rave reviews.

But such a successful start of cooperation unexpectedly ended in failure for everyone. In an interview with the Pravda newspaper, Liepa allowed himself to criticize the level of skillYuri Grigorovich as a choreographer. The choreographer did not forgive the offense. The dancer began to be given roles only in old performances, and there was no place for him in new productions. Over the next fourteen years, Liepa was involved in new productions only four times.

Last performance

For the last time on March 28, 1982 he appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in the role of Krass Maris Liepa (you can see the photo below). The audience applauds him standing, but the triumph ended with the announcement of the incredible decision of the artistic council, which declared the dancer unsuitable for professional use. Since then, the most talented dancer has appeared on stage only in private performances and creative evenings. And they still had huge audiences.

However, Maris decided to try to find himself in a new field. He went to the cinema.

Working in movies

On the set, Maris Liepa was not a novice by that time. In 1959, he made his debut as an actor in the melodrama "Ilze" of the Riga film studio. And ten years later, his role as Hamlet in the film-play caused a real sensation not only in the Soviet Union, but also in the world.

After that, Maris played the role of Jack Wheeler in the film about spies "The Fourth", Prince Vseslav in the historical film "The Lion's Grave". The work of Maris Liepa in the fairy-tale films Bambi's Youth and Bambi's Childhood, where he played the role of the deer's father, in the romantic comedy Galatea, in the crime drama Road to Hell, turned out to be bright and memorable.

Specialists, critics and audiences have spoken warmly about the role of Valentine W alter in the popular detective story The Twentieth Century Begins. Liepa also succeeded in the image of Emperor Nicholas I in the drama "Lermontov". When the new tape "Memories of Sherlock Holmes" (2006) was released, fans saw their idol again. At the same time, two documentaries about Liepa were released - Maris and "Duel with Fate".

Maris Liepa: personal life

Fans have always been interested in the details of the life of this magnificent dancer, and he always tried to protect her from prying eyes. However, this was not always possible. There were spiteful critics who did not miss the opportunity to reproach the artist for having four wives. Maris Liepa entered into his first marriage with stage legend Maya Plisetskaya in 1956. At that time, he was 20 years old, and she was 31 years old. But the family union lasted only three months.

Actress Margarita Zhigunova became the second wife of Maris Liepa (you can see the photo below). They met her on the set of the film "Ilze". They began a stormy romance, and soon the young people formalized their relationship. The children of Maris Liepa - daughter Ilze and son Andris were born in this marriage. The names of the children were given by the parents in honor of the characters of the picture, on the set of which they met. Both son and daughter became famous ballet dancers in the world.

Liepa went on tour in the late seventies. On the trip, he is accompanied by a promising ballerina Nina Semizorova. They start an affair and Maris leaves her family and gets marriedon this girl who is 20 years younger than him. This family of Maris Liepa, at the initiative of the ballerina, broke up in 1985, although by that time the couple no longer lived together.

Liepa's fourth (civil-law) wife was Evgenia Shults, who worked as a costume designer. A daughter, Maria, was born from this union, but since in those days the recognition of an illegitimate child as a celebrity was tantamount to the collapse of a career, Liepa did not advertise the existence of his youngest daughter for many years.

What caused the artist's early death?

When the position of a choreographer became vacant at the Riga Opera House, Liepa applied to fill this vacancy, but he was refused. Maris dreamed of creating his own theater in Riga, but an order came from "above", forbidding this idea. Even Raimonds Pauls, the Minister of Culture of Latvia, who at that time was well acquainted with the dancer, could not influence this situation.

The artist was depressed, but unexpectedly, permission came from the capital to create the Maris Liepa Ballet Theater in Moscow. The selection for the troupe had already been appointed, but on March 26, 1989, a tragedy happened - Maris Eduardovich, at the age of 52, suddenly died of a heart attack.

The legendary artist died in an ambulance. But there is another, not officially confirmed version. On this day, Liepa went to the Bolshoi Theater, where the security guard took his pass from him and did not let the artist into the office. It was at that moment that his heart gave out.

And after the death of the passion around the name of Liepa did not subside. For almost a week there was a fight for a placefarewell to the ballet legend. Only six days later, the coffin with the body of the deceased was installed in the Bolshoi Theater, next to the stage, where he had demonstrated his skills for 20 years. Maris Eduardovich was buried in Moscow, at the Vagankovsky cemetery.