Brilliant ballerina Ilze Liepa, biography, whose personal life is constantly in the field of media attention, has clear ideas about her goals and strong moral principles. Despite the fact that she rightfully bears the title of "star" for many years, her character and lifestyle are distinguished by asceticism and restraint. The ballerina is a very independent woman, her school has been operating for many years. Ilze Liepa founded it to teach children and adults according to the author's method.
Origin and childhood
In the family with the famous surname Liepa in ballet on November 22, 1963, a second child, a girl, appeared. Ilze Liepa, whose biography has been associated with art since birth, was given a name in honor of the heroine played in the theater by her mother. Although the father wanted to name the girl Jacqueline in honor of the wife of President Kennedy, who was assassinated in the United States. Ilze was 2 years younger than her brother Andris. The family was artistic. Mother Margarita Zhigunova,dramatic actress, worked at the Moscow Theater. A. Pushkin. Father - the world-famous ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher Maris Liepa worked for more than 20 years at the Bolshoi Theater. Children spent a lot of time behind the scenes of theaters and it is not surprising that both children followed in the footsteps of their father in the future. Maris Liepa instilled responsibility and discipline in children from an early age. They were brought up in great love, the atmosphere of the holiday reigned in the house, guests often visited here, performances and parties were held.
The main love of life is ballet
Since Maris Liepa devoted his whole life to art, and the children saw how passionate he was about ballet, we can say that they absorbed this love from childhood. Already at the age of 5, Ilze appeared on stage in the play "Chio-Chio-san". She says that her father never forced them to do ballet, but explained that the profession has certain requirements and rules, and they must be followed. It was the love of the craft that became the main motivator for Ilze, for the sake of art she was ready for a lot. And, choosing the ballet path, she was aware of what awaited her. After all, she saw how her father lives, giving himself entirely to the service of art. Having made her choice so early, she continues the work of her father, goes on a difficult but happy path. Ilze Liepa says that she realized her vocation early and, of course, her father played the main role in this.
Education
By tradition, Liepa studied at the Moscow State Choreographic School, just like her brother. She isshe entered there at the age of 9, and before the start of the school year, her father had a long and serious conversation with her. He said that she must understand that her childhood was over. Now she begins hard, daily work, there will be no time for games, walks, doing nothing. And she organically accepted this, the ballerina did not have a feeling of protest against the strict rules. In 1981, Ilze Liepa graduated from college in the class of N. Zolotova. Later, she received her higher education at GITIS, at the pedagogical department.
Ballet career
After graduating from college, Ilze is invited to work at the Bolshoi Theater. Detractors say that the reason for such employment is the father's connections. But her career speaks of undoubted talent. Ilze Liepe, whose height is 170 cm, was not easy to find a partner, but in her time there were several tall dancers in the Bolshoi, including her beloved Nikolai Tsiskaridze. Therefore, her physical data did not become an obstacle to a successful creative path. She became one of the founders of the fashion for fairly tall ballet dancers. She began her journey at the Bolshoi with a mime group, then performed minor roles a little, she was given mostly character roles. She danced in the operas "Carmen", "Ivan Susanin", "La Traviata", "Prince Igor". But soon the choreographers saw in her the makings of a soloist.
The Path of the Prima
Ilze Liepa, a biography whose personal history is connected with ballet, found out her first big success after playing the role of Mercedes in Don Quixote by Minkus. It happened in Chisinau on tourtheater. After a successful performance, the ballerina began to be trusted with new, serious roles. Interesting characteristic parts appeared in her repertoire: the Stepmother in The Sleeping Beauty, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and others. She was lucky to work with many famous directors: D. Bryantsev, M. Shannon, G. Aleksidze, some of them made specially performances for Ilze. In 1993, her brother Andris restored the performance of M. Fokin to the music of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov "Scheherazade", in which Ilze performed the role of Zobeida with great success. In 2007, she was invited to England to dance the lead role of Princess Diana in Case Harne's The People's Princess. Despite his considerable age for ballet, Ilze continues to perform and tour today. She found her way as a soloist with the Bolshoi Theatre, she worked a lot in independent projects.
Best games
In total, during her life, Ilze Liepa danced about 30 parts of different levels, from small exits to leading roles. Her undoubted successes are:
- Carmen part in R. Shchedrin's "Carmen Suite" (1991). She became the first ballerina, after M. Plisetskaya, who dared to take on this complex and magnificent role. Ilze talked a lot with Maya Mikhailovna and received a “blessing” for this performance and, of course, a lot of advice that helped her cope with a difficult task.
- The role of the Countess in Roland Petit's production of The Queen of Spades at the Bolshoi Theatre. This party dream to dance many ballerinas aged. Petit chose a suitable actress for a long time, until he stoppedon Liepa. She and Tsiskaridze became a great duet. The premiere took place in 2001, and Ilze appeared on stage in this performance for more than 10 years. Even after the birth of her daughter, she was already dancing this part after 2.5 months. The performance ended with the departure of Tsiskaridze from the stage.
- For Ilze's benefit performance, choreographer Patrick de Bahn staged the play Cleopatra. The idea was suggested by Ilze's brother Andris, who also became the producer of the production. The premiere took place in 2012. In the performance, Ilze plays two roles: Ida Rubinstein and Cleopatra. This is a modern choreography that allows the ballerina to play a bright dramatic role in the dance.
The audience also loves such concert numbers performed by Ilze as "The Swan" by Saint-Saens, "Madame Bovary", "The Vision of the Rose" by G. Mahler, "Scheherazade" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov.
Working in movies
In the late 90s, Ilze Liepa began to master a new profession - a dramatic actress. She played in several private performances, at the Modern Theater she was entrusted with the main role in the play The Dream of the Empress. The innate aristocracy of Liepa looks great on stage and on the screen. Therefore, she was repeatedly invited to the set. She played 14 roles, among which the most notable are the tapes: "Mikhailo Lomonosov", "First Love", "Empire Under Attack".
Ilze Liepa's learning system
Even at the end of the 20th century, Ilze Liepa began to think about creating her own ballet school. During her life she has accumulatedgreat experience that I wanted to pass on to someone. In addition, she wanted to help girls and women in revealing their femininity. The project was nurtured and formed for a long time until the Russian National Ballet School appeared. Ilze Liepa, together with her friend Maria Subbotovskaya, opened an institution of a special format. This is not only a school for children in the usual sense, it is a whole complex.
Ilze Liepa, whose studio school today has become a real center of grace and beauty, discovered Pilates gymnastics, which helped her recover after childbirth, and wanted to tell women about her discovery. It is practiced by ballerinas all over the world, there are trainers in theaters for this gymnastics, and Liepa decided to combine choreography and Pilates in her school.
Today there is an early development school in its center, where children from 2 to 6 years old learn to control their bodies, they are helped to develop a gait, form posture. The children's ballet school is designed to teach the skills of ballet choreography according to Liepa's author's method. This is real hard work for those who intend to connect their lives with dance.
Ballet studio for adults helps people learn to dance, get to know their body and develop coordination and plasticity. Pilates Studio helps to keep the body in good shape, makes it fit and flexible. Several branches of Liepa's school already exist in Moscow, and she dreams of expanding the project.
Awards and achievements
Throughout her life, Ilze Liepe, whose biography is inseparable from choreography, has had to receive awards more than once. She is an award winner"Golden Mask", awards "Seagull", "Crystal Turandot", "Olympia". Ilze bears the title of Honored and People's Artist of the Russian Federation. She says that no one ever thought that there would be three people's artists in their family, and notes with a sigh that dad would be happy.
Private life
Ilze Liepa, whose biography, whose personal life has always been in sight, perceived the marriage of her parents as a source of joy and pain. When they divorced, her pain was intensified by gossip and discussion in the media. Therefore, she tried with all her might to make an ideal model out of her marriage. But twice she failed. The first marriage with the violinist Sergei Stadler broke up very quickly, the two creative personalities were closely in this union. The second husband of Ilze was the entrepreneur Vladislav Paulus. This marriage lasted 14 years, the long-awaited daughter Nadezhda was born in it. But everything ended in failure, the divorce was difficult with public mutual accusations, with the division of property. Today, Ilze Liepe, whose personal life ended so unsightly, does not have to lack the attention of men, but she deliberately focused her attention only on her daughter.
