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Alla osipenko: “I grew up in a family where Russia was above all .... Outstanding ballerina Osipenko Alla: biography, interesting facts and achievements Alla osipenko son

The Sobaka.ru magazine continues the project - a series of interviews in which famous journalists, directors and artists talk to outstanding actresses - and publishes a dialogue between the ballerina and actress Alla Evgenievna Osipenko with a dancer and artistic director ballet Mikhailovsky Theater Farukh Ruzimatov.

A student of Agrippina Vaganova, she was the prima ballerina of the S. M. Kirov Theatre, a soloist of the Choreographic Miniatures troupe under the direction of Leonid Yakobson, and the leading dancer of the Leningrad Boris Eifman Ballet Ensemble. And the film director Alexander Sokurov saw in her the talent of a dramatic actress and shot her in four of his films.

Do you consider yourself great?

If we talk about greatness, then look: this is the ring that I always wear. It was given to me by the Indian dancer Ram Gopal. And it was presented to him by Anna Pavlova, with whom he once danced. And for me, this is probably the main gift and recognition. This is much more important than any titles and awards.

When people ask me how I got into ballet, I always answer: “I was caught in the mountains.” How did you become a ballerina? Who inspired you to enter the ballet school?

My mother's family comes from a famous Russian artist, a master of portraiture and religious painting of the late 18th - early XIX century of Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, which, unfortunately, is not remembered much now. He was a very complex, multifaceted, talented person who went through an incredibly difficult life path. He had a brother - a great Ukrainian poet Levko Borovikovsky, also a person of not the most prosperous character. And my maternal lineage is from them. My mother bore this surname, and I already have the surname of my father - Osipenko. Today I come to the conclusion that the matter is still in the genes. I inherited a tendency to rebellion, to a constant creative search. I grew up as a rebel. Relatives said: “Well, you are a freak in our family!” My mother once tried to enter the Imperial Theater School. Then it was necessary to go to all the ballerinas and collect recommendations from them. Mom did not have enough one, and she was not taken. Of course, the whole family remembered it. But I didn't care at all. Until the age of two, I was a terribly bow-legged girl. And everyone around said: “Poor Lyalyashenka! Such a nice girl, but she definitely won’t be a ballerina!” I was brought up strictly. My grandmothers always said that they survived five kings: Alexander II, Alexander III, Nicholas II, Lenin and Stalin. Our family did not accept the revolution and did not change their way of life. And I grew up in her vicious circle. I was not allowed to walk in the yard. And I was a stubborn girl and was looking for a reason to somehow escape from this guardianship. When I was in the first grade, I saw somewhere an advertisement for enrollment in a circle, in which some kind of strange word, the meaning of which I did not understand. But I realized that twice a week I could come home three hours later. This suited me very well. I came to my grandmother and said that I want to go to this circle. The circle turned out to be choreographic, I did not know this word. And my grandmother sent me there, deciding that if my daughter didn’t succeed, my granddaughter might succeed. After the first year of classes, my teacher called her and said: “Your granddaughter has a disgusting character. She argues all the time, something always doesn’t suit her, but try to take her to the ballet school. On June 21, 1941, we were informed that I had been accepted into the school. And the next day another news was reported: the war had begun.

It is known that each role leaves its mark on the character of the artist. Was there a role on your creative path that changed you drastically?

Yes. The first person who put me on a different track, saw something new in me, was the most talented choreographer Soviet period Boris Alexandrovich Fenster. I was plump for a ballerina, and they called me a girl with an oar. He told me: "Alla, you know, I want to try you for the role of Pannochka." And Pannochka in the ballet "Taras Bulba" is a very serious, contradictory, complex image. And I was terribly afraid of failing. Today I think that it was, firstly, my first great luck, and secondly, the first real dramatic, complex role. We rehearsed with him at night, I tried very hard, and then something fascinated him in my personality. That was the most important role that made me think deeply about my character. I am very grateful to Boris Alexandrovich for completely changing my role. He made me lose weight, didn't let me eat, and out of a girl with an oar made a decent Pannochka.

A question that always annoys artists: have you imitated any of the ballerinas?
Unfortunately imitated. Unfortunately, because I was then relieved of this for a very long time. I was a fan of the great ballerina Natalya Mikhailovna Dudinskaya, who was the prima ballerina of the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre. I worshiped her talent to such an extent that I imitated her in everything. In technique, of course, I could not imitate, because I could not cope with her technique, but, in any case, I adopted all her manners. And when it began to irritate my teachers, when they saw something of their own in me, it was just a gift of fate. The tutors had to kick Dudinskaya out of me for a very long time. I remember that when Konstantin Mikhailovich Sergeev, the theater’s chief choreographer and husband of Natalya Mikhailovna, introduced me to the production of “The Path of Thunder”, where I was supposed to dance with her, she made me repeat all her movements exactly. At one of the rehearsals, Sergeev asked her: "Natalya Mikhailovna, leave her alone, let her do everything the way she herself feels it."

What was the hardest thing for you to overcome on your way?

I had to overcome my technical imperfection until the very last appearances on the stage. Unfortunately, I have never mastered the technique to the right extent. But above all, I had to overcome my character. I was a very insecure person.

Didn't you have to fight laziness?

Laziness was present before the first injury. After I had my first injury at the age of twenty, I was told that I would not go on stage again. I have not come to terms with it. And she returned a different person, realizing that I can’t live without ballet.

Did you feel confident on stage? Has it taken shape over the years on stage?
You know, of course, I was more fortunate than other ballerinas, in the sense that the choreographers put roles on me, calculating my technical capabilities. This confidence began to come, probably, after I left the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre, when I got to Leonid Veniaminovich Yakobson, when I started working with Boris Yakovlevich Eifman, when we took on Dostoevsky's Idiot. Only then did I begin to feel confident on stage, but I had to leave already. That's where the trouble lies.

Have you experienced stage fright?

Yes. Fear was present all the time. I cannot express how scared I became when I heard the chords of the music, to which I was supposed to go on stage. I said: “That's it, I'm leaving! I will never go on stage!” A terrible panic seized me. And now I look at young ballerinas and am surprised at how boldly they go on stage, how confidently they hold on! It has always been extremely difficult for me to cross the barrier of stage fright. Then on stage I somehow calmed down, of course. But here is the moment when you hear your music and have to go out, not knowing what awaits you this time, I was very worried. Because all the horror acting profession that we do not know what awaits us in five minutes. Maybe you will fall on your nose, or maybe you will dance beautifully. We never know this in advance. There is absolutely no way to predict events. You can be very well prepared and still stumble. True, performances at the Leningrad Theater contemporary ballet, which were put on me and in which I danced with my partner and husband John Markovsky, I was already looking forward to. I learned to boldly go on stage and get real pleasure from dancing with John. Whatever relationship developed between us, as between husband and wife in life, everything was different on stage. It was possible not to look into each other's eyes, but our bodies and nerves really merged into a single whole. And so it turns out a real duet.

In ballet, in your opinion, there is a concept of unconditional genius, when you can say about a dancer or a dancer: is he a genius of pure beauty?
Well, Farukh, to be honest and frank, who can we call absolute geniuses?

My perception is subjective, like the perception of any person, but I still early years Antonio Gades made the strongest impression when I saw him in Carmen by Carlos Saura. For me it was an absolute art, highest point understanding and acceptance of his creative personality. And I can probably call him and Rudolf Nureyev the absolute geniuses of ballet.

Yes, they had a stunning magic effect on the viewer. But I had another such person who managed to really capture my imagination. When I was in Paris in 1956, I got on solo concert- and for us it was then a completely unfamiliar concept - the French dancer Jean Babilé. And I was stunned by the expressiveness of his body, the expressiveness of the thought that he conveyed to the viewer. Many years later, we met with him, and I confessed that I was a very big fan of his. The recognition of talent, by the way, turned out to be mutual. And I will never forget the happiness that I experienced back in 1956.

In performances, did you play yourself or did you play characters?

In youth, at the beginning of his creative way, of course, played the characters. When, at the end of my career, fate gave me The Idiot, I brushed aside all the costumes, hairstyles, hats and skirts. I thought that Nastasya Filippovna is an image for all times and all ages, not needing any frame. And, going on stage to play this performance, I went out to play myself.

Artists eventually get bored with dancing the classics. They are drawn to modernity, to neoclassicism, and then to drama and cinema. You have had such stages in your life. What are your impressions from working in cinema? Is working in front of the camera very different from working on stage?

These are two completely different things. But I've also been lucky with movies. I was lucky because I started working with a director like Alexander Sokurov. He saw me in The Idiot and invited me to star in Mournful Insensibility. I was terribly worried, primarily because for a ballerina who has a developed visual memory, memorizing such huge texts is a big problem. Margarita Terekhova herself participated in the tests with me. I was nervous on the set and asked Sokurov all the time: “Sasha, what should I do? What should I do?" And he answered me: “Alla Evgenievna, do not be nervous, do not twitch. I need you just the way you are." He taught me to be natural in front of the camera. And I wasn't afraid. She could do anything in front of her. Sokurov asked to strip naked - stripped naked. Sokurov asked to jump into the icy water and swim - she jumped and swam. Firstly, for the sake of Sokurov, and secondly, because there was absolutely no fear.

Your favorite actress?

Greta Garbo.

And the ballerina?

Soloist of the Boris Eifman Ballet Theater - Vera Arbuzova.

What does such a weighty word "professional" mean to you?

For me, a professional is an employee. A man who serves the cause to which he devoted his life.

What qualities should a good, professional teacher have?

Remembering my teachers, I still think that teachers should not violate the individuality of their students. Working with ballerinas, I try to adhere to this principle. This is the only way to develop a personality in an artist. And this is the main task of any teacher.

Are you living in the past, future or present?

Complex issue. I can't stop thinking about the future. I wake up at night when I remember how old I am. But, perhaps, now I began to live more in the past. In general, I try to live for today, I am happy to work in the theater with my girls.

What else would you like to implement in the present?

Eifman once asked me the same question, and I was then forty-five years old. And I confessed to him that I would like to play Nastasya Filippovna. And I played it. Now I don't dream of anything. All my dreams have either come true, or are gone, never realized. The only thing I want is for a ballerina to appear with whom I would work, giving her the maximum, and for her to take this maximum from me. So far this doesn't work.

As far as I can see, those ballerinas with whom you work are not world stars yet, but they are making noticeable progress.
I am interested in working with my students. Firstly, I try to lead them away from the tinsel that bothered me in their years. Secondly, I never insist, I never say: “Just do it this way!” I say: "Let's try?" They agree, and when everything works out with our joint efforts, it also gives them great joy. To see this joy is the most pleasant moment in the work of a teacher.

Are you drawn to the stage? Do you want to perform in front of an audience?

If I say that it does not pull, I will lie. Here I am going to participate in the new project of the Mikhailovsky Theater "Spartak". I still do not fully understand what kind of performance it will be, but I go to rehearsals with pleasure. After all, if you can go on stage, then why not go? Let them say that I'm crazy, crazy, impudent. Let them say whatever they want behind my back, I'm not interested at all. My desire is to go on stage again. I want this performance to be not just spectacular, but also meaningful, meaningful, so that it gives an opportunity to see something new in the classics.

Do you think that the art of ballet is now in decline?

I can't say that. It's just that the moment has come when we need to stop, look back and understand how we can move on.

Would you like to do something radically different?

No. Ballet is my whole life. This is what gives me the opportunity to survive today. Survive, do not sleep and do not go crazy. Get up every morning and go to the theater, because they are still waiting for me there.

Alla Osipenko, in the year of her 75th birthday, is surprised that today everyone is called legends, while she always considered herself an ordinary dancer. She treats the word "ballerina" with trepidation, realizing the full significance of this status. And yet, the legend of Russian ballet Alla Osipenko is now experiencing a new birth in “her teaching life”: since September, she began working as a tutor at the Mikhailovsky Theater, which many still know as the Mussorgsky Theater. In the first ballet premiere of the season, Adana's Giselle, she took part, preparing many dancers, recalling her lessons at the Grand Opera, where Rudolf Nureyev had arranged for her to work.

– Alla Evgenievna, you have an incredibly dramatic biography┘

“They say you always have to pay for something. But the retribution that I suffered... I don't understand why. We are all sinners, but this is the most terrible punishment - the death of my son. I am not Orthodox, although I grew up in a family of believers, I was baptized in 1937 as a 5-year-old girl. But I can’t answer this question... Not so long ago I returned to my former self. I always knew that no one would ever bother about me, they would never give me anything to somehow notice me. I knew that everything was in my legs, which were somehow evaluated. And I understood this very well. My last teacher Marina Shamsheva, with whom I studied for 10 years, always said: “You have beautiful legs. Sell them high."

You speak as if you are writing a novel in oral genre. At the same time, you have no memoirs.

- I had written two chapters, which were called "Paris in my life." I wrote them in Paris when I had an operation. I was completely alone, I went for a walk in the Luxembourg Gardens, where I began to write. My great friend, who is long dead, Nina Vyrubova, the ballerina of the Grand Opera, inspired me by saying: “You have so many acquaintances in Paris, sit down and write, you still have nothing to do now.” I wrote not so much about myself, but about the people I managed to meet. In these memoirs - the faces of the first emigration. I was also acquainted with His Serene Highness Prince Golitsyn, and with Bobrinsky, and Sheremetevs, I remember Elena Mikhailovna Luke, who in 1956 asked me to take a gift to her sister, who emigrated during the revolution. With all the horrors and fears, I nevertheless reached my sister - at night I made my way, on foot and gave the gift. IN Lately I am told that I must write a continuation of these memoirs. I write as I speak, I have no problems in this regard. But I stopped writing when my son died. I had no one to tell anything, and I wrote for my son.

– What were you unable to write about in your Paris memoirs due to time?

- I just remembered everything in great detail - everything is said there. But it is curious that quite recently Mariinskii Opera House did not take this book for sale. Fund director Konstantin Balashov was first told that the book had to go through five instances - they did not say which ones. The book went through five instances, after which it turned out that there was still a sixth. The sixth missed. I could not imagine that they remember the story of 1971 - my departure from the theater. But personally, I don’t write anything about this in this book - I don’t have anything about relations with the theater. I remember my golden age. And those who remember me mention how the theater could part with such dancers as Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Makarova, Osipenko. Therefore, they entered into a lawsuit with the theater. But if I write about theater now, I will.

- Where do the two chapters of your memoirs end?

- The thread of the story is interrupted by 1956. In 1956, Leonid Myasin, who was then director of the Ballet russes in Monte Carlo, offered me a one-year contract. Imagine - in 1956! I am 24 years old. I agreed. But first she called her grandmother to ask if it was possible to stay in Paris for a year. They suffered for a long time with the answer, but decided that it was possible for a year. Myasin and I rehearsed Vision of the Rose. After that, I nevertheless told the escorts that I would not go back, that I would stay. To which she received from him in response: “What, do you want to fly away now and never come on tour again?” I apologized to Myasin, said that I have a lot of work. We met again in 1961, I asked how he was doing, and he told me: “But I left because I did not find a real Russian ballerina. And I needed you, a Russian, Petersburg dancer. Nureyev remained in Paris. And after that, I still became restricted to travel abroad. For 10 years, they didn’t take me anywhere with the theater.

- How do you assess today that you did not stay abroad?

“I did everything right. When they say that we build our own destiny - nothing like that. Fate controls us.

- How do you remember Rudolf Nureyev?

- He probably understood that he had given me some life difficulties, that because of him I “flew”. And he rewarded me with what was in his power. After 28 years from the moment I became restricted to travel abroad, and he remained in France, asking for political asylum in 1961, in 1989 in Paris, at his home, he arranged a birthday for me. In the same year, he offered me a job as a tutor at the Grand Opera. I told him: “Rudik, I don’t know how to give lessons! I have no practice." - "I will help you". I am very grateful to him. He rewarded me in my second life - teaching - what was taken from me in the dance. At the Grand Opera, he went to my lessons, after each he told me what they should and should not be taught - he advised me. He was very supportive of my position due to the fact that he came to my lessons, although in Paris I was very well known as a dancer. Can you imagine that I learned to teach French dancers at the Grand Opera? Quite recently, when a French ballerina from the Grand Opera, who remembers me, gave master classes at the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, it turned out that our lessons are very similar. I didn’t teach the system, the Vaganova system, neither then nor now: I don’t know it - I know the style. But Vaganova was a genius. Now I am trying to convey to the girls at the Mikhailovsky Theater what I learned at the Grand Opera. Russian hands, which Vaganova gave like mother's milk, I will not lose. But in those years, Agrippina Yakovlevna did not pay such attention to her legs as the French do and did. Rudolf Nureyev said that he dreams of a school where there will be Russian hands and French legs.

– Legs seem to be the most important thing in ballet┘

- Yes, it is very important. Now the main thing for me is to try to teach them to love their legs the way they need to love them, so that they “sell them at a high price” to the viewer, as Marina Nikolaevna Shamsheva told me. I have never been a blinkered horse and did not say that we are the best in the world. I wanted to learn what we didn't learn here. My lessons are not at all like the lessons they give today in St. Petersburg. They are like lessons at the Grand Opera. And the hands remain the main thing for me: the expressiveness of the hands and body. The harmony and cantilena of the body is ours, the whole world is striving for this.

- In Giselle, which Nikita Dolgushin recently staged at the Mikhailovsky Theater, did your lessons already manifest themselves in someone?

- In someone, of course, they have already manifested themselves. I was lucky because I work with girls who listen to me and believe - and Nastya Matvienko, and Ira Perren, and Olga Stepanova.

– Today, there are Russian ballerinas who were once lacking for Leonid Myasin?

– On your part, this is a provocative question, which, probably, I have no right to answer. The ballerina is the ballerina of the Imperial Theatre. But none of them were "divine". They were just ballerinas - they were awarded this title. Kshesinskaya, Pavlova. You can count on your fingers. Today everyone is a ballerina. For me they are all dancers. Now little girls say: "I am a ballerina." We didn't answer that. Where are you studying? I am a ballerina, I study at a choreographic school. Now it is the Academy of Russian Ballet. Everything has changed now.

Saint Petersburg

Ballet is my whole life.

The outstanding ballerina Alla Osipenko, a student of the legendary A.Ya. Vaganova, during her lifetime she became a legend.

Alla Evgenievna was born on June 16, 1932 in Leningrad. Her relatives were the artist V.L. Borovikovsky (his works are exhibited in Tretyakov Gallery), a popular poet A.L. Borovikovsky, pianist V.V. Sofronitsky. The family adhered to old traditions - they received guests, went to relatives for tea, always sat down to dinner together, strictly raised children ...

Two grandmothers, a nanny and a mother vigilantly watched Alla, protected her from all misfortunes and did not let her walk alone so that the girl would not be exposed to the harmful influence of the street. Therefore, Alla spent most of her time at home with adults. And she so wanted to be in the company, to her peers! And when, returning from school, she accidentally saw an announcement about enrolling in some kind of circle, she begged her grandmother to take her there - it was a chance to break out of the four walls and get into the team.

On June 21, 1941, the result of the viewing became known - Alla was accepted into the first class of the Leningrad Choreographic School, where A.Ya. taught. Vaganova (now it is the Academy of Russian Ballet named after A.Ya. Vaganova).

But the next day the war began. And Alla, along with other children and teachers of the school, urgently went on an evacuation, first to Kostroma, and then near Perm, where her mother and grandmother later came to her.

Classes were conducted in Spartan conditions. The rehearsal room served as a frozen vegetable store, equipped in the church. To hold on to the metal bar of the ballet barre, the children put on a mitten on their hand - it was so cold. But it was there, according to A.E. Osipenko, she woke up an all-consuming love for the profession, and she realized "that ballet is for life." After the blockade was lifted, the school and its pupils returned to Leningrad.

Subsequently, a mother desiring a daughter better fate, suggested that when she received her passport, she should change her surname Osipenko to Borovikovsky. But the girl refused, believing that such a cowardly step would be a betrayal of a loved one.

Choreographic School A. Osipenko graduated in 1950 and was immediately accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theatre).

Everything in her career went well at first, but when she, after a dress rehearsal of her first big performance"Sleeping Beauty" - 20-year-old, inspired - was driving home on a trolleybus, then in a fit of feelings she did not get out, but jumped out of it. As a result, a severe treatment of the injured leg, 1.5 years without a stage ... And only perseverance and willpower helped her to get back on pointe shoes. Then, when her legs got really bad, her friend, another wonderful ballerina, N. Makarova, paid for the operation abroad.

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In the Kirov Ballet in his best years everyone devoted themselves to the service of the profession and creativity. Artists and choreographers could rehearse even at night. And one of Yu. Grigorovich's productions with the participation of Alla Osipenko was generally born in the bathroom of a communal apartment of one of the ballerinas.

But after a while unprecedented success V " stone flower"turned against the ballerina - they began to consider her an actress of a certain role. In addition, after R. Nureyev's escape to the West in 1961, Alla Evgenievna was not allowed to travel abroad for a long time - she was allowed on tour only to some socialist countries, to the Middle East and through her native Soviet expanses. There were moments, when Alla Evgenievna was locked up in her room so that she would not follow the example of unreliable comrades abroad and remain in the capitalist world. could not leave her relatives.At the same time, A. Osipenko believed that Nureyev was forced to flee, and good relations she didn't break up with him.

Hiding true reason the inaccessibility of the amazing ballerina to the Western public, "responsible comrades" referred to the fact that she allegedly gives birth. And when meticulous foreign colleagues, masters of the world ballet, were looking for her in Leningrad, the first thing they did was find out how many children she had, since their press reported on the next birth of the ballerina Osipenko.

Alla Evgenievna managed to dance quite a large and varied repertoire. "Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty" and " Swan Lake" P.I. Tchaikovsky, "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai" by B. Asafiev, "Raymonda" by A. Glazunov, "Giselle" by A. Adam, "Don Quixote" and "La Bayadère" by L. Minkus, "Cinderella" and "Romeo and Juliet" S. Prokofiev, "Spartacus" by A. Khachaturian, "Othello" by A. Machavariani, "The Legend of Love" by A. Melikov ... And at the Maly Opera and Ballet Theater she performed another famous role - Cleopatra in the play "Antony and Cleopatra" by E. Lazarev based on the tragedy by W. Shakespeare ...

A woman to the marrow of her bones and fingertips, Alla Evgenievna was married several times. And about none of ex-husbands did not say bad word. Father of her only and tragically dead son became the actor Gennady Voropaev (many remember him - athletic and stately - from the film "Vertical").

The dancer John Markovsky was the husband and faithful partner of Alla Evgenievna. Handsome, tall, athletic and unusually gifted, he involuntarily attracted the attention of women, and many, if not all ballerinas, dreamed of dancing with him. But, despite the noticeable difference in age, Markovsky preferred Osipenko. And when she left the Kirov Theater, he left with her. Their duet, which existed for 15 years, was called the "duet of the century."

D. Markovsky said about A. Osipenko that she had ideal proportions body and therefore dancing with her is easy and comfortable. And Alla Evgenievna admitted that it was John who was her best partner, and with no one else she could achieve such a complete bodily fusion and spiritual unity in the dance. From the height of her experience, the famous ballerina advises young people to look for and have a permanent, "their" partner, and not change gentlemen like gloves for each performance.

After their dismissal from the Kirov Theater, Osipenko and Markovsky became soloists of the Choreographic Miniatures troupe under the direction of L.V. Yakobson, who staged numbers and ballets especially for them.

When the Party and Komsomol, who is completely ignorant of art,

the commission saw in the dance number "The Minotaur and the Nymph", staged by L. Yakobson, "erotica and pornography" and the performance of the ballet was strictly forbidden, then out of despair and hopelessness, Alla Evgenievna, together with the choreographer, rushed to the chairman of the Leningrad City Executive Committee A.A. Sizov.

"I'm a ballerina Osipenko, help!" she breathed. "What do you need - an apartment or a car?" asked the big boss. “No, only the Minotaur and the Nymph… And already when she, joyful, with a signed permission, was leaving, Sizov called out to her: “Osipenko, maybe, after all, an apartment or a car?” “No, only the Minotaur and the Nymph” she replied again.

Yakobson, a talented innovator, had a rough, sharp and tough character. He could embody any music in choreography, and inventing movements, creating plastic forms and building poses, he demanded from the artists full dedication and sometimes even superhuman efforts in the process of rehearsals. But Alla Evgenievna, according to her, was ready for anything, if only this brilliant artist created with her and for her.

This is how the "Firebird" (I. Stravinsky, 1971), "The Swan" (C. Saint-Saens, 1972), "Exercise-XX" (J.-S. Bach), "Brilliant Divertimento" were born (M. Glinka) ... And Alla Evgenievna, a small fan of the classics in her own repertoire, began to see other horizons and possibilities in ballet.

In 1973, Osipenko again received serious injury and could not rehearse for some time. The choreographer did not want to wait, saying that he did not need cripples. And again Osipenko left, followed by Markovsky. They participated in Lenconcert group concerts, and when there was very little work for them, they went to perform in remote rural clubs, where it was sometimes so cold that it was just right to dance in felt boots. In 1977, their collaboration began with another talented choreographer - B.Ya. Eifman, in whose troupe called " New ballet"They have become leading artists.

There were also other parties. But again, the unexpected and fresh ran into bureaucratic obstacles. Thus, the miniature "Double Voice" to the music of the band "Pink Floyd", filmed, was destroyed.

Alla Evgenievna believes that choreography and stage suffering should have a plot, but at the same time, repeating the words of Y. Grigorovich, she adds that one should not "tear passions and gnaw at the backstage", but one should preserve one's dignity and be restrained in the dance. And she did it. Spectators and colleagues noticed her special manner of performance - outwardly somewhat static, but internally - passionate. Her performance was deeply dramatic and her movements extraordinarily expressive. It is no coincidence that they said about her: "Only when you see how Osipenko dances, you understand that Plisetskaya's technique is not flawless."

A. Osipenko worked with Eifman until 1982. Among her partners were M. Baryshnikov, R. Nureyev, A. Nisnevich, N. Dolgushin, V. Chabukiani, M. Liepa…

Osipenko was never afraid of the movie camera. The film captures not only the ballet parts of A. Osipenko, but also her roles in feature films. Her debut role was an episode in the film by I. Averbakh "Voice". And most often she starred in the films of A. Sokurov. The first of these was the film "Mournful insensibility", where she plays the role of Ariadne and appears half-naked before the audience. Due to the indignation of the guardians of morality, this film-parable based on the play by B. Shaw "The House Where Hearts Break" was released only in 1987, having lain on the shelf for several years. Sokurov admired the actress, claiming that he had not met people of such a magnitude as A. Osipenko.

The ballerina always warmly and with a deep sense of gratitude remembers her teachers and those who helped her in one way or another in the profession. These people taught her devotion to the profession, diligence, perseverance, interest in literature, painting, architecture, music and brought up a person who could fantasize, reason and defend own opinion. Osipenko keeps Anna Pavlova's ring, which was given to her as the creative heiress of the great ballerina.

Today Alla Evgenievna continues vigorous activity– works as a teacher-repetiteur and supports the continuity of generations in ballet, heads a charitable foundation, participates in various theatrical performances acting in films and television...

She is always elegant, slender and tirelessly keeps fit, although she has devoted more than 60 years of her life to ballet and stage. Osipenko says that in a real ballerina there should be magic, as she was in Dudinskaya, Ulanova , Plisetskaya ... There is undoubtedly this magic in her.

Ballet is my whole life.

Outstanding ballerina, student of the legendary A.Ya. Vaganova, during her lifetime she became a legend.

Alla Evgenievna was born on June 16, 1932 in Leningrad. Her relatives were the artist V.L. Borovikovsky(his works are exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery), the once popular poet A.L. Borovikovsky, pianist V.V. Sofronitsky. The family adhered to old traditions - they received guests, went to relatives for tea, always sat down to dinner together, strictly raised children ...

Two grandmothers, a nanny and a mother vigilantly watched Alla, protected her from all misfortunes and did not let her walk alone so that the girl would not be exposed to the harmful influence of the street. Therefore, Alla spent most of her time at home with adults. And she so wanted to be in the company, to her peers! And when, returning from school, she accidentally saw an announcement about enrolling in some kind of circle, she begged her grandmother to take her there - it was a chance to break out of the four walls and get into the team.

The circle turned out to be choreographic. And after a year of classes, the teacher strongly advised to show Alla to specialists from the ballet school, as he discovered "data" in the girl.

The surname Alla Evgenievna is paternal. Her father Yevgeny Osipenko was from Ukrainian nobles. Once, on the square, he began to scold the Soviet authorities and urge people to go and free the prisoners - former officers of the tsarist army. The 37th year is standing in the yard ...

Subsequently, the mother, wishing her daughter a better fate, suggested that when she received her passport, she should change her surname Osipenko to Borovikovsky. But the girl refused, believing that such a cowardly step would be a betrayal of a loved one.

Choreographic School A. Osipenko graduated in 1950 and was immediately accepted into the troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theatre).

Everything in her career was going well at first, but when, after a dress rehearsal of her first big performance "Sleeping Beauty" - 20-year-old, inspired - she was driving home on a trolleybus, in a fit of feelings she did not get out, but jumped out of it. As a result, a severe treatment of the injured leg, 1.5 years without a stage ... And only perseverance and willpower helped her to get back on pointe shoes. Then, when her legs got really bad, her friend, another wonderful ballerina, N. Makarova, paid for the operation abroad.

In the Kirov Ballet in its best years, everyone devoted themselves to serving the profession and creativity. Artists and choreographers could rehearse even at night. And one of the productions of Y. Grigorovich with the participation of Alla Osipenko, she was generally born in the bathroom of a communal apartment of one of the ballerinas.

A kind of crowning achievement of A. Osipenko is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the ballet "Stone Flower" to the music of S. Prokofiev. It was staged at the Kirov Theater by Yu.N. Grigorovich in 1957, and after the premiere A. Osipenko became famous. This role made a kind of revolution in ballet. Soviet Union: not only is the party of the keeper of underground treasures unusual in itself, but also, in order to enhance the authenticity of the image and the resemblance to a lizard, the ballerina for the first time came out not in the usual tutu, but in tight tights.

But after a while, the unprecedented success in the "Stone Flower" turned against the ballerina - she was considered an actress of a certain role. In addition, after the escape of R. Nureyev to the West in 1961, Alla Evgenievna was not allowed to travel abroad for a long time - she was allowed on tour only to some socialist countries, to the Middle East and through her native Soviet expanses. There were moments when Alla Evgenievna was locked in a room so that she would not follow the example of unreliable comrades abroad and remain in the capitalist world. But even before the introduction of "draconian measures" A. Osipenko was not going to "throw out the trick" - she always loved her homeland, yearned for St. Petersburg and could not leave her relatives. At the same time, A. Osipenko believed that Nureyev was forced to flee, and she did not break good relations with him.

Hiding the true reason for the inaccessibility of the amazing ballerina to the Western public, "responsible comrades" referred to the fact that she was allegedly giving birth. And when meticulous foreign colleagues, masters of the world ballet, were looking for her in Leningrad, the first thing they did was find out how many children she had, since their press reported on the next birth of the ballerina Osipenko.

Alla Evgenievna managed to dance quite a large and varied repertoire. "The Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake" by P.I. Tchaikovsky, "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai" by B. Asafiev, "Raymonda" by A. Glazunov, "Giselle" A. Adana, "Don Quixote" and "La Bayadère" by L. Minkus, "Cinderella" and "Romeo and Juliet" by S. Prokofiev, "Spartacus" by A. Khachaturian, "Othello" by A. Machavariani, "The Legend of Love" by A. Melikov ... And at the Maly Opera and Ballet Theater she performed another famous role - Cleopatra in the play "Antony and Cleopatra" by E. Lazarev based on the tragedy by W. Shakespeare …

Nevertheless, after 21 years of work at the Kirov Theater, Osipenko decided to leave it. Her departure was difficult - everything merged together: creative reasons, a conflict with the management, a humiliating atmosphere around ... In a statement, she wrote: "I ask you to fire me from the theater for creative and moral dissatisfaction."

A woman to the marrow of her bones and fingertips, Alla Evgenievna was married several times. And she didn’t say a bad word about any of her ex-husbands. The father of her only and tragically deceased son was the actor Gennady Voropaev (many remember him - athletic and stately - from the film "Vertical").

D. Markovsky said about A. Osipenko that she has ideal body proportions and therefore it is easy and convenient to dance with her. And Alla Evgenievna admitted that it was John who was her best partner, and with no one else she could achieve such a complete bodily fusion and spiritual unity in the dance. From the height of her experience, the famous ballerina advises young people to look for and have a permanent, "their" partner, and not change gentlemen like gloves for each performance.

As you know, the unusual and new at all times is not understood immediately and breaks through with difficulty. Yakobson was persecuted, not wanting to perceive his unusually expressive choreographic language and inexhaustible creative imagination. And although his ballets "Shurale" and "Spartacus" went on stage, they were also forced to redraw them. It was even worse with his other works - officials of various authorities constantly looked for signs of anti-Sovietism and immorality in dances and did not allow them to be shown.

When the party and Komsomol commission, completely ignorant of art, saw in the dance number "The Minotaur and the Nymph", staged by L. Yakobson, "erotica and pornography" and the performance of the ballet was strictly forbidden, then out of despair and hopelessness, Alla Evgenievna, together with the choreographer, rushed to the chairman Leningrad City Executive Committee A.A. Sizov.

“One of the most significant figures in her generation”, “charming lines, saturation of the image”, “an actress and a person of outstanding qualities” - in such words ballet critics, directors and even fellow ballerinas expressed their admiration for the art of Alla Osipenko.

The birthplace of Alla Evgenievna is Leningrad. The mother of the future ballerina came from a wealthy family. artistic traditions: her ancestor was the artist Vladimir Borovikovsky, she was related to the poet Alexander Borovikovsky and pianist. The family loved music, her mother played the piano, and little Alla loved to dance to her performance. The guests were moved by looking at her children's dances, and expressed regret that the girl could not become a ballerina because of her twisted legs. True, this physical defect disappeared as she grew, but neither her parents nor herself thought about a ballet career for Alla. IN choreographic art she came almost by accident.

Alla was brought up in the traditions of the intelligentsia of the past, being strongly protected from "bad influences", but the girl - like all children - wanted to communicate with her peers, therefore, when she once saw an announcement at school about enrolling in a certain circle, she hurried to enroll there, not even understanding what will be taught there. As it turned out, the circle was choreographic. The accident turned out to be fatal: the mentor saw talent in the girl and after a year of classes advised Alla's parents to show her to specialists. Parents followed the advice, and the girl was enrolled in the Leningrad Choreographic School. This happened on the eve of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

The pupils of the school, including Alla Osipenko, were evacuated - first to Kostroma, then to the Urals. Classes were held in horrendous conditions, in rooms that were completely unsuitable for this - either in the church building or in the barracks. In winter, they had to study in unheated rooms - the students took on the crossbars, putting on mittens, and even had to put on a coat. Remembering those difficult days later, Alla Evgenievna said that the love for ballet, cultivated in such conditions, inevitably had to become eternal and all-consuming.

The school returned to Leningrad in 1944. Education continues, and very successfully. In 1948, he set a miniature "Meditation" to music for a young student - and Alla Osipenko was talked about outside the educational institution.

Osipenko was one of the last students. After completing her studies - in 1950 - she was accepted into the troupe of the Theater. S.M. Kirov. At first, everything goes well, at rehearsals and performances the young artist experiences a surge of genuine inspiration, but this is precisely what caused a serious test: once, when returning from a rehearsal of “”, the ballerina was so overwhelmed with emotions that she did not get out of the trolleybus, but jumped out - and injured her leg . Due to an injury, she did not dance for a year and a half, but thanks to her perseverance, she was able to return to the stage.

Among the roles of Osipenko in the Kirov Theater are Masha in "", Maria in "", the Queen of the Ball in "", the Lilac Fairy in "Sleeping Beauty", Gamzatti in "" and many other parties. But truly " finest hour"was for her the role of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in" The Stone Flower ", performed in 1957. This role was notable not only for the fact that the performer went on stage in tight tights, without a traditional ballet tutu (which was very atypical for domestic art those times) - the choreography itself was unusual, so much so that the ballerina heard from her colleagues more than once: “If you dance the way you dance“ Stone Flower ”, you will no longer be able to do anything - neither “”, nor “”. Next to this part, the ballerina puts only leading role in the ballet "Antony and Cleopatra", which she performed in 1968 at the Maly Theater.

Emigration negatively affected the fate of the ballerina - after all, Osipenko was not just his partner, but the last Soviet ballerina who danced with him. This became the reason for a wary attitude towards her - will she follow the example of a partner? She was released on tour extremely rarely, only to socialist countries, and even there she was locked in a hotel room. Such strict measures were unnecessary - although Osipenko did not condemn Nureyev, she herself was not going to emigrate ... Such an unhealthy atmosphere around the ballerina, as well as the fact that after her success in the "Stone Flower" they looked at her as an "actress of one role", became reason for Osipenko's departure from the theatre. In her resignation letter, she cited "creative and moral dissatisfaction" as the reason.

Together with her, John Markovsky, her husband and partner, left the theater. Their duet was called the "duet of the century", in the dance with him the ballerina felt complete unity. For the spouses, who became soloists of the troupe, the choreographer staged choreographic miniatures, which did not always find understanding among contemporaries and even displeased the authorities. So, in the miniature "Minotaur and Nymph" they saw obscenity, and famous ballerina I had to personally visit the Leningrad Executive Committee so that its execution was allowed.

Osipenko had to leave the troupe in 1973 - the choreographer did not want to wait for her to recover from her injury. Together with Markovsky, she performs in combined concerts and even rural clubs, and in 1977-1982. - as part of the New Ballet troupe. One of her best roles in this troupe was the role of Nastasya Filippovna in the ballet The Idiot, set to music.

Since the late 1980s Osipenko conducts teaching activities in various troupes - American, French, Italian, Russian.

Alla Osipenko heads International Foundation"Terpsichore".

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