Alla Yevgenyevna Osipenko (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

:Алла Евгеньевна Осипенко , born 16 June 1932 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) is a retired Soviet ballerina. She studied at the Leningrad Choreographic School (now

Vaganova Academy The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of Empress Anna, the academy was known as the Imperial Ballet School until the Soviet era, when, after a brief hi ...

) in the class of

Agrippina Vaganova Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova (russian: Агриппина Яковлевна Ваганова; 26 June 1879 – 5 November 1951) was a Soviet and Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method – the technique which derived from the t ...

. Upon graduation she joined the

Kirov Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

(now the Mariinsky Ballet) in 1950, and was promoted to prima ballerina in 1954. Her repertoire included: Lilac Fairy in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', Odette-Odile in '' Swan Lake'', Gamzatti in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

'', Waltz and Mazurka in '' Chopiniana'', Masha in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'', Frigia in '' Spartak'',

the Mistress of the Copper Mountain The Mistress of the Copper Mountain ( rus, Хозяйка медной горы, Hozjajka mednoj gory), also known as The Malachite Maid, is a legendary creature from Slavic mythology and a Russian fairy tale_character,_the_mountain_spirit_from_ ...

in ''

The Stone Flower "The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pave ...

'' (1957), and Mekhmene-Banu in '' Legend of Love'' (1961). In 1961, while Osipenko was on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, one of her main dance partners,

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

defected to the west on her 29th birthday. Osipenko, who was not a Communist Party member, was under considerable suspicion by the KGB upon her return to the Soviet Union who believed she might have known about the defection ahead of time (she didn't). She had a rocky relationship with the Kirov for much of the 1960s and Osipenko left the Kirov in 1971. From 1971 to 1973 she was a soloist of the troupe “Choreographic Miniatures” under direction of Leonid Jakobson. She also danced leading parts of classic and modern repertoire in stagings of well-known soviet ballet-masters. Osipenko then danced the work Leningrad choreographer,

Boris Eifman Boris Eifman (Борис Яковлевич Эйфман) (born 22 July 1946, in Rubtsovsk) is a Russian choreographer and artistic director. He has done more than fifty ballet productions. Eifman was born in Siberia, where his engineer father h ...

, becoming the first star dancer to champion his work. Osipenko was married to fellow Kirov soloist John Markovsky who had also left the Kirov to work with Jakobson. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Osipenko moved to the US in the 1990s and worked with the Hartford Ballet Company in Connecticut. She eventually returned to St. Petersburg, Russia in 2000. She also has a longtime artistic relationship with the famed Russian filmmaker

Aleksandr Sokurov Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Сокуров; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''Russian Ark'' (2002), filmed in a s ...

and has appeared in a number of his films including the award-winning international success, ''

Russian Ark ''Russian Ark'' (russian: link=no, Русский ковчег, ''Russkij Kovcheg'') is a 2002 experimental historical drama film directed by Alexander Sokurov. In ''Russian Ark'', an unnamed narrator wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Pet ...

''. Osipenko is currently working as a ballet coach with the Mikhailovsky Ballet in St. Petersburg.

References

* ''Зозулина Н.'' Алла Осипенко. Л.: Искусство, 1987. — 220 с., илл. (Серия « Солисты балета»).

External links

*
Alla Osipenko on www.ballerinagallery.com
Exhibition in the St. Petersburg Museum of Theatre and Music
Alla Osipenko: Beauty and Subversion in Soviet Ballet by Joel Lobenthal
1932 births Living people Russian ballerinas Prima ballerinas Mariinsky Ballet dancers 20th-century Russian ballet dancers {{USSR-bio-stub

See also

References

External links