Māris Liepa

Māris Rūdolfs Liepa (27 July 1936, Riga – 26 March 1989, Moscow) was a Soviet Latvian ballet dancer. He studied at Riga Choreography School where he was taught by Valentin Blinov (Russian: Валентин Блинов). He performed in Moscow for the first time in 1950. At the height of career, Liepa was considered one of the finest male dancers in the world and one of the most versatile, at home in a wide range of roles.

In 1953 Liepa entered Moscow Choreography School, a class taught by Nikolay Tarasov and initially was developing as a character-role dancer, yet upon graduation transformed into a classic ballet dancer.

After graduation from Moscow Choreography School in 1955 he returned to Riga and the Latvian Opera and Ballet Theatre. The company of theatre went on road-show to Moscow during December of the same year, where Māris Liepa was noticed by one of the Bolshoi's prima ballerinas, Maya Plisetskaya. She invited Liepa to join her on a tour in Budapest in 1956. He accepted the invitation to join the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, and during four seasons he became one of its leading dancers.

Māris Liepa was invited to join Moscow State Academic Bolshoi Theatre company for a tour to Poland, and shortly after this tour Liepa was accepted at the company by the theatre’s ballet master Leonid Lavrovsky. Liepa’s debut on the stage of the Moscow State Academic Bolshoi Theatre saw him perform Basil in Don Quixote, again with Maya Plisetskaya in the early 1960s, and shortly after he had danced a crucial role of his career – Duke Albrecht in Giselle. Collaboration with the new Ballet Master of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre Yuri Grigorovich began in 1964. In 1966 Liepa revived Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose, in 1968 he performed in the new version of Spartacus and received the highest accolades for the role of Crassus in 1970.

The relationship of Māris Liepa and the ballet master of the Bolshoi Theatre deteriorated during the 1970s and he remained off the list of performers of the new productions staged by Grigorovich. In 1977 Liepa danced his last large role with the Bolshoi  for the staging of Cipollino. After leaving, he choreograhed and staged a number of his own performances and actively cooperated with the new ballet company of Boris Eifman.

Liepa submitted a resignation in 1982; however, the end to his ballet and artistic career was to come much later. He worked as a ballet teacher and became the Artistic Director of Sofia National Opera between 1983 and 1985. In 1989 before his death Liepa had just formed his own ballet company in Moscow.

Repertory of Māris Liepa included a variety of roles, from 19th century classic Swan Lake to Spartacus. He has performed on the stages of Europe and USA. Liepa has played roles in movies and TV, in Hamlet and Spartacus. He wrote 3 books, articles, reviews. The book I Want to Dance for Hundred Years, written by him, was published in Riga in 1981. Liepa is the winner of many highly acclaimed Soviet Union awards and prizes, including the honorary title of the People's Artist of the USSR, the Konstantin Stanislavsky medal, Paris Ballet Academy Vaslav Nijinsky award and Marius Petipa Prize.

Latvian National Opera and Ballet has hosted annual Māris Liepa memorial concerts held by his children - son Andris and daughters Ilze (ballet dancer) and Maria (actress and singer).