Nora Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen on video or on the Classic Arts Showcase, by my count, at least three different dancers with the surname Liepa. Who are all these people? One was a male dancer in a tape I bought with Nina Ananiashvili. He also showed up on CAS with a woman of the same name whose name I can't remember. Then there was a different woman on CAS doing Sheherazade. My head is spinning. Who are they and how are they related? Does anyone know? Link to comment
Hans Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Andris and Ilse Liepa are brother and sister. Their father was a well-known dancer, too, although his first name escapes me at the moment. Link to comment
Nora Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 So that leaves another woman. She was very young looking. Another sister? I'm sorry I can't remember her name. If I haven't taped over it, I'll have another look at the tape. Are they Russian? Link to comment
Nora Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 The one I couldn't think of is Ekaterina. That makes Maris, Ilse, Andris, and Ekaterina. Is Maris father to the other three? Thanks so much. Link to comment
djb Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Maris is from Latvia (that is, that's where he was born). Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Info about Maris Liepa can be found on For Ballet Lovers Only: http://users.skynet.be/ballet-lovers/Maris10.html Maris is the father of Ilze and Andris. Link to comment
carbro Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Did Andris' wife (also a dancer) take the Liepa name? Something tells me I remember that, but I'm not positive. Andris -- I miss him very much. Loved when he was with ABT for those two years. Such a musical dancer, simultaneously heroic and familiar, with beautiful line, big, airy leaps and lovely personality. Link to comment
coda Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Dear Nora, You can find a lot of information about Maris, Andris and Ilse Liepa on: http://liepa.ru/home/english.htm Maris Liepa remains, without any doubt, the most prominent ballet personality in this family. Since you, Nora, are obviously interested in ballet, try to find that particular videofilm of the Bolshoi's "Spartacus" where Maris Liepa danced Crassus. It was his greatest achievment. Yekaterina is Andris' wife. She was a member of the Kirov's corps de ballet and used to dance Princess in "The Firebird" at the time when Andris was appearing in the Kirov's productions. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 I remember Maris Liepa vividly, as he was the first Siegfried I ever saw in the Bolshoi Swan Lake in the early 60s (he was billed as "Marius" Liepa then). He was paired with Nina Timofeyeva, and the performance was gloriously old-fashioned, but very exciting. They used to call him "The Olivier of the Ballet" which was not a bad comparison, as he rather looked terribly handsome in the Olivier way, and could go over-the-top, or quiet and subtle, and the acting was still first-rate, with the dancing suffering not at all! Link to comment
Nora Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 Thank you, everyone, for the information. When I saw the excerpt from Sheherazade on CAS, I really enjoyed it. The description said the choreography was by Fokine, but I have never seen the ballet nor have I heard any discussion of it. Why don't we see it? Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Saturation and changing æsthetics. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo did the ballet to death as part of its standard touring package, and audiences got sick and tired of it. By the time a new audience grew into being able to appreciate it, it looked like "Son of the Son of the Sheik" and the movement vocabulary seemed rooted in Rudolph Valentino and Theda Bara rather than ballet. Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo did the ballet to death as part of its standard touring package, and audiences got sick and tired of it. Same for the Kirov Ballet, I would say. Nora, check out the Kirov Ballet threads on Ballettalk for descriptions and appreciations of Fokine's "Scheherazade". With the recent Kirov US tour just behind us, you are bound to find a couple. Link to comment
exballetstudent Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Andris Liepa is definitely one of my famous Russian ballet male dancers. I first saw him in a documentry of Bolshoi Ballet made in 1986 or 87, he was dancing with Nina Ananiashvili. They were just making their ways to be the principle dancers of the company. At the end of the documentry, it shows clips of Giselle they performed together in 1986, it was just beautiful.... Link to comment
MakarovaFan Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Nora, I agree with coda: you really must see Maris Liepa in SPARTACUS. He's simply marvelous as Crassus, the evil arrogant Roman general. Melissa Link to comment
MakarovaFan Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 exballetstudent, I saw the same Bolshoi documentary over the weekend and really liked Liepa's dancing. Link to comment
mohnurka Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Maris Liepa also danced in Valpurgis Night with Plisetskaya (it's an excerpt.) Andris Liepa dances an excerpt from Coppelia. Ilse Liepa dances Firebird with her brother. Link to comment
Nora Posted May 15, 2004 Author Share Posted May 15, 2004 I did indeed buy a DVD of Spartacus and was thrilled by the performances of both Liepa and Vasiliev. Thanks again for all your input. Whatever did we do before videotape and DVD??? Link to comment
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