The flight is free. Diary of an average woman Alla Osipenko ballerina personal life son

Oksana Olegovna Bazilevich is a Russian theater and film actress who has already starred in more than 60 film projects. She is best known to fans of modern Russian cinema for her roles in the series “Such Work,” “Short Stories,” “Knife in the Clouds” and many other works.

Oksana Olegovna Bazilevich

The star of domestic TV series was born and raised in Ryazan. Her father was a military doctor, and her mother held a leadership position in a trade union organization. It is curious that the mother gave birth to the future actress on her own birthday and still considers her daughter her most precious gift. By the way, both of the girl’s parents once wanted to become artists, so the atmosphere in the house was appropriate: spontaneous concerts, impromptu performances, a puppet theater with plush toys on the fingers - all this was the norm of life for little Oksana.

Oksana Olegovna Bazilevich | Keeno.tv

Bazilevich grew up as a very obedient girl, she was never capricious, she hardly cried at all and, most surprisingly, she almost never got sick. She did not miss a single day of kindergarten due to illness, which is probably a world record. Oksana dreamed of becoming an actress almost from birth. Already at the age of four, having watched enough performances performed by her parents, she tried to stage skits herself. Of course, like many children, Bazilevich often changed her “future profession” - she wanted to be a singer, a ballerina, a circus performer, or even a surgeon. But at the same time she was pronouncing the words “Oksana Bazilevich is an actress,” trying to taste what the announcement of her name would sound like in the theater.

Oksana Olegovna Bazilevich

In high school, the girl constantly participated in all school competitions like “Hello, we are looking for talent.” Moreover, she was a presenter, a magician, a singer in a vocal group, and an actress. But for some reason Oksana decided not to enter a theater university, but to the philological faculty of the Ryazan Pedagogical Institute. However, after studying only one course, Bazilevich took the documents and went to the Northern capital. There she became a student at the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography. And I must say, she was a very unpredictable, eccentric and hooligan student.

Film mania

So obedient as a child, Oksana suddenly turned into a rather bright young woman, capable of performing amazing tricks. For example, she could disappear from the institute for a week, or even a month, because she was offended by some phrase of the teacher, or fell in love with a guy and did not want to waste time on lectures. But the most outstanding, and always extraordinarily creative, was the student’s return to her alma mater. One day, the girl even brought a real policeman with her and put on a grand performance with his participation as an apology to the teacher.

Star of the Russian stage | Film mania

Graduation from theater university coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that moment, many famous artists were left without work, what can we say about the still “green” newcomers. Bazilevich’s classmates were not at a loss. From graduates of this course, as well as of a parallel course, a new troupe, “Farsa,” was formed, named after their first performance. Young artists toured throughout the country. And when the play “Fantasies, or Six Characters Waiting for the Wind” was staged, it unexpectedly received recognition in Western countries, and the theater, together with Oksana, traveled almost all of Europe.

Photo by Oksana Bazilevich | Kino 24

In addition, the actress was invited to performances at the Lensovet Theater, the State Drama Theater on Liteiny, the Variety Theater and about a dozen other theater centers. For the play “The Night of Gelver,” staged at the V.F. Komissarzhevskaya Theater, Bazilevich was awarded the highest theater award in St. Petersburg, “Golden Soffit,” as well as the audience award of the Teatral society.

Movies

The actress first appeared on screen in 1992 in the historical film “Rin. The Legend of the Icon" and the social drama "Chekist". Then there was a long break associated with theatrical activities, and Oksana Bazilevich’s filmography began to fill up again with filming in the American film adaptation of Anna Karenina, where Sophie Marceau was given the main role. The Russian actress herself played a small role as a courtesan princess. At the same time, Bazilevich was surprised by the attitude - the director paid attention to the smallest details and took all the little things very seriously.

Duet and Oksana Bazilevich in the film "Double Surname" | Cinema

In the 21st century, Oksana has become an integral part of many domestic TV series. And although her talents were used mainly to create images of minor characters, the actress did not leave TV screens. She can be seen in the crime dramas “Streets of Broken Lights”, “National Security Agent”, “Secrets of the Investigation”, “Deadly Force”. Bazilevich’s comedic abilities were clearly revealed thanks to the anecdote series “Vovochka” and especially the series of short stories based on humorous stories by Russian and Soviet writers “Short Stories”.

Bazilevich as a police colonel in the film "Such Work" | Cinema

It is worth highlighting such films by Oksana Bazilevich as the detective story “Knife in the Clouds,” the action movie “The Chess Player,” the melodrama “Double Surname,” the duology “One for All,” and the crime story “Strong.” In all films, the actress played leading roles. But her most famous project today is the series about the everyday life of the police, “Such Work.” There Oksana appeared in the guise of the head of the homicide department, police colonel Valentina Kalitnikova. Bazilevich was very happy to receive this offer, since she always likes to try something new, and she had never played bosses in uniform before.

Personal life

While studying in her second year at the theater institute, Oksana met Ivan Voropaev at the dacha of mutual friends. He was the son of the Comedy Theater actor Gennady Voropaev and the famous ballerina Alla Osipenko, and he once graduated from the same university where Bazilevich studied. By the way, Ivan’s classmate was an actor and musician. But Voropaev himself did not pursue a creative profession, but founded his own business.

Oksana's husband was businessman Ivan Voropaev | TV week

Oksana Bazilevich’s personal life took shape in an instant: the girl fell in love at first sight, and, as it turned out later, mutually. True, because of love, the student was almost expelled from the institute - Oksana did not show up for classes for a month. Soon the young people got married and lived very happily, but not for too long: Oksana Bazilevich’s husband suddenly died from internal bleeding. Death came so quickly that the actress did not even have time to say goodbye to her loved one. Maybe that’s why a woman who was widowed at 28 still says that she sees her husband in her dreams.

The actress's son, Denis Voropaev, graduated from the cadet corps | TV week

From Ivan Voropaev, Bazilevich had only one son, Denis. Not only his grandparents, who took him to school, a music studio and creative clubs, but also all the actress’s friends helped raise the boy. It was thanks to the support of her relatives and partners in the Farsa troupe that Oksana felt not alone in this world. Today Denis is already an adult. He graduated from the Institute of Culture and is trying to find himself in the world of cinema. By the way, Oksana Olegovna has already become a grandmother: her son gave her a beautiful granddaughter, who calls the actress not “grandmother”, and not even by name, but like all her friends, “Bazya”.

Young grandmother Oksana Olegovna Bazilevich | TV week

Interestingly, the actress’s talents extend beyond her profession. Oksana Bazilevich is interested in photography, writing poems and drawing. She always paints her paintings on the floor, pays close attention to every brush stroke, and always talks out loud to her creations while they are being created.

Filmography

2000 - Vovochka
2002 - Short stories
2002 - Knife in the Clouds
2004 - Chess player
2006 - Double surname
2009 - Tatar princess
2011 - Strong
2012 - One for all
2014-2016 - Such work
2016 - Mysterious passion

Alla OSIPENKO was not just a brilliant ballerina, she remained a legend in the history of the Kirov Theater, the Choreographic Miniatures troupe and Boris Eifman.

Her unique duet with John Markovsky existed for 15 years. Osipenko taught in Italy and the USA, now she is a teacher-tutor at the Konstantin Tachkin Theater, so she has been devoted to serving the profession for more than half a century. As befits a ballerina, Alla Evgenievna is fit, slim, and elegant. Without any discounts for age.

Money doesn't go to someone who doesn't know how to manage it

- You worked successfully abroad, why did you return?

When I was offered a job in Italy, I went for a short time and stayed for five years. She left due to circumstances: it was impossible to live on a pension of two thousand rubles, her son got married, and how could she live in the same apartment? But I felt such loneliness there that all my money was spent on telephone calls. I didn’t learn either Italian or English, because I thought, that’s it, I’m leaving tomorrow, I can’t do it anymore. Well, the fact that you can earn money as a teacher is all a fairy tale. It’s another matter if you dance and get ten thousand dollars for a performance. And they paid me a salary of one and a half thousand dollars, but the apartment alone cost seven hundred. Moreover, in America I ended up in the most expensive state - Connecticut - that I could save up! In general, I’m not very lucky with money (laughs). Not only do I not know how to manage them, but they don’t come to me.

- Did you communicate abroad with friends - Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Makarova?

Rudik really wanted me to run to him when Margot Fonteyn stopped dancing. We kept in touch through his sister - she was a teacher in the kindergarten where my son went to. But they communicated secretly, when she wanted to come, she called: Alla, do you need sausages? If I answered: Needed, then you can come. She calls once, I refuse sausages, but she insists: I really bought a kilogram. I secretly got Rudik notes for La Bayadère, he invited me to the Grand Opera, but we personally met in Florence 28 years after his escape, and then I saw a wonderful performance of The Overcoat. I still can’t forget Rudik’s duet with the new Overcoat.

We called Misha Baryshnikov in America, and one day he asked: Alla, you’re probably bored? - Boring. - Well, I’ll introduce you to Yuz Aleshkovsky. But I read his works, where there was swearing on the mat, and decided not to get acquainted (laughs). I'm not that kind of person. We also saw Misha in Florence, where he was on tour: I came to his dressing room, and he was in shock.

Natasha Makarova and I grew up together, and when we meet, we don’t understand how old we are, remembering all sorts of stories from the past. The only thing is, if I start a conversation about men, she sighs: God, you’re not tired of it either! But when she came to see me for my 70th birthday, she gave me red underwear! And after that she wants to say that we have changed a lot!

I couldn't leave the man I lived with for 15 years

- Your duet with John Markovsky was called the duet of the century, as was your novel:

I saw John for the first time in 1965 - I flew home after a rehearsal, my mother was watching TV, I saw someone dancing there, my mother said: Look, what a good boy, at that moment the boy falls, I said: Good, especially in the fall. And John came from Riga to the advanced training class. We all paid attention to the good boy and wondered who would get him. Once I went on tour to Perm, I was supposed to dance with Vikulov, but for some reason he was replaced by Markovsky. And so our unforgivable romance began, because I was 12 years older. Well, then we left the Kirov Theater together, danced in Choreographic Miniatures, with Eifman. John was one of those who made up the glory of these groups, but he was not even given the title of Honored. When I came to ask Eifman to work for a title for John, he replied that if you need it, then do the work. Having retired to a tiny pension, John taught somewhere in clubs, but in principle he remained out of work, useless to anyone. Although we broke up, we knew about each other, and then I left. Two and a half years ago, John showed up, asked for a loan and invited him to come to them. I saw that his wife was severely disabled, John said that they were selling the apartment and leaving for his wife’s homeland in Nikolaev. And he disappeared again. And suddenly I began to hear these terrible stories on TV, how apartments were being sold and people were being killed. I asked my friends in the relevant authorities to look for John. It turned out that he was registered in a village near Luga. I wrote a letter: John, where are you? - in response: We received the letter, and some kind of squiggle instead of his signature. John wasn't there. Then they searched all of Nikolaev and the surrounding area - he was not registered anywhere. In alarm, I left with the Tachkin Theater on tour to England, and on the day of my return - well, just mysticism - John appears, a real homeless man, I didn’t recognize him. It turns out that his wife died, he is really homeless, his feet are frostbitten. She got him into a paid hospital, and then - after contributing a lot of money - to the House of Stage Veterans. Then half of the amount was returned to me - John still had money in his account. I’m glad that I was able to help him, but John’s psyche is torn, he is inadequate.

Women are stronger than men

- It turns out that women are stronger than men. You still can’t relax, you’re working. How did you end up at the Tachkin Theater?

Having returned from abroad, I taught for some time at the Planet club, and then I was called to the former Petrograd district committee, and a certain lady said: This is a military-patriotic education club, your choreography is not needed. - But children should grow up cultured. - You can’t dictate your terms, you used to be a celebrity, but now you’re a nobody, and I was kicked out. I was left without work, gave private lessons, and somehow Tachkin invited me to a performance. I saw the luxurious scenery, and then Ira Kolesnikova, who captivated me with her talent.

As for the fact that I can’t relax, I have a pension of 2219 rubles, one apartment of 950, and a 14-year-old grandson, who, if he comes for dinner, won’t eat just potatoes. He is far from ballet - he is interested in football. I also had to get carried away, I even learned one name - Beckham, and I support Zenit.

Money doesn't go to someone who doesn't know how to manage it

- You worked successfully abroad, why did you return?

- Did you communicate abroad with friends - Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Makarova?

I couldn't leave the man I lived with for 15 years

- Your duet with John Markovsky was called the duet of the century, as was your novel:

Women are stronger than men

- It turns out that women are stronger than men. You still can’t relax, you’re working. How did you end up at the Tachkin Theater?

Alla Evgenievna Osipenko, whose life story will be described in the article, is a legend of the theater, a bright star among ballerinas. She was a student of A. Vaganova and participated in productions by outstanding choreographers of her time. With her grace and dramatic talent, she captivated both residents of the RSFSR and foreign audiences.

Alla Osipenko: biography

Alla was born in Leningrad on June 16, 1932. She lived with her mother, nanny, grandmother Maria and great-aunt Anna.

Osipenko's mother came from the Borovikovsky family. The ballerina's ancestors included the artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, the poet Alexander Lvovich and the photographer Alexander Alexandrovich - also Borovikovsky. Alla's father was from the Ukrainian nobles. In 1937 he was imprisoned because he began to publicly vilify Soviet power and demand the release of tsarist officers. His mother divorced him. Then, when the time came to receive a passport, despite her mother’s requests, Alla retained her father’s surname - she considered that any other decision would be a betrayal.

Vocation

The girl was raised strictly. She spent almost all her time with adults; she was not even allowed into the yard. And she lacked communication with her peers, her obstinate character demanded to break free from excessive care. The opportunity presented itself in first grade - she read about a choreography club and persuaded her family to let her join there. If only I could come back later at least a couple of times a day, and not sit within four walls! But the girl herself was far from dancing at that time - her mother wanted to become a ballerina, not she.

But thanks to the Osipenko circle, Alla Evgenievna found her calling. Her teacher noted her talents and persuaded her mother to send her daughter to a choreographic school. She was enlisted there on June 21, 1941, and the war began on June 22.

The children were transported to Kostroma, then to Molotov (now Perm). Ballet was taught first in church, then, when they were transported to Kurye, in barracks. “Hunger and cold,” Alla recalls about those times. The students studied, often without taking off their coats and mittens. Those were difficult times, but it was during the evacuation, or perhaps thanks to it, that Osipenko fell in love with art forever.

New stage

After Osipenko College, Alla came to the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater). Her work here did not always go smoothly. The first test was severe leg damage. Young twenty-year-old Osipenko, on a wave of inspiration after a rehearsal, did not get off - she jumped out of the trolleybus... and was forced to forget about the stage for almost a year and a half. Only stubbornness helped her return. According to her, this incident helped her realize what she really wants.

The Kirov Theater turned out to be a difficult school. He required a special, disruptive character. But off stage, Alla was by no means a fighter, on the contrary. She believed the critics who questioned her talents. I had to give my best physically - rehearsals took up almost all the time.

The crowning achievement of her work was her role in “The Stone Flower” (1957), where she danced in the role of the Mistress. The next day she woke up famous. Alla Osipenko herself once noted that fame may have come to her not so much because of her talent, but because of the originality of her image. For the first time, the ballerina appeared on stage in only one tight leotard.

KGB

Success had a downside. Firstly, she began to be considered an actress of one role. Secondly, her fame attracted the attention of the KGB. They began to control her especially strictly after 1961, when her partner Rudolf Nureyev fled the USSR. Alla witnessed this flight - the famous “jump” of Nureyev.

This happened while on tour. Nureyev refused to follow the routine, for which they decided to send him back to Moscow. But Nureyev wanted to continue touring. He managed to escape and rushed to the plane in which his comrades were leaving for London. He didn’t have time, and there, in Paris, he asked for political asylum. Later in the USSR, despite his absence, Nureyev was sentenced to seven years for treason. Alla acted as his protector.

Meanwhile, they literally did not take their eyes off Alla. In London she was placed in a separate room. They let her out and locked her up, never leaving her unaccompanied anywhere. She was forced to hide from her fans, and journalists’ requests were invariably answered that Alla Osipenko could not give an interview because she was “giving birth.” Subsequently, she was allowed to visit only socialist countries.

Alla had tested the KGB's patience before. During her first tour in Paris, back in 1956, she (the first among Soviet ballerinas) received the Anna Pavlova Prize. And one day, fulfilling a friend’s request, she gave a parcel to her sister, escaping from observers through the back door.

L. V. Yakobson

At the Kirov Osipenko Theater, Alla played in a considerable number of productions, among them “The Sleeping Beauty”, “The Bakhchisarai Fountain”, “Cinderella”, “Othello”, “The Legend of Love”. But the difficult atmosphere, scandals, tense relations with management, creative dissatisfaction - all this gave rise to unbearable fatigue in the ballerina. After 21 years of working in the theater, she left it.

Together with her partner John Markovsky, she joined the troupe of L. V. Yakobson, his “Miniatures”. It was a risky step - Jacobson’s productions were constantly censored, they were looked for for signs of anti-Sovietism, and attempts were made to ban them. The rebellious character of the ballerina manifested itself here too. When the commission banned the dance number “Minotaur and the Nymph” for its “eroticism,” Alla, together with the choreographer, rushed to the chairman of the city executive committee A. A. Sizov. To their surprise and joy, they were allowed to stage the number.

Jacobson's character was difficult. He was ready to rehearse at any time, around the clock. Moreover, rehearsals took place in a small, uncomfortable room. The choreographer forced the actors to devote themselves completely to their work, to work almost to the point of exhaustion, to the point of full dedication. Perform complex, almost impossible movements. But Alla was happy to work with Jacobson. She considered him a genius, idolized him and was even a little in love with him. This is how the productions “Firebird”, “Swan” and “Idiot” arose, which Jacobson staged especially for Osipenko. But the relationship between the ballerina and the choreographer gradually began to crack.

When Osipenko was injured again in 1973, Jacobson did not want to wait for her recovery.

End of career

After leaving Yakobson, Osipenko and Markovsky found themselves on the street. It was a difficult time, there was almost no work. Luck smiled on them in 1977, when they met choreographer B. Ya. Eifman, becoming the leading actors of his New Ballet troupe. The ballerina worked there until 1982. But this was already the end of her career, largely predetermined by her break with Markovsky.

Later, Alla auditioned for films - “The Voice” by Averbakh, half-naked Ariadne in “Sorrowful Presentiment” by A. Sokurov. Theater performances. Then, after Perestroika, Osipenko went abroad, where she taught choreography for a long time. She continued to do this in Russia.

Love

Ballerina Alla Evgenievna Osipenko was married several times. The death of her only son, born from actor Gennady Voropaev, left a tragic mark on her life.

Her marriage to John Markovsky is better known. Their brilliant duet was called the “couple of the century.” Alla called Markovsky her best partner. According to her, in the dance they seemed to become one. For the first time they performed together in Perm, and then their romance began, although she was twelve years older. They were together for 15 years. After breaking up with him, Alla could not find another partner like her; according to her, this was the end of them as dancers.

Teachers and idols

The ballerina’s idol for a long time was Natalia Dudinskaya. Osipenko passionately imitated her. Imitation did a bad job - after all, it prevented her from expressing her own individuality, and Alla had to relearn. She also had other idols among ballerinas, for example, Vera Arbuzova.

Among the people who pushed her talent, Alla especially notes Boris Fenster. At one time, he saw and helped reveal the girl’s abilities. At the time, she was called "paddle girl" because she was too plump to be a ballerina. But Fenster noticed her and offered her the role of Pannochka in Taras Bulba. He became a strict mentor, forcing her not only to lose weight, but also to think about herself.

Lidia Mikhailovna Tyutina also helped the ballerina a lot. Largely thanks to her, Osipenko was able to return from injury.

It is impossible not to mention Agrippina Vaganova. She was a strict teacher, often shouted at her student and often noticed that, thanks to her character, she would end up living in the music hall. But at the same time she was a wonderful, extraordinary teacher.

Ballerina is a title

As Alla Osipenko herself noted in one of her interviews, ballerina is a title, not a profession. And to become one, you need character. Osipenko proved this statement with her entire life. Success and failure, happiness and drama - all this shaped her into such an extraordinary personality.

Ballet is my whole life.

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

Alla Evgenievna was born on June 16, 1932 in Leningrad. Her relatives were the artist V.L. Borovikovsky(his works are exhibited at 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, raised their children strictly...

Two grandmothers, a nanny and a mother kept a vigilant eye on 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 really wanted company, with people her own age! And when she, returning from school, accidentally saw an advertisement for registration in some circle, she begged her grandmother to take her there - this was a chance to break out of 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 that the girl had “data”.

On June 21, 1941, the result of the screening 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 into evacuation, first to Kostroma, and then near Perm, where her mother and grandmother later came to see her.

Classes were conducted in spartan conditions. The rehearsal hall was a frozen vegetable storehouse installed in the church. To hold on to the metal bar of the ballet barre, the children put a mitten on their hand - it was so cold. But it was there, according to A.E. Osipenko, she awoke an all-consuming love for the profession, and she realized “that ballet is for life.” After the blockade was lifted, the school and its students returned to Leningrad.

Alla Evgenievna bears her father's surname. Her father Yevgeny Osipenko was from the Ukrainian nobles. Once on the square, he began to scold the Soviet government and call on people to go and free the prisoners - former officers of the tsarist army. It's 1937...

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

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

Everything in her career was going well at first, but when, after the dress rehearsal of her first big play “The Sleeping Beauty,” she, 20 years old, inspired, was riding home on a trolleybus, but in a fit of emotion she did not get out, but jumped out of it. The result was difficult treatment for her injured leg, 1.5 years without a stage... And only perseverance and willpower helped her get back on pointe shoes. Then, when her legs became really bad, her friend, another wonderful ballerina, N. Makarova, paid for her surgery 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 by Yu. Grigorovich with the participation of Alla Osipenko was generally born in the bathroom of the communal apartment of one of the ballerinas.

A kind of crowning achievement of A. Osipenko’s work is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the ballet “The 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 the ballet of the Soviet Union: not only was the role 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 appeared not in the usual tutu, but in tight tights.

But after some time, the unprecedented success in “The Stone Flower” turned against the ballerina - she began to be considered an actress of a certain role. In addition, after R. Nureyev’s escape to the West in 1961, Alla Evgenievna was restricted from traveling for a long time - she was allowed to tour only in some socialist countries, the Middle East and her native Soviet expanses. There were moments when Alla Evgenievna was locked in her room so that she would not follow the example of unreliable comrades abroad and remain in the capitalist world. But A. Osipenko had no intention of “throwing away the trick” even before the introduction of “draconian measures” - she always loved her homeland, missed St. Petersburg and could not leave her family. At the same time, A. Osipenko believed that Nureyev was forced to flee, and she did not break off good relations with him.

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

Alla Evgenievna managed to dance through a fairly large and varied repertoire. "The Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake" by P.I. Tchaikovsky, "Bakhchisarai Fountain" 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 into one: creative reasons, conflict with management, a humiliating atmosphere around... In a statement, she wrote: “I ask you to fire me from the theater due to creative and moral dissatisfaction.”

A woman to the core and to the tips of her fingers, 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 actor Gennady Voropaev (many remember him - athletic and handsome - from the film "Vertical").

Alla Evgenievna's husband and faithful partner was the dancer John Markovsky. Handsome, tall, athletically built 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 age difference, 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 has ideal body proportions and therefore it is easy and comfortable to dance with her. And Alla Evgenievna admitted that it was John who was her best partner, and with no one else she was able to achieve such complete bodily fusion and spiritual unity in 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 leaving the Kirov Theater, Osipenko and Markovsky became soloists of the Choreographic Miniatures troupe under the direction of L.V. Jacobson, who staged numbers and ballets especially for them.

As you know, the unusual and new are not immediately understood at all times and are difficult to break through. Jacobson was persecuted, not wanting to accept his unusually expressive choreographic language and inexhaustible creative imagination. And although his ballets “Shurale” and “Spartacus” were performed on stage, they were forced to remake them. It was even worse with his other works - officials at various levels constantly looked for signs of anti-Sovietism and immorality in the dances and did not allow him to be shown.

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

“I am ballerina Osipenko, help!” – she exhaled. “What do you need – an apartment or a car?” asked the big boss. “No, only “The Minotaur and the Nymph”... And when she was leaving, joyful, with a signed permit, Sizov called out to her: “Osipenko, maybe, after all, an apartment or a car?” “No, only “The Minotaur and the Nymph” “,” she answered again.

Jacobson, a talented innovator, had a rough, harsh and tough character. He could translate any music into choreography, and inventing movements, creating plastic forms and arranging poses, he demanded complete dedication from the artists and sometimes even superhuman efforts during the rehearsal process. But Alla Evgenievna, according to her, was ready to do anything if only this brilliant artist would create with her and for her.