The growth of Ulyana Lopatkina, like her other main parameters, has always been of interest to fans and ballet connoisseurs. After all, this is one of the most popular modern ballerinas, which completed her career only last year. Since 1995, almost without interruptions, Lopatkina performed brilliantly at the Mariinsky Theater. In 2006, she became the owner of the title of People’s Artist of Russia, previously became the winner of the State Prize.
Ballerina Biography
The growth of Ulyana Lopatkina is one meter 75 centimeters. She was born in Kerch on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR on the Crimean peninsula in 1973. Her childhood, spent on the Black Sea, was eventful and joyful.
The parents of the heroine of our article were teachers. Vyacheslav Ivanovich and Elena Georgievna taught at the school. Ulyana did not grow up in a family alone, but with her sibling, who always and in every way supported her. Brother Lopatkina's name is Eugene.
Even at school, the girl was interested in ballet, the growth of Ulyana Lopatkina disposed to engage in this particular art form. In parallel with her studies, she studied in dance clubs, as well as sports sections, in order to maintain good physical shape.
Creative education
The parameters of Ulyana Lopatkina (height and weight) were ideally suited for the scene. Perhaps that is why she entered the Agrippina Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, which she graduated in 1991. The heroine of our article was engaged in the creative workshop of the People's Artist of the USSR Natalya Dudinskaya, who shone in the ballet Swan Lake in the 50s.
Throughout her studies, the height and weight of Ulyana Lopatkina were optimal for performing in ballet. And experts appreciated it. By the way, the weight of 52 kilograms and the growth of the ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina optimally fit the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater, where she was accepted.
Successful debut
Ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina, whose height and weight were ideal for dancing, began to conquer the audience from her first performances. Soon, she began to be entrusted with complex solo parts, and then the main roles. Already in 1995, the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater appoints her prima ballerina in the troupe.
In total, during her career at the Mariinsky Theater, Ulyana Lopatkina (height, weight, leg size, by the way, the 40th, known to her many fans) performed several dozen first roles in key productions.
In the ballet Hamlet, Konstantin Sergeyev Lopatkin dances to Ophelia, in The Sleeping Beauty, Marius Petipa, to the Fairy of the Lilac, in Anna Karenin, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, to Kitty, in the Pas de Katre of Anton Dolina to Maria Taglioni, and in Swan Lake "Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov - Odette and Odile, in the" Bakhchisarai Fountain "by Rostislav Zakharov - Zarema, in" The Legend of Love "by Yuri Grigorovich - Mehmene Banu, in the" Leningrad Symphony "by Igor Belsky - Girl. Over time, in the ballet Anna Karenina, already directed by Alexei Ratmansky, she got the title role instead of the image of Kitty.
Annoying injury
In 2000, a real professional tragedy occurred in the fate of Lopatkina. In the ballet La Bayadere by Marius Petipa, she traditionally danced Nikia. During the performance, the ballerina received an unfortunate ankle injury. But the pain overcame and managed to complete the performance, despite the rather serious damage.
All this negatively affected her future fate. The ankle injury was so serious that she had to leave the scene for several years, devoting them to a long and difficult recovery.
In early 2003, Lopatkina underwent an operation, only after her she managed to finally recover and return to her ideal form in order to perform on stage again.
Cooperation with Tsiskaridze
In 2013, Lopatkin was unexpectedly recommended for many to the post of artistic director of the Agrippina Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. Such an initiative was made by the newly appointed Acting Rector of the Academy Nikolai Tsiskaridze.
The very appointment of Tsiskaridze to the academy turned out to be very scandalous. Tsiskaridze shortly before left the Bolshoi Theater after the leadership of the cultural institution refused to renew the contract with the artist. Tsiskaridze himself in October 2013 came to the academy together with the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. The head of the department introduced the new acting rector to the faculty, which directly violated the charter of the institution.
Vera Dorofeeva, who had held the post of rector before, was transferred to work at the Mikhailovsky Theater, although, as experts noted, she was exclusively engaged in economic affairs at the academy. After Tsiskaridze was appointed rector, the ballerina Altynay Asylmuratova resigned from the post of artistic director, who worked on this place for 13 years. She did not work together with Tsiskaridze, who was also an artist and was actually her boss.
The contract is not signed
It was in place of Asylmuratova that it was proposed to appoint Lopatkina, who at that time had not yet completed her dance career, but continued to perform at the Mariinsky Theater. At the Academy of Russian Ballet itself, many were unhappy with the current state of things. In November, an appeal was even drawn up to the Ministry of Culture, which was signed by most representatives of the faculty. In it, the academy employees demanded to reconsider, of course, the controversial appointment of Tsiskaridze and Lopatkina. At the same time, the ballerina herself, to whom our article is devoted, did not comment on what was happening.
As a result, Lopatkina refused the place of artistic director, the contract with the academy was not signed. The art director was the teacher of the Mikhailovsky Theater Zhanna Ayupova. In parallel with this, she received the post of first vice-rector of the academy. But Tsiskaridze was approved as rector. In the elections, he received 227 votes, with 17 against.
On June 16, 2017, Lopatkina officially announced the completion of a ballerina's career: she dedicated 26 years of her life to the Mariinsky Theater.
Personal life
The growth of Ulyana Lopatkina, whose photos are presented in the article, for many of her fans has become the standard of a real ballerina.
The heroine of our article was married to a wealthy entrepreneur, writer and artist, whose name was Vladimir Kornev. They married in July 2001, and a few weeks after the official registration they were married in a church. The ceremony was held in the village of Vartemyagi, in the Sofia church located there.
Already in 2002, in an Austrian private clinic, Lopatkina gave birth to a daughter, Maria. Naturally, for some time she could not perform on stage. But the ratio of weight and height of Ulyana Lopatkina quickly returned to normal.
However, the marriage did not work out happy. After some time, the couple realized that to continue to be together does not make any sense, and in 2010 they divorced.
Interesting facts about the life of a ballerina
Surprisingly, Ulyana was independent by years from the first days of her life. Already in two and a half years, her parents calmly left the girl alone at home, and when she was ten years old, she was sent to study ballet art in St. Petersburg, where she lived completely on her own, since her parents did not have the opportunity to move with her daughter.
It is interesting that in the ballet class, in which the future prima of the Mariinsky Theater was engaged, all the mirrors were divided into two categories. Some slender everyone, no matter who looked into it, while others visually filled the person, adding him a few extra pounds in the most unexpected places. Naturally, no one wanted to stand at the second category of mirrors, so Ulyana, like all the students in her class, tried to come to class as early as possible in order to take a place at “slender” mirrors and not be upset in vain.
While the girl was studying at the academy, she had a very strict regime of the day and nutrition, because it is very important for ballerinas to monitor their appearance. But even in this situation, young dancers managed to find little joys for themselves. For example, a special delicacy for them was a piece of a sliced loaf with butter, which was pressed on both sides with an iron to make an impromptu toast, because there was no way for future ballerinas to eat a lot of bread.
