In Memoriam: Lilia Valieva - A Fairy Tale Princess January 16, 1961-December 28, 2014
M
ost fairy tales endwith the lovers living happily ever after. Sometimes, in real life, the fairy tale ending includes an unfore- seen change to the romance. This is one of those stories. Prima
ballerina, LiliaValieva, and her beloved lifelong dance partner and hus- band,EldarValiev, onlymoved toDenton, Texas in 2011, but their impactwas exciting and immediate. “Genuine and vibrant,”Cynthia Breedingwrote about Lilia’s andEldar’s dedication to “a strong ballet presence inDenton.”What the couple brought toDentonwas an admirableVaganova pedigree, a 20 year career as principal dancers and a love affairwith dance and each other that began as young students. Part of the tale concludedwhen Lilia succumbed to breast cancer on December 28, 2014, at age 53.
Theirswas a dance odyssey beginning inUfa,Russia. Born January 16, 1961, at age 10 and 12 respectively, Lilia andEldarwere selected for two of a handful of full eight year scholarships awarded to theVaganova BalletAcademy in St. Petersburg. Lilia graduated in 1979 at 18 years. Partnered by her future husband, Lilia andEldar returned toUfa, in the Republic ofBashkortostan, to dancewith the State Theater ofOpera andBallet ofBashkortostan. Soon she rose to become principal balleri- na. In 1983, Lilia andEldarmarried. The following year blessed them with a son,
Samat.After a sixmonthmaternity leave, Lilia returned to the company until 1991when itwas time to reach for fresh challenges. They found newand exciting roleswith the daring, contemporary EifmanBallet Theater in St. Petersburg. In 1993 Lilia andEldarmoved toReykjavik to dancewith theNational IcelandicBallet. They also toured extensivelywith the Stars of theBolshoi and Stars of theKirov.
Pictured: Lilia andEldarValieva
Liliawas known for the expansive emotional and technical range of her classical roles. Some of her favoriteswereOdette/Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri inDonQuixote, Pas deQuatre, the Sylph in La Sylphide, Swanhilda in Coppélia, and
Paquita.Deciding to reconnectwith her sister, theymade theirAmerican debut performingGisellewith theGreenvilleBallet in SouthCarolina. Then theymoved to Tennesseewhere they taught and directed a small companywhile Samat entered the university.
When they danced four Swan Lakes in two days, itwas Lilia’s luxurious arms not her legs thatwere exhausted. Itwould have putmost soloists
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May-July 2015
www.thedancecouncil.org
DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publicationof the dance council ofnorthtexas vol 18 •no 2
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