Andris Liepa was the crown prince of the ballet of the 1980s, who during his meteoric career was the principal dancer of both the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres, and the star of the American Ballet Theatre under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Liepa celebrated his 50th birthday at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. The star-studded celebration programme featured performances from choreographer Patrick de Bana, the ex-principal dancer of the Paris Opera; the current director of the Vienna Ballet Manuel Legri; Liudmila Konovalova and Robert Gabdulin, the principals of the Vienna Ballet; Nikolai Tsiskaridze, current principal dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, and many others.
