Alla Sizova

Alla Sizova (22 September 1939 – 23 November 2014) was a Russian ballet dancer, best known for her work with the Kirov Ballet. She was one of the four superstar ballerinas of the Soviet Union along with Natalia Makarova, Alla Osipenko and Irina Kolpakova, as well as the preferred dance partner of Rudolf Nureyev before his defection. Alla Ivanovna Sizova was born in Moscow on 22 September 1939 to Ivan and Ekaterina Sizov. The family moved to Leningrad shortly after her birth. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to the Urals with her mother and sister, while her father remained in Leningrad.After the war, Sizova studied at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, where she was taught by Natalia Kamkova. Among her classmates was Rudolf Nureyev, with whom she performed the Le Corsaire duet in a school graduation film, which attracted the attention of the Kirov Ballet. The two were recruited by the Kirov directly as soloists.Despite the immense chemistry on-stage between Sizova and Nureyev which manifested itself in their very successful partnership for the Kirov Ballet, temperamentally they were ill-suited to each other. They were forced to share an apartment but brought in their families to live with them and act as a buffer.Following Nureyev's defection in 1961 during a tour in London, Sizova's family was closely questioned by the KGB, resulting in her mother's mental breakdown. Upon her return to the USSR, Sizova refused to condemn his actions, although she questioned why he would leave to perform in foreign ballets she considered inferior.In the early 1970s, Sizova married Mikhail Serebrennikov, a television producer. They had a son, Ilya, born 1974.Following her husband's death in 1980, Sizova moved to the United States. Sizova's son died in 2004, whereupon she returned to Russia where she led a reclusive life. In the late 2000s, she developed Alzheimer's disease. She died of cancer in St. Petersburg on 23 November 2014.