A superstar of Romanian ballet in its "golden era", when the light "coming from the East" would fashion great interpreters, Gabriel Popescu began the study of dance with the maestra Floria Capsali. He was hired by the Bucharest Opera in 1948, when he was 16, and in 1949 he was taking advanced courses on a scholarship from the Academic Ballet School of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Very early he became a State Prize Laureate, then Honored Artist. His career took off swiftly after he received the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Contests in Berlin and Warsaw. Although of average height, almost short, on stage he seemed a meter higher (the standards in force then favored short dancers who were required to dance with their chests as high as possible, as for the audience in the balconies). Remarkable in neo-classical and demi-character roles, passionate rather than lyrical, he received the First Prize in Moscow in 1964 for an exceptional pas-de-deux from Don Quixote partnered by Larisa Şorban, who was then the star of the Cluj Ballet.In his early years the danced very much in the USSR, as the partner of ballerinas who made history: Olga Lepeshinskaya, Ala Ossipenko, Maia Plisetskaya, Natalia Makarova. At the Bucharest Opera House, his repertoire was the standard, classical one, to which were added ballets inspired by Russian or Romanian folklore, unavoidable at the time: Călin, Return from the Deep, Iancu Jianu, as well as The Fountain of Baccisarai, Red Poppy, etc. In 1965 he solicited political asylum in Paris, then danced in Britain (where he was denied residence on the grounds that "one Nureyev is enough for Britain") and Switzerland. Decades followed of tours and changes strewn with successes and triumphs. He was principal dancer, choreographer and ballet maestro with the Zurich Opera, and from 1975 with the Berlin Opera. His Italian period began in 1978, when he transferred as a ballet professor to the school in Reggio Emilia led by Marinel Ştefănescu and Liliana Cosi. The Roma Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Turin Ballet Theater, the Verona Arenas are some of his recurrent stepping stones. He was the personal instructor of megastars such as Carla Fracci, Gheorghe Iancu and Marcia Haydee from Stuttgart. He was a ballet maestro with Roland Petit's Company in Marseille, and assistant to choreographies signed by Jiri Killian, Maurice Béjart, Glen Tetley, Uwe Scholz.Perhaps the most interesting period in his career is the first (1949-1965), when he formed a legendary duo with Irinel Liciu, whose close friend he would remain until her death. The national TV archive preserved a few footages from the 60's that emanate refinement, compatibility, emotion. The empathy that bound them from thousands of miles away made Gabriel Popescu suspect the tragic exit of his former partner: he tried desperately to get through to her on the telephone the night his "beloved Doinaş" passed away.The recent holder of the Knight Rank Star of Romania Order, awarded by President Iliescu, has lost the physical agility from his youth. A small head full of dreams and projects on a less slim body, which doesn't prevent him from frequenting theaters and being a prestigious pedagogue and ballet maestro.A few years ago, he trained the ballet company of Bucharest Opera a short period of time. The memory of that cooperation, in addition to the emotional reunion on stage with his former colleagues, made him offer again his services. From time to time, he feels drawn to the ballet halls where he would practice half a century ago…
by Vivia Săndulescu
