Osipenko was born in
Leningrad on 16 June 1932, to an
aristocratic family. Her final ballet in 1981 was
Requiem.
Violette Verdy, a leading dancer for
George Balanchine, said that Osipenko employed "the classical technique in a completely personal way to create shapes and emotions that one didn’t expect."
Teaching After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, Osipenko moved to the United States in 1995 and worked with the Hartford Ballet, both company and school, in Connecticut. She returned to her home town, now called again Saint Petersburg, in 2000, motivated in part by wanting to live close to her grandson. She had a longtime artistic relationship with the famed Russian filmmaker
Aleksandr Sokurov and appeared in a number of his films including the award-winning international success,
Russian Ark. Osipenko worked as a ballet coach with the
Mikhailovsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg.
Personal life and death Osipenko was married four times, all four marriages ended in divorce. Her first husband was art student Georgi Paysist, her second husband was Kirov dancer Anatoly Nisnevich. Her third husband was actor Gennady Voropayev; the marriage produced one child. Her fourth husband was John Markovsky, a former Kirov dancer who also left to work with Yakobson. Osipenko's son Ivan Voropayev was arrested and charged with "financial speculation" in 1986, he served 18 months in prison. He died in 1997. Osipenko died in Saint Petersburg on 12 May 2025, aged 92. == Awards ==