Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya is a great ballerina and a stunning woman. No matter what epithets she was awarded: divine, unsurpassed, ballerina-element, “genius, courage and avant-garde” (expression of the French ballet critic A.F. Ersin). And all this is about her.
The future ballerina Maya Plisetskaya was born in Moscow on November 20, 1925. Her parents were silent film actress Rachel Messeser-Plisetskaya and diplomat Mikhail Plisetskiy. The father was repressed and shot in 1937, and in 1938 a mother and her little son also went to jail in Butyrka. Maya was brought up by her aunt, Sulamith Messeser, and her younger brother, uncle, Asaf Messeser. Both of them were outstanding ballet dancers.
The biography of Maya Plisetskaya began as a ballerina at the age of 9, when the girl became a student of the Moscow School of Choreography. She immediately attracted the attention of teachers with her natural physical data, musicality and temperament, ideal for ballet. She was trusted by leading roles in educational productions.
During the war, she graduated from college and April 1, 1943 became a ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater. Biography of Maya Plisetskaya in the Bolshoi did not always develop smoothly. At first, she was enrolled in the corps de ballet, despite the fact that, as a student, she danced solo parts on the stage of the branch of the main theater of the country. Then the young graduate began to participate in national concerts. At that moment, her “Dying Swan” (Saint-Saens) was born, the ballerina’s crown number throughout her stage life. Plisetskaya spoke of her performance of this dance as follows: “It is important to dance to music, not to music.”
For the first time in the main part on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, Maya Plisetskaya appeared in the role of Masha in The Nutcracker (music by Tchaikovsky) in 1942. True, this was a replacement for the sick performers, but thanks to this role she was noticed. Soon, the debutant began to be given roles in ballet performances: Giselle (first one of the jeeps, and then Mirta, 1944), the fairy Autumn in Cinderella by Prokofiev (1945), the main role in Raymond Glazunov (1945), Odette – Odile in Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. The biography of Maya Plisetskaya is noted by the mention that this role became central not only in her career, but in the entire repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater. All the heads of foreign governments, presidents and kings were brought to Swan Lake with Plisetskaya in the lead role. This performance was known all over the world, and the audience instantly bought up tickets as soon as they read on the posters the inscription: "Maya Plisetskaya."
Her biography as a ballerina further developed rapidly: Zarema in the Bakhchisarai Fountain (music. Asafieva), the Tsar Maiden in the Humpbacked Horse (music Puni), several roles in Don Quixote (music Minkus).
She was given the title first, Honored, and then the People's Artist of the USSR.
Unfortunately, the biography of Maya Plisetskaya (the fact of her having descended from a family of enemies of the people) for a long time became an obstacle to her trips abroad. And the Bolshoi Theater toured without its prima. This continued until 1959, when, thanks to the efforts of her husband, composer
Rodion Shchedrin (they got married in 1958 and continue to be a happy family until now), she first managed to take part in a tour of the United States.
One more “life role” of Maya Plisetskaya is Carmen from the revolutionary ballet Carmen Suite (1967). The music was written by Shchedrin (a transcription of the famous Bizet opera), staged by the Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. For the first time, Moscow spectators saw a ballerina dancing not on toes, but on a full stop. The play, like everything new, was not immediately accepted. At first, Plisetskaya was accused of “betrayal of classical ballet,” but over time the performance gained success not only among ours, but also among the Spanish public, which was especially important for the inspirer and performer of the main role.
In the late eighties and early nineties, when much has changed in the country, Maya Plisetskaya began to work actively in Italy and Spain. In Moscow, she became president of the Imperial Russian Ballet. She toured and worked at the invitation of theaters around the world.
Now Maya Mikhailovna mainly lives abroad, in Germany. She has been awarded many foreign and Russian awards. Films were made about her, books were written, performances were released in which she staged dance numbers. She’s 88, but she’s still slim, fit and beautiful.