Queen of the Stage: Russian Ballerina Maya Plisetskaya

Maya Plisetskaya was born on November 20 1925, in Moscow. Her family was mostly involved in the theater and cinematography. Her mother, Rachel Messerer-Plisetskaya, was a silent-film actress. Her uncle was the dancer Asaf Messerer and her aunt was the Bolshoi ballerina Sulamith Messerer.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya attends the farewell recital of prima ballerina and People's Artist of Russia Tatiana Chernobrovkina at the Moscow Academic Musical Theatre.

Plisetskaya’s enormous talent for dancing emerged in her early childhood. She studied ballet from the age of nine and first performed at the Bolshoi Theater when she was 11.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya as Odille in the ballet Swan Lake, third act.

In 1938, Plisetskaya’s father, a diplomat and mine director, was arrested and later executed during the Stalinist repressions. Her mother was arrested soon after and sent to a labor camp in Kazakhstan. Plisetskaya was taken in by her maternal aunt Sulamith Messerer, until her mother was released in 1941. She attended school in Spitzbergen and then studied under the great ballerina of the imperial school, Elizaveta Gerdt. In 1943 she graduated from the Moscow choreographic school and joined the Bolshoi Ballet.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya during the opening of the IX Easter Festival in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.

In 1945 Plisetskaya performed the role of the autumn fairy from Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev. Later she brought other leading roles into her repertoire. In 1947 Plisetskaya performed Odette-Odile in Swan-Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. In 1948 she performed as Zarema in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by Boris Asafiev.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya (left) before a performance.

In the 1960s, Plisetskaya was officially a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi. However, she never wanted to restrict herself, so she performed modern roles as well as classic ones.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya during a gala performance at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre marking her 60th birthday.

On April 20 1967 Plisetskaya performed as Carmen in the Carmen Suite, choreographed especially for her by Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. The music was re-scored from Georges Bize’s original by her husband, Rodion Shchedrin. The themes of the ballet were re-worked with a more modernist and abstract style.

Above: Opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya and Maya Plisetskaya at the jubilee evening dedicated to the 45th anniversary of Vishnevskaya's career at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Despite being a leading soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet, Plisetskaya was not allowed to tour outside the USSR for 16 years after she joined the theater. At that period, her fame was extensively used to promote the Soviet Union’s achievements during the Cold War. In 1959 the travel ban was lifted by Nikita Khrushchev who said he considered Plisetskaya "not only the best ballerina in the Soviet Union, but the best in the world."

Above: Maya Plisetskaya fishing on the bank of the Moskva River.

In 1972 the ballet Anna Karenina by Shchedrin was premiered at the Bolshoi Theater. Plisetskaya performed the main role in the ballet and also worked as choreographer. In 1980 as choreographer, Plisetskaya directed the Seagull by Shchedrin at the Bolshoi.

Above: Choreography teacher Galina Ulanova (left) and dancer Maya Plisetskaya rehearsing.

In 1983 Plisetskaya was offered the role of artistic director at the Rome Opera Ballet. She retired as a soloist for the Bolshoi at age 65.
Above: Rodion Shchedrin (right) points at boxes containing his archives as his wife, Maya Plisetskaya, smiles during the handover of their files to the Russian State literature and art archives in Moscow.

Besides ballet, Plisetskaya appeared as a straight actress in several films, including the Soviet version of Anna Karenina (1968). Her own ballet of the same name was filmed in 1974.

Above: Film director Alexander Zarkhi and Maya Plisetskaya during a break while shooting the "Anna Karenina" movie.

Plisetskaya celebrated her 80th birthday on the stage at the Bolshoi Theater. She performed Maurice Béjart's piece choreographed for her, "Ave Maya."

Above: Maya Plisetskaya performing at the gala concert on her 80th birthday. Moscow.

Since 1994, she has presided over the annual international ballet competitions, named Maya in her honor. And in 1996 she was named President of the Imperial Russian Ballet.

Above: Maya Plisetskaya speaks with journalists after being awarded with the French "Legion d'Honneur" (Legion of Honor) Order.