Plisetskaya sheksna. Maya Plisetskaya short biography
short biography
Career: Ballerina, actress, screenwriter
Height: 1.67 m
Date of Birth: November 20, 1925 | scorpion
Place of Birth: Moscow, USSR (Russia)
Genres: ballet, drama, musical
Spouse: Maris Liepa (divorced); Rodion Shchedrin
Biography
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya is a famous Soviet and Russian prima ballerina, choreographer, writer, and actress. Soloist Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Wife of composer Rodion Shchedrin. Currently lives in Germany (together with her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, rents an apartment in Munich). Has citizenship of Spain and Lithuania.
Cloudy beginning
Maya Plisetskaya was born on November 20, 1925, in Moscow, in the family of a major organizer of Soviet industry, Mikhail Emmanuilovich Plisetsky, and silent film actress Rachel Messerer, whose sister and brother, Shulamith and Asaf Messerer, were professional dancers. In the 1930s and 1940s, they both danced as leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater and then became excellent teachers. Little Maya probably inherited her passion for dancing from them.
The ballerina's childhood was partially spent in Spitsbergen, where Maya's father was appointed consul general and head of the coal mines. There Maya Plisetskaya studied at school, skied, and performed on stage for the first time in an amateur performance of the opera by A.S. Dargomyzhsky "Mermaid".
In 1937, Plisetskaya’s father and mother were repressed. The father was shot, and the mother was arrested a year after her husband and sent to Butyrka prison along with her newly born son, the third child in the family. Then she was deported to Kazakhstan, to Shymkent; She managed to return to Moscow only in 1941, two months before the start of the war. Maya and her other brother were taken in by their aunt and uncle, Shulamith and Asaph Messerer, prominent dancers at the Bolshoi Theater.
The girl was raised by her aunt S. Messerer, who brought her to the Choreographic School. There she consistently studied with teachers E.I. Dolinskaya, E.P. Gerdt, M.M. Leontyeva, but she considers Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova, whom she met already at the Bolshoi Theater, to be her best teacher. Anna Mikhailovna was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater after graduating from college in 1943 and very quickly became its leading ballerina.
Prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater
In 1945, Maya Plisetskaya became the first performer of the role of the fairy Autumn (Cinderella by Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev, 1945), and then in 1959, with great success, she performed the role of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the ballet “The Stone Flower” by the same author (choreographer Yuri Nikolaevich Grigorovich ).
Among best roles M. Plisetskaya: Mekhmene Banu (“The Legend of Love” by Arif Dzhangirovich Melikov, choreographer Grigorovich, 1965), Carmen (“Carmen Suite” by Georges Bizet - Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin, choreographer Alberto Alonso, 1967), Raymonda (“Raymonda” by Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov), Odette-Odile (“ Swan Lake"Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), Zarema ("Bakhchisarai Fountain" by Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev), Kitri ("Don Quixote" by Ludwig Fedorovich Minkus), Aurora ("Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky), Tsar-Maiden ("The Little Humpbacked Horse" by R.K. Shchedrin), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev).
Maya Mikhailovna performed in performances of foreign troupes: “The Death of the Rose” (part of the ballet “The Garden of Love”, Marseille Ballet, 1973); “Bolero” (1975), “Isadora” (first performer, 1976), “Leda and the Swan” (20th Century Ballet, Brussels, 1979); “Phaedra” (Nancy Theater Ballet Company, 1984; Odeon Theater, Paris, 1985; Rome Opera, 1985), “El Renidero” (Colon Theater, Buenos Aires, 1990).
Choreographer
Plisetskaya also proved herself to be a talented choreographer; she staged the following ballets: “Anna Karenina” by Shchedrin (1972, together with Natalya Ivanovna Ryzhenko and Viktor V. Smirnov-Golovanov, Bolshoi Theater; Plisetskaya is the first performer of the main role), “The Seagull” by Shchedrin ( 1980, Bolshoi Theater; Plisetskaya - the first performer of the main role), “Raymonda” by Alexander Glazunov (1984, Opera theatre in the Baths of Caracalla, Rome), “The Lady with the Dog” by Shchedrin (1985, Bolshoi Theater; Plisetskaya - the first performer of the main role).
"Ice and Fire"
In 1983–1884, Maya Mikhailovna was the artistic director of the ballet troupe of the Rome Opera, in 1988–1990 - of the ballet troupe Teatro Lirico Nacional (Madrid), where she revived the ballet “A Vain Precaution” by P. Hertel and performed in the performances “Carmen Suite” and "Mary Stuart" to the music of E. de Diego.
In 1992, the premiere of Shchedrin’s ballet “The Madwoman of Chaillot” took place at the Espace Pierre Cardin theater, where the ballerina performed main party.
Maya Plisetskaya is a versatile ballerina with the rarest individuality and extraordinary stage temperament. She could handle any role: from sophisticated lyrical heroines (Odette, Aurora, Swan) to sharp-tempered, restless heroines (Mekhmene Banu, Carmen, Zarema). Despite his exceptional characteristics - a long step, a strong and high jump, virtuoso rotation, unusually flexible, plastic hands, beautiful long neck- First of all, she was always faced with the task of penetrating the inner image of the heroine, and she almost always succeeded. It amazingly combines the brightness of emotional contrasts with purity of lines and perfection of forms.
The role of Odette-Odile was a great victory: good and evil, love and deceit, nobility and baseness of character were presented in two images created by the ballerina. The movements of unusually flexible arms and body created the illusion of fluttering wings, a swimming swan, and the transformation of a girl into a bird. Odetta, performed by Maya Plisetskaya, will eventually become a world legend. Her hands in “Swan Lake” were compared to the ripples of water, to iridescent waves, to the bends of swan wings.
A critic of the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro assured that she was doing this “not humanly” and that “when Plisetskaya begins the wave-like movements of her hands, you no longer know whether these are hands or wings, or whether her hands turn into the movements of waves along which The swan is swimming away." “The Dying Swan” by Saint-Saëns, staged by Fokine for the great Anna Pavlova, also became a masterpiece performed by Plisetskaya.
Plisetskaya and cinema
M. Plisetskaya, being a multifaceted creative person, tried herself in other forms of art.
The famous ballerina first appeared on the movie screen in 1951 in Vera Stroeva’s film “The Big Concert.” And then, of course, there were filmings in the ballet films “Swan Lake” and “The Tale of the Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Anna Karenina”. Prima of the Bolshoi Theater was invited to the film-opera “Khovanshchina”. The ballerina took an active part in the television adaptation of the ballets “Bolero” and “Isadora”, “The Seagull” and “The Lady with the Dog”.
In 1974, Maya Plisetskaya and Bolshoi Theater soloist Bogatyrev starred for television in the number “Nocturne” to the music of F. Chopin, from the ballet “In the Night” by the outstanding American choreographer Jerome Robbins. In the film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina directed by Zarkhi in 1968, Maya Plisetskaya played the role of Betsy. Plisetskaya coped brilliantly with the role, although she has little experience, and the specifics of cinema are very different from theater. True, the ballerina used to have text fragments in Bejart’s ballets. But all this is not the same. Betsy is the ballerina's debut in an academic film role. Then Maya Plisetskaya starred as singer Desiree in the film “Tchaikovsky” directed by Talankin. And director Vaitkus invited her to his film “Zodiac”, where she played Čiurlionis’ muse.
In 1976, director Efros invited the ballet star to the television film “Fantasy” based on the story “Spring Waters” by Ivan Turgenev. Maya Plisetskaya brilliantly played the role of Polozova. The action of the film was “commented” by choreographic duets staged by choreographer Elizariev.
Documentary films “Maya Plisetskaya” (1964; new edition 1981), the film “Ballerina” (1969), the television film-concert “Maya Plisetskaya. Familiar and Unfamiliar" (1987). The films “Maya” by Sakagushi for Japanese television and “Maya Plisetskaya” by Deluch for French television are also dedicated to Plisetskaya’s work.
The fearlessness of a true artist
According to documentaries, television programs, reports, photo albums, Maya Plisetskaya invariably appears in an aura of constant success, with a victorious smile on her lips, with triumph in shining eyes, drowning in a sea of flowers. However, she faced many trials: in childhood - the arrest of her parents, forced orphanhood; later - constant control over her life, a long ban on traveling abroad, an ongoing struggle for the right to be herself with the “authorities” (be it the watchful eye of the KGB, officials of the Ministry of Culture, the management of the Bolshoi Theater).
Plisetskaya has always been distinguished by fearlessness - creative and behavioral. In the most difficult creative and life situations, Maya Mikhailovna desperately took risks, challenging the usual ideas about performing and age capabilities, about the interpretations of certain classical parts, about the very themes available to ballet. By courageously going “against the grain,” she maintained her own independence. Being the owner of the most prestigious regalia, collaborating with outstanding choreographers of the world, ballet companies Roman Opera and Madrid's Teatro Lirico Nacional, Roland Petit's Marseille Ballet and Maurice Béjart's Ballet of the 20th Century, Plisetskaya was forced to leave her native Bolshoi Theater in 1988, to which the ballerina devoted almost half a century of her life. She did not always fit into the situation of “unanimity” that reigned at the Bolshoi Theater.
Maya Mikhailovna has a rare gift: having barely appeared on stage and not yet made a single move, she imperiously attracts attention to herself, captivating the audience with her very presence, inner significance, and the magic of her personality. The uniqueness of the great ballerina was also evident in her book of memoirs, “I, Maya Plisetskaya...” (1994), which aroused enormous interest. She dedicated this book to her husband, outstanding composer R.K. Shchedrin. Especially for his wife, he wrote the ballets “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” “Anna Karenina,” “The Seagull,” and “The Lady with the Dog,” taking Bizet’s famous opera as a basis and turning it into “Carmen Suite.” Maya Plisetskaya is also the author of the memoir “Thirty Years Later: Angry Notes in Thirty Chapters” (2007).
By 1991, Rodion Shchedrin's main creative and publishing interests were concentrated in Munich, and he and Maya Plisetskaya soon settled in this city, although Plisetskaya and Shchedrin live in three houses - mostly in Munich, in Moscow and at their dacha in Lithuania.
Personal life
Plisetskaya's first husband was the aspiring ballet dancer Maris Liepa. In 1956, while still very young, having performed brilliantly in Moscow at the decade of Latvian art, Maris received an invitation to dance “Swan Lake” with Maya Plisetskaya on tour in Budapest. Creative Union crowned with a legal marriage, which, however, did not lead either to family happiness or to the coveted transition to the Bolshoi. It is noteworthy that about short-term marriage ex-husband and his wife did not say a word in their memoirs.
In the 1950s, Plisetskaya visited the house of Lily Brik, Mayakovsky’s former muse, and her husband, writer and literary critic V. Katanyan. There she sang musical pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella, and the owners recorded it on tape. They let me listen to this tape to the young composer Rodion Shchedrin (he is 7 years younger than Maya), and he was amazed: the most difficult melodies were reproduced absolutely accurately and in the appropriate keys. Shchedrin and Plisetskaya first met in person when Gerard Philip was received in the same house, and Shchedrin played a lot of his music.
They were finally brought together by the ballet “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” which the Bolshoi Theater decided to stage in 1958. Here Shchedrin first saw Plisetskaya at a rehearsal. Their honeymoon was a trip by Rodion's car from Moscow to Sochi via Tula, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don. The marriage of Plisetskaya and Shchedrin was registered in Moscow on October 2, 1958. Wedding gift came from the mother, procured two-roomed flat on Kutuzovsky Prospekt.
All Shchedrin’s ballets are connected with Plisetskaya’s dance – and this is a whole ballet culture. On the title page of the score of Shchedrin’s first ballet, “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” there is a dedication: “To Maya Plisetskaya.” The role of the Tsar Maiden, which added humorous colors to her palette (directed by A.I. Radunsky), entered her repertoire on September 18, 1960. Three more title pages Shchedrin's scores open with a dedication to her: “Anna Karenina” - “To Maya Plisetskaya, invariably”; “The Seagull” - “To Maya Plisetskaya, always”; “Lady with a Dog” - “To Maya Plisetskaya, forever.” Shchedrin not only helped Plisetskaya create her own theater, but also fought with her for her “place in the sun.”
"He extended my creative life at least for twenty-five years,” says Plisetskaya about her husband. They were never bored with each other. In August 1958, our heroine became pregnant. She faced a difficult choice - to give birth to a loved one and quit ballet or continue dancing. She chose the second path. Despite Shchedrin's protests, Maya Mikhailovna did not dare to give birth to a child and quit the stage. Ballet won again...
Today, home for Maya Mikhailovna is, first of all, Moscow, her apartment. When she comes here, she always thinks: “Now I’m going home.” She and her husband also live in Munich, where they rent an apartment. In addition, there are excellent doctors there. And in Germany - the best publishing house in the world, Schott, which has copyrights to the works of Beethoven, Schumann and other composers and which publishes works by Shchedrin - good everywhere. And Lithuania is her mother’s homeland: she was born in Vilnius. They have been living in Trakai, in a small village, in their home for more than 20 years. And they love this wonderful country, they love its people. And, probably, they reciprocate. It works perfectly in Trakai, where Shchedrin wrote so much.
Do you know that
–– In the family of dentist Mikhail Messerer, Maya Plisetskaya’s grandfather, there were twelve children, and all of them, one way or another, connected their lives with ballet.
Since 1994, an international ballet competition called “Maya” has been held in St. Petersburg.
In 1994, the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy assigned the name Plisetskaya to minor planet No. 4626.
An ardent football fan. Loves herring and solitaire. I have never smoked and cannot stand it when others do.
-- Brother American President Kennedy - Robert Kennedy - was born on the same day and year as Maya Mikhailovna. They knew each other, congratulated each other, he gave her expensive gifts on her birthdays. Every year, no matter where you are at that time great ballerina, always sent her a basket of flowers and a gift. During the next visit of the Bolshoi Theater to New York (it was 1968), Maya and Robert did not have the chance to meet. He called her at her hotel and told her he was going on a campaign trip to several states. He asked her to save the evening of June 11th for him. And on June 5, an attempt was made on his life in Los Angeles. A day later, Maya Plisetskaya’s American friend died... The Soviet prima ballerina had a concert scheduled for that day at the Metropolitan Opera. The poster read “Sleeping Beauty.” Before the curtain went up, a representative of the theater management told the audience: “As a sign of mourning for Robert Kennedy, in honor of his memory, Maya Plisetskaya will dance The Dying Swan.” The whole hall stood up in unison.
–– Maya Plisetskaya’s social life can only be envied. She was a close friend of Lily Brik, and was friends with Brik's sister Elsa Triolet and her husband Aragon. Plisetskaya’s portrait was painted by Chagall, ballets were staged for her by Maurice Béjart, and she was vying with each other for invitations to receptions by presidents, prime ministers and kings. Pierre Cardin made Plisetskaya's own costumes for "Anna Karenina" and "The Seagull" free of charge.
Works in the theater
Best ballet parts:
Grand Theatre
“Romeo and Juliet” (S.S. Prokofiev) ... Juliet
“The Little Humpbacked Horse” (R.K. Shchedrin) ... Tsar-Maiden
“Sleeping Beauty” (P.I. Tchaikovsky) ... Aurora
“Don Quixote” (L.F. Minkus) ... Kitri
“Bakhchisarai Fountain” (B.V. Asafiev) ... Zarema
“Swan Lake” (P.I. Tchaikovsky) ... Odette-Odile
“Raymonda” (A.K. Glazunov) ... Raymonda
1967 “Carmen Suite” (J. Bizet and R.K. Shchedrin, choreographer A. Alonso) ... Carmen
1965 “The Legend of Love” (A.D. Melikov, choreographer Yu.N. Grigorovich) ... Mehmene Banu
1959 “Stone Flower” (S.S. Prokofiev, choreographer Yu.N. Grigorovich) ... Mistress of the Copper Mountain
1945 “Cinderella” (S.S. Prokofiev) ... fairy of Autumn
Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 1990
"El Renidero"
Paris – Rome, 1985
"Phaedra"
"Ballet of the 20th Century", Brussels, 1979
“Leda and the Swan” (choreographer M. Bejar)
Marseille Ballet
1976 “Isadora” (first performer)
1975 "Bolero"
1973 “The Death of the Rose” (part of the ballet “Garden of Love”)
Filmography
Frankly speaking, I generally love everything that is fashionable, since what is fashionable reflects the time...
Maya Plisetskaya
Died in Germany at the age of 90 outstanding ballerina Maya Plisetskaya - Russia 24 TV channel reports this with reference to the general director of the Bolshoi Theater. Putin expressed condolences to the family, friends and all admirers of Maya Plisetskaya's talent...
Outstanding ballerina, choreographer. People's Artist of the USSR (1959). Hero of Socialist Labor (1985). Recipient of many awards and prizes, including three Orders of Lenin (1967, 1976, 1985), Orders of Merit for the Fatherland IV (2010), III (1995) and II (2000) and I degrees (2006), as well as the Order France "For merits in literature and art" (1984, Commander), the Order of the Legion of Honor (1986) and the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1991).03.11.2011 was awarded the Japanese state award - the Order of the Rising Sun.Maya Mikhailovna is a doctor of the Sorbonne and an honorary professor at Moscow State University / A planet is named after Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Plisetskaya was born on November 20, 1925 in Moscow in the family of a major organizer of Soviet industry and silent film actress Rachel Messerer, whose sister and brother, Shulamith and Asaf Messerer, were professional dancers. In the 1930s and 1940s, they both danced as leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater and then became excellent teachers. Probably, from them little Maya inherited a passion for dancing. The ballerina’s childhood was partly spent in Spitsbergen, where Maya’s father was appointed consul general and head of the coal mines. In 1937, Plisetskaya’s father and mother were repressed (the father was subsequently shot and the mother was sent to a camp). The girl was raised by her aunt S. Messerer, who brought her to the Choreographic School. After graduating in 1943, Anna Mikhailovna was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater and very quickly became its leading ballerina.
The mother of the future great ballerina, Rakhiliya Mikhailovna, shone even during the time of “The Great Mute”. She attracted the attention of both spectators and directors. Because of characteristic appearance: dark hair and facial features, she often got the roles of Uzbek women.
At the end of 1942, Maya, risking her life, ran away from home to Moscow, where she was accepted into graduating class Moscow choreographic school.Maya Plisetskaya was taken to the theater for curtsying.In her youth, Maya Plisetskaya did not have the right to tour abroad for 6 years, because her father was considered an enemy of the people.
“She screws the hall into the frantic funnel of her thirty-two fouettés,
Its own temperament, it casts a spell, twists it: it doesn’t let go.
There are ballerinas of silence, ballerinas of snowflakes - they melt.
This is some kind of hellish spark. She is dying - she will burn half the planet!
Even its silence is a frantic, screaming silence of expectation,
Actively tense silence between lightning and thunderclap....
Plisetskaya - Tsvetaeva ballet.”
The ballet “Swan Lake” played a decisive role in the life of Maya Plisetskaya, where Maya played the role of Adetta - Odile more than 800 times over 30 years.
In the 1960s, Maya Plisetskaya began to be considered the first ballerina of the theater, although she was very slow in learning compositions. Maya Plisetskaya Of all the people, Carmen danced first.
Maya Plisetskaya was a close friend of Lilya Brik. She was also friends with Pablo Picasso, Pierre Cardin, Robert Kennedy and Coco Chanel. The portrait of Maya Plisetskaya was painted by Chagall himself, and the ballet was staged by Maurice Bejart. In October 1958, Maya Plisetskaya married composer Rodion Shchedrin, who, according to her, extended the ballerina’s creative life for a quarter of a century. According to Maya Plisetskaya's husband Rodion Shchedrin, the secret of their family happiness is that Maya is very compliant and easy-going.
Numerous publications are dedicated to the brilliant ballerina. Films have been made about her, and she herself has told as much about herself as and how much, perhaps, no one will tell, having released the books “I, Maya Plisetskaya...” and “Thirty Years Later: Angry Notes in Thirteen Chapters.” If the actress's first memoirs attracted the attention of readers with the detective nature of its narrative: famous (in general outline) conflicts of a bright representative of the art world with the leadership - state and theater, with soulless officials and other characters from the environment in which the ballet star lived and worked, despite everything, then the second part of her, sort of, public confession could turn out to be less interesting.
Maya Plisetskaya with Sergei Lifar and Coco Chanel
But life never lets you get bored, especially life wonderful people. In the second of the books mentioned, Maya Mikhailovna truthfully tells the story of the trial with her imaginary daughter, the closure of the St. Petersburg ballet competition due to lack of funds necessary to continue it. Thirteen past years - thirteen chapters. And Plisetskaya finished writing this book, by a strange coincidence, on November 13th. Around 13. But she is not superstitious.
And here’s what Plisetskaya, the writer, said about how this book was created: “I wrote with a pen. In notebooks. I took them with me on the train and on the plane. Shchedrin and I are driving somewhere to Mainz for four hours: he has music in his head, I have a book.Plisetskaya is seven years older than her husband Rodion Shchedrin. Maya Plisetskaya voiced the easiest way to lose weight: “Don’t eat anything. Humanity has not yet come up with another way to look good.”
I can’t say that it was so easy to write. To make the phrase short, succinct and expressive, I rewrote it ten times, painfully. But after that I no longer allow myself to be edited. Not a word, not a comma.”
Among the characters in this book are not only people. Here, let's say, are touching lines about country house Plisetskaya and Shchedrin in Lithuania, where an amazing swan with a red head appeared on the lake. At first, Maya Mikhailovna decided that this bird was stained with paint or rust. It turned out that he was like that by nature. By the way, his photograph is the only color one in these memoirs. The rest are black and white. In general, birds have occupied a special place in the life of the prima. Her observations of bird habits, talentedly transferred by the ballerina to the stage, are interesting:
“Different birds - different characters, different... hands. The Syuyumbike bird, from the Tatar ballet “Shurale,” flies and flutters. In Odette there is departure, because the music floats away and the wing turns into a ripple of water. Odile is not a swan, so she does not have provocative swan hands. She is unnatural, she works like Odette, like a swan. Seagull, there is flight there, something that Chekhov does not have. It has 13 characters, and the seagull is the 14th character. That's why she asks to go to ballet. The seagull is another bird. There are flights different moods, just a magical lake.
She is flying. Then she can’t take off, her arms are broken, her soul is broken - everything. The second flight is completely different. The third one takes off, and it is unknown whether it will fly over this lake or not. I remember there were also birds. The Firebird has a completely different manner, she is in a hustle and bustle, afraid of being caught, so her movements are convulsive. All birds are different and have different habits. All birds different character, it’s always attracted me, it’s very theatrical, balletic, dramatic. Drama has always attracted me.”
Does Plisetskaya have any huge amount What is your favorite performance of her performances? She considers her best works to be those in which she managed to do something that no one had done before. And if they then began to dance this or that role the way she, Maya, first suggested, then this is a creative victory for her. Particularly noteworthy, in this regard, is the history of the play “Carmen” - in the vision and presentation of Plisetskaya herself:
“This role was very desirable all my life. I have always liked Spain. If there past life, then I had something there. I survived the ban on this performance. This was hard. Started real war. Suddenly some kind of courage was born in me, because giving up your art in the midst of opportunities is not easy. I then told the Ministry of Culture that I could give up everything. If “Carmen” is banned, forget about me altogether, I won’t be on stage anymore.
Everyone at the Ministry was shaking, and I was shaking. Even Furtseva, on whom everything depended then. Her own life did not depend on her, because as Voznesensky says: “Victors chained to prisoners.” They were focused on us. They couldn't do everything either. She was also afraid of everyone and everything, she had to prohibit it, because then she would have been removed. I said it's over.
I calmly said: “Carmen” will die when I die.” She didn’t know what to do, she understood that there was a scandal going on. Moreover, the scenery floated to Canada. I didn't go.
- You will go with Don Quixote.
- No, what will I say to the public who bought tickets for “Carmen”?
- Say that the performance is not ready.
“No, I won’t say that, I’ll tell the truth that we have no freedom”...
...Now the Carmenization of the world is taking place, because there is no place on the globe where the Carmen Suite or ballet is not performed. Each in their own way, in a different interpretation....What a victory!
In her first book, Maya Mikhailovna wrote: “What have I learned in my life, what philosophy? The simplest one. Simple - like a mug of water, like a breath of air. People are not divided into classes, races, government systems. People are divided into good and bad. The only way. The bloodthirsty revolutionaries, who frantically swore that only good people would finally replace the bad people, lied and lied. There have been more bad people in all centuries, many more. The good ones are always the exception, a gift from Heaven.”
Bright memory!
Maya Plisetskaya has long become a a true legend, and for her many years of activity she was awarded many awards, which she fully deserved with her painstaking work. She was able to fully realize her natural flexibility of body and inexhaustible talent in ballet, which is not given to every gifted girl. After all, without hard work and diligence in work, you won’t get far on pure talent alone! Biography of Maya Plisetskaya, personal life, photos - all this is presented to your attention in the article.
Plisetskaya's parents
A short biography of the ballerina Maya Plisetskaya contains information that she was born in the capital of the USSR on November 25, 1925. The parents of the future great ballerina - Rachel Messerer and Mikhail Plisetsky - could hardly have imagined that their daughter was destined for such a great future on stage. Moreover, both her mother, who was an actress and tried to instill in Maya a love of theater, and her father, who held high positions in the government, were far from this type of activity. Although the mother’s activities contributed greatly creative development little Maya.
Gradually becoming familiar with creativity and realizing its great aesthetic power influencing the broad masses of viewers, Maya was still early age I felt a strong craving for ballet dancing. And she carried it with her throughout her life, always remaining true to herself!
Moving to Spitsbergen and first steps on stage
In 1932, the Plisetsky family moved to Spitsbergen. Such sharp turn in their lives occurred due to the fact that for their father there appeared new position- he was first appointed director of Artikugol, and a little later he became consul of the USSR.
In Spitsbergen, young Maya, who was 11 years old at the time, performs her first role in the opera. She was supposed to play in the play “Rusalka”, which she did very well. This success strengthened Plisetskaya’s faith in her talent and gave her an incentive to improve her abilities in ballet art!
Everything came very easily to Maya on stage, perhaps this was facilitated by her a slim body and magnificent body plasticity. She perfectly caught the rhythm of the music and glided across the stage like a snowflake, trying to embody everything beautiful that ballet gives to its admirers.
Life tests
Real life trials had to go through young Maya in 1938. It was during this period that her father was arrested and sentenced to death. And the girl’s mother was urgently exiled to Kazakhstan. This state of affairs led to the fact that Maya Plisetskaya was adopted by her own aunt, Shulamith Messerer. Otherwise, the growing ballerina could end up in orphanage. But she was unlikely to be tempted by such a sad fate, which is why her aunt saved her from this fate.
But, even despite such shocks that could unsettle anyone, in 1943 Plisetskaya successfully graduated from the Moscow Choreographic School. In fact, here she received the foundation of knowledge that was very useful to her in ballet.
Plisetskaya's revelations
In one of her interviews, Maya Plisetskaya, whose biography and photo are presented to your attention in the article, admitted that she was sent to ballet when she was very young. She was only 8 years old at the time, but main reason This step was due to the fact that the girl’s character was somewhat hooligan. And in order to eliminate its negative manifestations in the future, they decided to introduce Maya to beauty already with early childhood.
Plisetskaya also said that she felt the rhythm of the music very well, and also intuitively understood what position was best to choose at a certain moment. These natural inclinations largely determined the development of her talent in the ballet field. Perhaps they were the determining factors in the choice future profession!
Maya Plisetskaya in cinema
In 1952, the biography of Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya was enriched by another event - the girl took part in filming for the first time. This happened during the preparation of the film “The Big Concert,” which was directed by Vera Stroeva. And this debut largely contributed to successful performances in other films with her participation, and there were many of them. You can recall such works as the films-ballets “Anna Karenina”, “The Tale of the Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Swan Lake”.
Maya Plisetskaya was also invited to the filmed ballets “The Seagull”, “Aseydora”, “Bolero”, “The Lady with the Dog”.
Maya masterfully played the role of Betsy in the 1968 film adaptation of the novel Anna Karenina. And the ballet star in the film “Fantasia” (filmed in 1976) was played so superbly by Plisetskaya that sometimes it seemed as if she played herself in this film.
Maya had a lot of different roles with texts in films. Béjart's ballet immediately comes to mind. The role of Desirev in the film “Tchaikovsky” was also interesting, which Plisetskaya did an excellent job with.
War years
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War forced Plisetskaya and her family to urgently evacuate to Sverdlovsk. Of course those difficult years could not but be reflected in the activities of the great ballerina. She had to devote significantly less time to her favorite activity, since attending ballet school in those years she simply could not. Because of this, Maya’s entire career as a ballerina hung in the balance.
But the situation was saved by Plisetskaya’s superbly played role in the play “The Dying Swan.” Then she performed all the “tricks” of the ballerina, standing with her back to the audience. This amazed the audience so much that after the performance was over, they loudly applauded the young ballerina for a long time! Actually this success helped Maya in post-war years resume your activities and work with renewed vigor in your favorite field, showing great enthusiasm in creativity.
We can safely say that the war was never able to break the will of Maya Plisetskaya and make her forget about ballet forever. On the contrary, small local creative success events that happened to her on stage during this period strengthened her faith in her own creative potential which had to be put into practice.
Creative credo
The main creative credo for Maya Plisetskaya was to convey to a wide audience all those wonderful moments that distinguish ballet. So that even the most sophisticated viewer, having seen a performance with her participation, can enjoy watching it and get real pleasure from it.
Therefore, in each of her performances, Plisetskaya tried to give her all. In this she was helped by her natural talent, as well as painstaking work, which Maya was never afraid of.
Famous sayings of Plisetskaya
To understand Maya Plisetskaya’s worldview, you should study her views on many things in life. In this regard, quotes from her statements can help quite well. They are not given here exactly, but the main ideas that Maya wanted to convey with them are conveyed in essence.
In one of her sayings, Plisetskaya complained that she never liked exhausting training and rehearsals. According to her, thanks to this she was able to prolong her stage activity, since the ballerina’s legs were not exhausted.
Never loved Maya and unnecessary words, but wanted to prove everything with concrete actions.
Plisetskaya believed that the most important thing in art is the moment that will touch the viewer’s soul. If it is not there, then the activities of a ballerina or actress are meaningless.
In Maya's worldview there was no division of people into races and peoples. She only believed that humanity was divided into good and evil people, and good personalities- this is a kind of gift from Heaven.
Thanks to her long-term observations, Maya made a clear conclusion that inactivity is detrimental to the human figure. If people constantly lie on the couch and do nothing, they will become lazy and lose good shape bodies.
Plisetskaya understood that there was no escape from the natural process of aging and the formation of wrinkles on the face. But she recommended that people fight old age until the last moment and delay this process as long as possible.
A short biography of Maya Plisetskaya, personal life, children, husband - all this has always interested her fans. It's time to talk about this too.
Maya Plisetskaya. Biography, personal life, children
Plisetskaya’s first marriage was unsuccessful, because she lived in marriage with Maris Liepa for only three months, after which the couple was forced to separate.
However, in 1958, Maya married for the second time. Her life partner was the composer Rodin Shchedrin. Thus, a kind of creative family duet was created. Moreover, Rodin was understanding and loving husband, who never in her life demanded Maya quit ballet. He understood perfectly well how great importance her favorite activity in life is.
As Maya herself admitted, Shchedrin was her main inspiration for creative achievements, he gave her moral strength for difficult ballet dances, and always supported her with a kind word.
Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin never had children, since the ballerina rejected the idea of offspring as such. Despite the fact that initially Rodion was not delighted with this decision of his wife, he was forced to take it for granted and come to terms with it. In fact, he never contradicted his wife and always tried to be a real male support for her in life.
Books about an outstanding ballerina
About these famous people, like Maya Plisetskaya, write books and make documentaries and art films. The outstanding ballerina of the USSR was no exception.
Among the most popular books, which enjoy great fame among readers, highlight literary works“I, Maya Plisetskaya”, as well as “Thirteen Years Later”.
The book “I, Maya Plisetskaya,” written by the ballerina herself in 1994, tells about her wide creative path and about everyone creative achievements. It also provides detailed explanations of why the worldwide fame of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia is gradually declining.
In her second book, “Thirteen Years Later,” Plisetskaya touches on the events that occurred between 1993 and 2006. In fact, this is a book with memoirs from a ballet legend. Maya sets out all the events in her work very clearly and interestingly for the reader. She decided to leave all her professional experience and knowledge for future generations in the form of these two books, which all fans of the artist should definitely read.
The role of Plisetskaya in the world history of ballet
The role of Maya Plisetskaya in the history of world ballet is very great, because she became one of the main figures in this field of activity in the twentieth century. Having realized her enormous creative potential, she showed how talented people lived in that era, and that even all the troubles of life are not able to prevent a person from eventually achieving the heights to which he strives.
The ballerina Maya Plisetskaya will be looked up to by more than one generation of modern ballerinas who also dream of such fame. Even during the artist’s lifetime, entire legends were formed about her, which became even more significant after her death, which fell on May 2, 2015. The ballet legend was already 90 years old at that moment. Plisetskaya lived an interesting and extraordinary life, about which there is something to tell and remember.
Biography and episodes of life Maya Plisetskaya. When born and died Maya Plisetskaya, memorable places and dates important events her life. Ballerina Quotes, Photo and video.
Years of life of Maya Plisetskaya:
born November 20, 1925, died May 2, 2015
Epitaph
"Harmony and beauty
Her divine movements
Will never happen again.
She is a unique genius!”
From a poem by Lyudmila Leader dedicated to the memory of Maya Plisetskaya
Biography
The unsurpassed prima donna of the Bolshoi Theater, ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, spent more than 60 years on stage. Original dance technique and natural grace allowed Maya Mikhailovna to achieve great success in the field theatrical arts. The ballerina is mainly famous as a performer of the roles of Anna Karenina, Carmen, and Juliet, but Plisetskaya’s actual track record is much broader. It is enough to note that in “Swan Lake” alone the ballerina danced more than 800 times.
The desire to become a ballerina haunted Maya Plisetskaya from early childhood. However, tragic reversals of fate, oddly enough, contributed to this. Before the outbreak of World War II, she actually lost her parents: her father was convicted and shot as a political criminal, her mother was exiled to a camp for the wives of traitors to the motherland in Kazakhstan. As a result, the girl remained in the care of her aunt Shulamith Messerer, a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, who later helped Maya take the first timid steps towards her dream.
After graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School, Plisetskaya easily joined the Bolshoi Theater troupe and very soon established herself there as a soloist. The next 50 years in the life of Maya Plisetskaya were inextricably linked with the most prestigious theater in the capital. However, foreign tours were not long in coming either. Moreover, foreign directors were seriously and persistently interested in Plisetskaya’s work. She was no longer invited to play roles - entire performances were staged around her.
After the collapse of the USSR, Maya Plisetskaya most spent time abroad. She worked as an artistic director in theaters in Rome and Madrid, acted as a choreographer and stage director, conducted master classes, and collaborated with luminaries of theatrical art in holding festivals and gala concerts. Creative image great ballerina recorded in the works contemporary artists and film directors. Plisetskaya is the author of three collections of memoirs. For her unprecedented contribution to the development of culture and art, the ballerina was awarded dozens of awards, prizes, titles and orders.
The unexpected death of Maya Plisetskaya occurred on May 2, 2015. The artist died in Germany, in Munich, where she lived with her husband Rodion Shchedrin most of the time. The cause of Plisetskaya's death was heart attack. Farewell to Plisetskaya took place in Germany in the circle of family and friends. According to the diva’s published will, after Shchedrin’s death, their ashes will be mixed together and scattered over Russia.
Life line
November 20, 1925 Date of birth of Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya.
1932 Moving to Spitsbergen due to a change in his father’s occupation.
1941 Evacuation to Sverdlovsk with Aunt Shulamith Messerer.
1943 Graduated from the Moscow Choreographic School and entered the Bolshoi Theater troupe.
1958 Marriage to composer Rodion Shchedrin.
1960 Confirmation of the status of prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater.
1983 Appointment to office artistic director Roman Opera.
1988 Appointment to the position of artistic director of the Spanish National Ballet.
1990 Dismissal from the Bolshoi Theater.
1994 Establishment of the annual ballet competition "Maya".
May 2, 2015 Date of death of Maya Plisetskaya.
Memorable places
1. Moscow Choreographic School, where Maya Plisetskaya studied.
2. Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, where Plisetskaya worked.
3. The city of Trakai in Lithuania, where Plisetskaya’s country house is located.
4. Rome Opera, where the ballerina worked.
5. Street portrait of Maya Plisetskaya (on the wall of house No. 16, building 2 on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street), created by Brazilian artists Eduardo Cobra and Agnaldo Brito.
6. Spitsbergen Archipelago in Norway, where Plisetskaya lived with her family in the 30s.
7. The city of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), where Plisetskaya lived in the 40s.
8. The city of Munich, where the artist lived since the 90s. and where she died.
9. Museum-workshop of Zurab Tsereteli in Moscow, where a monument to Plisetskaya is erected.
Episodes of life
Maya Plisetskaya was married to famous composer Rodion Shchedrin, but the couple had no children. In the early 2000s. the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper tried to refute this fact, publishing a sensational article “Hello, I am the daughter of Maya Plisetskaya.” However, the Moscow City Court refuted the false information: according to the court, Plisetskaya really had no heirs left.
When Plisetskaya became the leading soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, a split occurred in the troupe: the ballerina gradually entered into opposition to the main choreographer of the theater, and the artists, in turn, dispersed into “support groups.” So, under the unspoken auspices of confrontation, the work in the team took place until Maya was finally fired. True, the public did not approve of the dismissal of the legendary ballerina, and Maya did not have to “stand idle”: a lot of interesting offers awaited her abroad.
Covenant
“I never liked training or rehearsing. However, recently I began to think that this is what ultimately extended my stage career: I danced two or even three times longer than I should have. Maybe because my legs weren’t worn out.”
Legendary performances of Maya Plisetskaya
Condolences
“It’s hard to talk about it, I can’t wrap my head around it yet. Just the other day we met with Maya Mikhailovna in Moscow, discussed the celebration of her anniversary on November 20, and planned to hold a grand gala concert in her honor. Maya Mikhailovna was in perfect health, and there was no sign of trouble.”
Vladimir Urin, CEO Bolshoi Theater of Moscow
“Maya Plisetskaya is no longer with us. But the legendary Carmen, Odette-Odile, and Raymonda remained. Her Dance remains. Deep condolences to Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin and all Maya Mikhailovna’s loved ones.”
Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia
Maya Plisetskaya is an outstanding Soviet ballerina with a worldwide reputation, born on November 20, 1925, a native Muscovite.
Childhood
The girl was the first-born in the family of a Soviet manager and actress. When Maya was only six, and her younger brother Barely one year old, Mikhail Plisetsky was appointed to the position of head of the Arktikugol mining company and moved his family beyond the Arctic Circle to one of the islands of the Spitsbergen archipelago.
The family spent almost four years in the harsh northern climate. Then Plisetsky returns to Moscow again to the post of Consul General. She cost him his life. In 1937, when mass arrests began in the highest echelons of power, he was one of the first to be put behind bars. In January 1938 he was shot, although in Khrushchev's times his name was completely rehabilitated.
His wife Rachel was also injured. As a relative of a traitor to the motherland, she was also arrested, and then deported with her infant (Maya’s second brother, born in the tragic year 1937 for the family) to Akmolinsk (Kazakhstan), where she stayed until 1941. The camp for the wives of traitors greatly undermined Rachel’s health, and besides, she constantly thought about the fate of her older children remaining in Moscow.
But everything went well with them. Maya was adopted Native sister mother, Sulamir Messerer, famous ballerina and soloist of the Bolshoi Theater. And her little brother was taken in by Uncle Asaf, an outstanding choreographer. They introduced Maya to the world Bolshoi ballet. And this acquaintance began with children's performance"Little Red Riding Hood".
When Maya and her aunt returned home after the performance, the girl began to imagine herself as the heroes of a fairy tale and repeat the movements that she had seen on stage. Sulamir noticed the natural ease with which she was able to do this, and gave the baby her first lessons. Maya fell in love with ballet and often asked to attend other performances.
At the age of eight, she entered the ballet class of a choreographic school, not without the patronage of her famous aunt. There she very quickly became one of their best students. The girl was predicted to have a great future, but the outbreak of war almost destroyed it. The family was evacuated to Sverdlovsk, where there was no way to continue studying ballet.
Nevertheless, it was there that Maya’s first solo performance took place. The famous dance of the dying swan was choreographed by her aunt. It was she who first used the technique when a ballerina dances with her back to the audience. So nothing distracts the viewer from the graceful movements of the dancer’s hands. The audience gave the girl a standing ovation.
Career
Realizing that without regular classes under the guidance of professional teachers in a real ballet class, she would simply ruin her talent, which needed to be honed for several hours every day, a 16-year-old girl in war time decides to return to Moscow.
There she again returned to the graduating class of the ballet school, and in 1943 she graduated and was immediately assigned to the Bolshoi Theater troupe. Talented girl within a couple of years after starting work, she began to receive solo roles, and in 1948 she officially received the status of prima ballerina.
However, her stage path was not so cloudless. Ballet involves hours of daily exercise, which Maya never liked. While practicing the game, she gave it her all, but the monotonous movements at the machine made her feel bored. As well as the fact that she had to start with small parts, although she considered herself capable of dancing the main parts right away.
So, in the ballet Don Quixote, before going on stage in leading role Kitri, Maya played absolutely all the female parts. And in “Sleeping Beauty” she started with images of fairies. And only as she grew up, Maya realized that in essence there are no minor roles in ballet. Each artist, even the extras, creates the atmosphere of the performance, so you always have to give your all.
This is what made her a real star. She began to perfect every swing of her arms, every jump, and thus achieved the perfection that brought her world fame. During her dance, the applause practically did not stop. Spectators literally favored the young prima, and tickets for performances with her participation were impossible to get several weeks before the announced date.
Due to Plisetskaya’s independent character and lack of inclination to sycophancy, she developed a very difficult relationship with the main choreographer of the Bolshoi, Grigorovich. They were forced to work together, but over the years their mutual hostility only intensified. Grigorovich had a hand in ensuring that Plisetskaya was not taken on foreign tours.
It was he who attracted close attention to the daughter of the “enemy of the people” from the special services, who were already monitoring all the leading artists. In 1956, the ballerina was summoned several times for interrogation by the KGB, but they failed to convict her of anything serious. On suspicion of espionage activities, she was banned from traveling abroad, and instead of world tours, she was sent on tour to provincial theaters throughout the country.
World star
After Khrushchev's thaw and the rehabilitation of her father, Maya was finally officially cleared of all charges, and only then was the world able to enjoy the dance of the great ballerina. She began to actively tour and made the school famous throughout the world. Soviet ballet. The great performer was applauded best theaters Europe, and her dance style became the canon of ballet art.
Since 1972, she began staging performances on her own and in close collaboration with her second husband, composer Rodion Shchedrin. Naturally, she kept all the main parts for herself. This is how the classics “The Seagull”, “The Lady with the Dog” and “Anna Karenina” were born.
Plisetskaya made very high demands on the ballerinas dancing with her, repeating that the music must be felt with the whole body, and not just moved to it. Thanks to this, the performances she staged simply fascinated the viewer.
Since 1983, she has actively collaborated with the best European theaters: she stages performances in Rome and Madrid, while simultaneously presenting her productions there. And her famous “Dying Swan”, performed to voice accompaniment opera star Monserat Caballe, conquered all of Europe.
Maya Plisetskaya gave her last performance as the Bolshoi prima in 1990, dancing “The Lady with the Dog.” At that time, the great ballerina had already turned 65, nevertheless, her every movement was as precise and graceful as in her youth. The reason for leaving was not so much age as newly escalated contradictions with management.
Nevertheless, Plisetskaya continues to appear on stage and begins to actively engage in teaching: she conducts master classes and teaches ballet. She also celebrated her 70th birthday on stage, dancing the one-woman show “Ave Maya” created for her.
And since 1994 she has been the founder international competition for young ballet talents “Maya”. She is also active in social activities.
Several films have been made about the life and work of the great dancer. documentaries and many books have been written. It was only at an advanced age that she sat down to write her memoirs, from which it is clear that ballet became her whole life.
She is the owner of a huge number of prestigious Soviet and international awards and People's Artist USSR, doctor of the Sorbonne University and honorary citizen of Spain. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the great ballerina, a monument was erected in her name in a Moscow park.
Personal life
Naturally, the girl, who had many admirers from a young age, was in romantic relationships more than once. But, completely immersed in the world of ballet, it was there that she chose men. Among her partners were famous and not so famous dancers. But these romances did not last long. Even Plisetskaya’s first marriage to Bolshoi soloist Maris Liepa lasted only three months.
With Maris Liepa
This continued until the ballerina met her real fate in the person of the then aspiring composer Rodion Shchedrin. They met at a house party at Lily Brik's and at first weren't too impressed with each other. Maya was 8 years older than the young man and behaved slightly arrogantly, as befitted her star status.
But, as they got to know each other better, they realized that they were both in love with ballet, and this united them. This rapprochement took three long years. And only in 1958 they decided to spend a vacation together. Soon after returning from Karelia, they decided to get married, which changed the whole fate of the great ballerina.
With Rodion Shchedrin