Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina. Biography

Maya Plisetskaya — early years

Maya Plisetskaya was born in Moscow on November 20, 1925. The creative atmosphere has surrounded the girl since childhood. Her father, Mikhail Plisetsky, worked at the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, her mother, Rachel Messerer, starred in silent films, and her aunt and uncle, Sulamith and Assaf Messerer, were famous ballet dancers.

At the age of five, the future actress first entered the theater for the play "Love is not a joke." The image of the "woman in a black dress" from the production made such a strong impression on her that for the next week the girl played out the plot according to the roles. In her autobiography, "I, Maya Plisetskaya," the ballerina recalled that by the end of the week, "the family's patience had run out," and her father slapped her.

"The next morning, at breakfast, I was sullenly silent. My father was worried. "Maya, are you angry? I'm sorry, I was joking. I love you." "Love is not a joke," I replied theatrically in the pose of a "black woman," Plisetskaya wrote.

In 1932, Maya's father became the Consul General of the USSR in Svalbard, and the family moved to Barentsburg. There the girl appeared on stage for the first time. She played a small role in the opera Rusalka by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. Although the little artist had only one remark, after that she firmly decided to connect her life with ballet.

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In 1934, the family returned to Moscow for a short time, and Plisetskaya persuaded her parents to send her to a choreographic school. The young artist got into the class of Evgenia Dolinskaya, a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater.

However, soon the peaceful life of the Plisetsky family was destroyed. In May 1937, the artist's father was arrested, and seven months later he was shot. In March of the following year, a pregnant mother was also sent to the camp. Seven-year-old Maya, as the daughter of "enemies of the people," could have ended up in an orphanage, but Aunt Sulamith, who adopted her niece, saved her. At the end of 1939, Plisetskaya was allowed to visit her mother in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Shymkent). To earn a living, she taught dancing to the locals. Shortly before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the woman was released.

Maya Plisetskaya at the Bolshoi Theatre

In 1941, the Plisetskys were evacuated to Sverdlovsk. Maya found herself separated from her mentors and comrades from the choreographic school — they all went to other cities. But soon an aunt came to her niece with the idea of staging Swan Lake, in which Plisetskaya performed the legendary role of the dying swan for the first time.

At the end of 1942, the young ballerina returned to Moscow. She passed the final exam brilliantly, and she was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater troupe. However, Plisetskaya did not receive the main roles — the leadership was afraid of accusations of favoritism and was in no hurry to promote the niece of the famous Messerers.

The ballet Chopiniana became a turning point for the artist. Plisetskaya learned the jumping mazurka in just two rehearsals and performed it with incredible skill.

"I deliberately tried to stay in the air for a moment at the peak of each jump, which aroused the audience's enthusiasm. Each jump was accompanied by a crescendo of applause. <...> For the next Chopiniana, some of the ballet lovers were already going "to Plisetskaya," she recalled.

Soon, the ballerina began to be trusted with solo parts. In 1945, she played the role of a fairy in Prokofiev's Cinderella, then the main role in Glazunov's Raymond. In 1947, she danced Odette-Odile for the first time in "Swan Lake" — her version of this role is still considered a reference. Subsequently, the actress also appeared on stage in the form of Zarema from "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai", the Tsar Maiden from "The Hunchback Horse" and other famous heroines.

Despite her success, Plisetskaya had not received a salary increase for many years. In 1953, she was included in a delegation of Bolshoi Theater artists who traveled to India. The ballerina communicated with foreigners, including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But after returning, she suddenly became "not allowed to travel" — she was not taken on tour to Switzerland, France and other countries. It later became clear that the KGB was considering her case on charges of espionage in favor of Great Britain.

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In 1958, Plisetskaya staged her first performance in Moscow as a choreographer, Swan Lake. KGB Chairman Ivan Serov attended the premiere, and Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, attended the next performance.

"The performance... even stirred up Khrushchev. Nikita Sergeyevich blushed, smiled, did not leave the box, sent greetings to the stage," the ballerina recalled.

Soon after, Khrushchev personally allowed the actress to tour abroad, and Plisetskaya instantly became a global ballet star. In 1960, Maya Plisetskaya became the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet and remained there for three decades.

Plisetskaya's career peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. She was constantly looking for new images and was not afraid to experiment. Ballets that have gone down in art history were created especially for her, in particular the Carmen Suite, a daring production set to music by Georges Bizet and arranged by Rodion Shchedrin.

Plisetskaya continued to try herself as a choreographer. She participated in productions of Anna Karenina (1972), The Seagulls (1980), and Ladies with a Dog (1985). At the same time, the ballerina herself admitted that she "never wanted to become a choreographer."

In 1983, Plisetskaya became the artistic director of the Ballet of the Roman Opera, where she staged "Raymonda". From 1988 to 1990, she led the troupe of the Spanish Teatro Lirico Nacional de la Zarzuela, introducing "Carmen Suite" and "Futile Precaution" into the repertoire.

The Years of Maya Plisetskaya's Wanderings

In 1990, Plisetskaya left the Bolshoi Theatre due to disagreements with the artistic director, but continued her career. She has toured almost the whole world with concerts: Europe, the USA, Japan and other countries. In her memoirs, the ballerina called this period "the years of wandering."

In 1995, she was elected honorary president of the Imperial Russian Ballet Company. On the day of her 70th birthday, Plisetskaya appeared on stage in the mini-play "Ave Maya", created especially for her by Maurice Bejar.

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The ballerina often returned to Russia. She continued to appear on stage even at an advanced age, performing old acts and participating in new productions.

Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin

Plisetskaya's first husband was ballet dancer Maris Liepa. He was 11 years younger than the ballerina. However, the union turned out to be short—lived - the couple broke up just a few months after the wedding.

Composer Rodion Shchedrin became Plisetskaya's second husband and main life partner. They met in 1955 at an evening at Lily Brick's, but it wasn't until three years later that they became intimate. After the premiere of Spartak at the Bolshoi Theater, Shchedrin came to Plisetskaya's rehearsals several times, and then invited her for a walk around Moscow. From that moment on, the lovers were inseparable.

They got married in October 1958 and lived together for 57 years, creating a unique creative union. The composer dedicated many of his works to his wife. Together they worked on the ballets Anna Karenina, The Seagull, The Lady with the Dog and Carmen Suite.

Plisetskaya died in 2015. Shchedrin outlived his wife by 10 years and left in 2025.

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