Ballerina, born in Moscow, Russia. The niece of Asaf Messerer, she trained at the Bolshoi School, and was made a principal immediately on joining the company in 1943. Celebrated for her classical roles, she came to represent the epitome of the Bolshoi style. Best known for the role Alberto Alonso created for her in Carmen Suite (1967), she also danced in Roland Petit's company in La Rose malade (1973), and in Maurice Béjart's company in 1979. In 2005, her 80th birthday was celebrated with a gala at the Kremlin Place in Moscow.
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (Russian: Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; born November 20, 1925) is a Russian ballet dancer, frequently cited as the greatest ballerina of modern times.
Early life
Maya Plisetskaya was born in Moscow into a prominent family of Jewish artists. Thereupon Maya was adopted by her maternal aunt, the ballerina Sulamith Messerer.
Maya studied under the great ballerina of imperial school, Elizaveta Gerdt.
Career
From the beginning, Maya was a different kind of ballerina. Unlike many ballerinas, she did not spend any time in the corps de ballet. her interpretation of The Dying Swan, a short showcase piece made famous by Anna Pavlova, became Maya's calling card. Maya was known for the height of her jumps, her extremely flexible back, the technical strength of her dancing, and her charisma.
Despite her acclaim, Maya was not treated well by the Bolshoi management. It wasn't until 1959 that the world got to see Maya Plisetskaya, and she changed the world of ballet forever. Maya Plisetskaya set the bar higher for ballerinas everywhere, both in terms of technical brilliance and dramatic presence.
Maya's most acclaimed roles included Odette-Odilia in Swan Lake (1947) and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty (1961).
After Galina Ulanova left the stage in 1960, Maya Plisetskaya was proclaimed the prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi Theatre.
In the 1980s, Plisetskaya and Shchedrin spent much time abroad, where she worked as the artistic director of the Rome Opera Ballet and the Spanish National Ballet of Madrid. On her 70th birthday, she debuted in Bejart's number choreographed for her and entitled "Ave Maya".
On the date of her 80th birthday, the Financial Times summed up current opinion about Maya in the following words: "She was, and still is, a star, ballet's monstre sacre, the final statement about theatrical glamour, a flaring, flaming beacon in a world of dimly twinkling talents, a beauty in the world of prettiness" .
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