Maya Plisetskaya

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; thepatronymic is Mikhaylovna and the family name isPlisetskaya.

Maya Mikhaylovna Plisetskaya (Russian: - ; 20 November 1925 2 May2015) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer, choreographer,ballet director, and actress, who held Spanish and Lithua-nian citizenship.[1] She danced during the Soviet era atthe same time as Galina Ulanova, another famed Russianballerina. In 1960 she ascended to Ulanovas former titleas prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi.Plisetskaya studied ballet from age nine and rst per-formed at the Bolshoi Theatre when she was eleven. Shejoined the Bolshoi Ballet company when she was eigh-teen, quickly rising to become their leading soloist. Herearly years were also marked by political repression, how-ever, partly because her family was Jewish.[2] She was notallowed to tour outside the country for sixteen years af-ter joining the Bolshoi. During those years, her fameas a national ballerina was used to project the SovietUnions achievements during the Cold War. PremierNikita Khrushchev, who lifted her travel ban in 1959,considered her not only the best ballerina in the SovietUnion, but the best in the world.[3]

As a member of the Bolshoi until 1990, her skill as adancer changed the world of ballet, setting a higher stan-dard for ballerinas both in terms of technical brillianceand dramatic presence. As a soloist, Plisetskaya created anumber of leading roles, including Moiseyevs Spartacus(1958); Grigorovichs The Stone Flower (1959); Aurorain Grigorovichs The Sleeping Beauty (1963); AlbertoAlonsos Carmen Suite (1967), written especially for her;and Maurice Bejarts Isadora (1976). Among her mostacclaimed roles was Odette-Odile in Swan Lake (1947).A fellow dancer stated that her dramatic portrayal of Car-men, reportedly her favorite role, helped conrm her as alegend, and the ballet soon took its place as a landmark inthe Bolshoi repertoire. Her husband, composer RodionShchedrin, wrote the scores to a number of her ballets.Having become an international superstar and a contin-uous box oce hit throughout the world, Plisetskayawas treated by the Soviet Union as a favored culturalemissary. Although she toured extensively during thesame years that other dancers defected, including RudolfNureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov,Plisetskaya always refused to defect. Beginning in 1994,she presided over the annual international ballet competi-

tions, calledMaya, and in 1996 she was named Presidentof the Imperial Russian Ballet.Plisetskaya was a naturalized citizen of Lithuania[4] andSpain.[5]

1 Early life

Maya Plisetskaya was born on 20 November 1925, inMoscow,[6] into a prominent family of Lithuanian Jew-ish descent,[7] most of whom were involved in the theateror lm. Her mother, Rachel Messerer-Plisetskaya, was asilent-lm actress. Dancer Asaf Messerer was a maternaluncle and Bolshoi ballerina Sulamith Messerer was a ma-ternal aunt. Her father, Mikhail Plisetski (Misha), was adiplomat, engineer and mine director, and not involvedin the arts, although he was a fan of ballet.[8] Her brotherAlexander Plisetski became a famous choreographer, andher niece Anna Plisetskaya would also become a famousballerina.In 1938, her father was arrested and later executed dur-ing the Stalinist purges, during which tens of thousandsof people were murdered.[2] According to ballet scholarJennifer Homans, her father was a committed Commu-nist, and had earlier been proclaimed a national hero forhis work on behalf of the Soviet coal industry.[9] So-viet leader Vyacheslav Molotov presented him with oneof the Soviet Unions rst manufactured cars. Her motherwas arrested soon after and sent to a labor camp (Gulag)in Kazakhstan for the next three years.[10][11] Maya andher seven-month-old baby brother were taken in by theirmaternal aunt, ballerina Sulamith Messerer, until theirmother was released in 1941.[12]

During the years without her parents, and barely ateenager, Plisetskaya faced terror, war, and dislocation,writes Homans. As a result, Maya took refuge in bal-let and the Bolshoi Theater.[9] She went to school inSpitzbergen, and next studied under the great ballerina ofimperial school, Elizaveta Gerdt. She rst performed atthe Bolshoi Theatre when she was eleven. In 1943, at theage of eighteen, Plisetskaya graduated from the choreo-graphic school. She joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where sheperformed until 1990.[12]

2 Career

1

2 2 CAREER

2.1 Performing in the Soviet UnionFrom the beginning, Plisetskaya was a dierent kind ofballerina. She spent a very short time in the corps de bal-let after graduation and was quickly named a soloist. Herbright red hair and striking looks made her a glamorousgure on and o the stage. She was a remarkably uiddancer but also a very powerful one, according to TheOxford Dictionary of Dance.[13] The robust theatricalityand passion she brought to her roles made her an idealSoviet ballerina. Her interpretation of The Dying Swan,a short showcase piece made famous by Anna Pavlova,became her calling card. Plisetskaya was known for theheight of her jumps, her extremely exible back, the tech-nical strength of her dancing, and her charisma. She ex-celled both in adagio and allegro, which is very unusualin dancers.[13]

Plisetskaya performing in Carmen (1974)

Despite her acclaim, Plisetskaya was not treated well bythe Bolshoi management. She was Jewish at a time ofSoviet anti-Zionist campaigns combined with other op-pression of suspected dissidents.[7] Her family had beenpurged during the Stalinist era and she had a deant per-sonality. As a result, Plisetskaya was not allowed to touroutside the country for sixteen years after she had becomea member of the Bolshoi.[10]

The Soviet Unions used the artistry of such dancers asPlisetskaya to project its achievements during the ColdWar period with United States. Historian ChristinaEzrahi notes, In a quest for cultural legitimacy, the So-viet ballet was shown o to foreign leaders and nations.Plisetskaya recalls that foreigners were all taken to theballet. And almost always, Swan Lake ... Khrushchev

was always with the high guests in the loge, includingMao Zedong and Stalin.[2][14]

Ezrahi writes, the intrinsic paranoia of the Soviet regimemade it ban Plisetskaya, one of the most celebrateddancers, from the Bolshoi Ballets rst major interna-tional tour, as she was considered politically suspectand was non-exportable.[9] In 1948 the Zhdanov Doc-trine took eect, and with her family history, and be-ing Jewish, she became a natural target . . . pub-licly humiliated and excoriated for not attending politi-cal meetings.[9] As a result, dancing roles were continu-ally denied her and for sixteen years she could tour onlywithin the Soviet bloc. She became a provincial artist,consigned to grimy, unrewarding bus tours, exclusivelyfor local consumption, writes Homans.[9]

In 1958 Plisetskaya received the title of the PeoplesArtist of the USSR. That same year she married theyoung composer Rodion Shchedrin, whose subsequentfame she shared. Wanting to dance internationally, sherebelled and deed Soviet expectations. On one occa-sion, to gain the attention and respect from some of thecountrys leaders, she gave one of the most powerful per-formances of her career, in Swan Lake, for her 1956 con-cert in Moscow. Homans describes that extraordinaryperformance:"

We can feel the steely contempt and de-ance taking hold of her dancing. When thecurtain came down on the rst act, the crowdexploded. KGB toughs mued the audiencesapplauding hands and dragged people out ofthe theater kicking, screaming, and scratching.By the end of the evening the government thugshad retreated, unable (or unwilling) to containthe public enthusiasm. Plisetskaya had won.[9]

2.2 International tours

Plisetskaya was not only the best ballerina in the SovietUnion, but the best in the world.Nikita Khrushchev[3]

Soviet leader Khrushchev was still concerned, writes his-torian David Caute, that her defection would have beenuseful for theWest as anti-Soviet propaganda. She wrotehim a long and forthright expression of her patriotismand her indignation that it should be doubted.[3] Subse-quently the travel ban was lifted in 1959 on Khrushchevspersonal intercession, as it became clear to him that strik-ing Plisetskaya from the Bolshois participants could haveserious consequences for the tours success.[14] In hismemoirs, Khrushchev writes that Plisetskaya was notonly the best ballerina in the Soviet Union, but the best inthe world.[3][15]

Able to travel the world as a member of the Bolshoi,

2.3 Style 3

in Swan Lake with the Bolshoi Ballet, 1966

Plisetskaya changed the world of ballet by her skills andtechnique, setting a higher standard for ballerinas bothin terms of technical brilliance and dramatic presence.Having allowed her to tour in New York, Kruschev wasimmensely satised upon reading the reviews of her per-formances. He embraced her upon her return: Goodgirl, coming back. Not making me look like a fool. Youdidnt let me down.[9]

Within a few years, Plisetskaya was recognized as aninternational superstar and a continuous box oce hitthroughout the world.[9] The Soviet Union treated heras a favored cultural emissary, as the dancer who didnot defect.[9] Although she toured extensively during thesame years that other dancers defected, including RudolfNureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov,Plisetskaya always returned to Russia, wrote historianTim Scholl.[12]:xiii

Plisetskaya explains that for her generation, and her fam-ily in particular, defecting was a moral issue: He whoruns to the enemys side is a traitor. She had once askedher mother why their family didn't leave the Soviet Unionwhen they had the chance, at the time living in Norway.Her mother said that her father would have abandonedme with the children instantly for even asking. Mishawould never have been a traitor.[12]:239

In Romeo and Juliet, 1961

2.3 StyleAlthough she lacked the rst-rate training and coaching ofher contemporaries, Plisetskaya compensated by de-veloping an individual, iconoclastic style that capitalizedon her electrifying stage presence, writes historian TimScholl, adding that it amounted to a daring rarely seenon ballet stages today, and a jump of almost masculinepower.[12]

Her very personal style was angular, dra-matic, and theatrical, exploiting the gifts thateveryone in her mothers family seemed to pos-sess.... Those who saw Plisetskayas rst per-formances in the West still speak of her abilityto wrap the theater in her gaze, to convey pow-erful emotions in terse gestures.[12]:xii

Critic and dance historian Vadim Gaevsky said of her in-uence on ballet that she began by creating her own styleand ended up creating her own theater.[16] Among hermost notable performances was a 1975 free-form dance,in a modern style, set to Ravels Bolro. In it, she dancesa solo piece on an elevated round stage, surrounded andaccompanied by 40 male dancers. One reviewer wrote,Words cannot compare to the majesty and raw beauty ofPlisetskayas performance:[17]

What makes the piece so compelling is thatalthough Plisetskaya may be accompanied bydozens of other dancers mirroring her move-ment, the rst and only focus is on the primaballerina herself. Her continual rocking and

4 2 CAREER

swaying at certain points, rhythmically timed tothe syncopation of the orchestra, create a mes-merizing eect that demonstrated an absolutecontrol over every nuance of her body, fromthe smallest toe to her ngertips, to the top ofher head.[17]

2.4 Performances

She burst like a ame on the American scene in 1959.Instantly she became a darling to the public and a miracleto the critics. She was compared to Maria Callas, ThedaBara and Greta Garbo.Sarah Montague[18]

She created a number of leading roles, including onesin Lavrovskys Stone Flower (1954), Moiseyevs Sparta-cus (1958), Grigorovichs Moscow version of The StoneFlower (1959), Aurora in Grigorovichs staging TheSleeping Beauty (1963), Grigorovichs Moscow versionof The Legend of Love (1965), the title role in AlbertoAlonsos Carmen Suite (1967), Petits La Rose malade(Paris, 1973), Bejarts Isadora (Monte Carlo, 1976) andhis Moscow staging of Leda (1979), GranerosMaria Es-tuardo (Madrid, 1988), and Lopezs El Renedero (BuenosAires, 1990).[13]

Performing in Don Quixote in 1974

After performing in Spartacus during her 1959 U.S. de-but tour, Lifemagazine, in its issue featuring the Bolshoi,rated her second only to Galina Ulanova.[19] Spartacus be-came a signicant ballet for the Bolshoi, with one criticdescribing their rage to perform, personied by Pliset-

skaya as ballerina, that dened the Bolshoi.[9] Duringher travels she also appeared as guest artist with the ParisOpera Ballet, Ballet National de Marseilles, and Ballet ofthe 20th Century in Brussels.[13]

By 1962, following Ulanovas retirement, Plisetskaya em-barked on another three-month world tour. As a per-former, notes Homans, she excelled in the hard-edged,technically demanding roles that Ulanova eschewed, in-cluding Raymonda, the black swan in Swan Lake, andKitri in Don Quixote."[9] In her performances, Pliset-skaya was unpretentious, refreshing, direct. She did nothold back.[9] Ulanova added that Plisetskayas artistictemperament, bubbling optimism of youth reveal them-selves in this ballet with full force.[18] World-famousimpresario Sol Hurok said that Plisetskaya was the onlyballerina after Pavlova who gave him a shock of electric-ity when she came on stage.[18] Rudolf Nureyev watchedher debut as Kitri inDon Quixote and told her afterwards,I sobbed from happiness. You set the stage on re.[2][20]

At the conclusion of one performance at theMetropolitanOpera, she received a half-hour ovation. ChoreographerJerome Robbins, who had just nished the Broadwayplay,West Side Story, told her that he wanted to create aballet especially for her.[3]

Plisetskayas most acclaimed roles included Odette-Odilein Swan Lake (1947) and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty(1961). Her dancing partner in Swan Lake states thatfor twenty years, he and Plisetskaya shared the worldstage with that ballet, with her performance consis-tently producing the most powerful impression on theaudience.[21]

Equally notable were her ballets as The Dying Swan.Critic Walter Terry described one performance: Whatshe did was to discard her own identity as a ballerina andeven as a human and to assume the characteristics of amagical creature. The audience became hysterical, andshe had to perform an encore.[18]

Novelist Truman Capote remembered a similar perfor-mance inMoscow, seeing grownmen crying in the aislesand worshiping girls holding crumpled bouquets for her.He saw her as a white spectre leaping in smooth rainbowarcs, with a royal head. She said of her style that thesecret of the ballerina is to make the audience say, 'Yes,I believe.'"[18]

In 1967, she performed as Carmen in the Carmen Suite,choreographed specically for her by Cuban choreog-rapher Alberto Alonso. The music was re-scored fromBizets original by her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, andits themes were re-worked into a modernist and almostabstract narrative.[22] Dancer Olympia Dowd, who per-formed alongside her, writes that Plisetskayas dramaticportrayal of Carmen, her favorite role, made her a leg-end, and soon became a landmark in the Bolshoisrepertoire.[23] Her Carmen, however, at rst rattled theSoviet establishment, which was shaken with her Latinsensuality.[24] She was aware that her dance style was

2.6 Death 5

radical and new, saying that every gesture, every look,every movement had meaning, was dierent from allother ballets... The Soviet Union was not ready for thissort of choreography. It was war, they accused me of be-traying classical dance.[25]

Some critics outside of Russia saw her departure fromclassical styles as necessary to the Bolshois success in theWest. New York Times critic Anna Kisselgo observed,Without her presence, their poverty of movement inven-tion would make them untenable in performance. It is atragedy of Soviet ballet that a dancer of her singular ge-nius was never extended creatively.[16] A Russian newscommentator wrote, she was never afraid to bring ardorand vehemence onto the stage, contributing to her be-coming a true queen of the Bolshoi.[24]

2.5 Acting and choreography

After Galina Ulanova left the stage in 1960, Maya Pliset-skaya was proclaimed the prima ballerina assoluta of theBolshoi Theatre. In 1971, her husband Shchedrin wrotea ballet on the same subject, where she would play theleading role. Anna Karenina was also her rst attemptat choreography.[26] Other choreographers who createdballets for her include Yury Grigorovich, Roland Petit,Alberto Alonso, and Maurice Bjart with Isadora. Shecreated The Seagull and Lady with a Lapdog. She starredin the 1961 lm, The Humpbacked Horse, and appearedas a straight actress in several lms, including the Sovietversion of Anna Karenina (1968). Her own ballet of thesame name was lmed in 1974.

Plisetskaya with her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, in 2009

While on tour in the United States in 1987, Plisetskayagave master classes at the David Howard Dance Center.A review in New York magazine noted that although shewas 61 when giving the classes, she displayed the supple-ness and power of a performer in her physical prime.[27]In October that year she performed with Rudolf NureyevandMikhail Baryshnikov for the opening night of the sea-

son with the Martha Graham Dance Company in NewYork.[28]

Plisetskayas husband, composer Rodion Shchedrin,wrote the score to a number of her ballets, includingAnna Karenina, The Sea Gull, Carmen, and Lady witha Small Dog. In the 1980s, he was considered the succes-sor to Shostakovich, and became the Soviet Unions lead-ing composer.[29] Plisetskaya and Shchedrin spent timeabroad, where she worked as the artistic director of theRome Opera Ballet in 198485, then the Spanish Na-tional Ballet of Madrid from 198789. She retired as asoloist for the Bolshoi at age 65, and on her 70th birthday,she debuted in Maurice Bjart's piece choreographed forher, Ave Maya. Since 1994, she has presided overthe annual international ballet competitions, calledMaya.And in 1996 she was named President of the ImperialRussian Ballet.[30]

She was ballet director of the Rome Opera (198384),and artistic director of Ballet del Teatro Lirico Nacionalin Madrid (198790). She was awarded the Prince ofAsturias Award for the Arts in 2005 with the balle-rina Tamara Rojo also. She was awarded the SpanishGold Medal of Fine Art. In 1996 she danced the Dy-ing Swan, her signature role, at a gala in her honor in St.Petersburg.[13]

On her 80th birthday, the Financial Times wrote:

She was, and still is, a star, ballets mon-stre sacre, the nal statement about theatricalglamour, a aring, aming beacon in a world ofdimly twinkling talents, a beauty in the worldof prettiness.[31]

In 2006, Emperor Akihito of Japan presented her withthe Praemium Imperiale, informally considered a NobelPrize for Art.

2.6 DeathPlisetskaya died in Munich, Germany, on 2 May 2015from a heart attack, despite high medical care.[16][32] Shewas interred in Russia, according to General Director ofthe Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin [33] and is survived byher husband, and a brother, former dancer Azari Pliset-sky, a teacher of choreography at the Bejart Ballet inLausanne, Switzerland.[16]

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his deep andsincere condolences to the family, friends and all fansof the great Russian ballerina, and Russian Prime Min-ister Dmitry Medvedev said that a whole era of bal-let was gone with Plisetskaya.[33] Belarusian PresidentAlexander Lukashenko extended condolences to her fam-ily and friends:

The passing of great Maya Mikhailovna[Plisetskaya] whose creative work embodied

6 3 PERSONAL LIFE

the whole cultural era is an irretrievable lossfor Russian and world art. Her brilliant chore-ography and wonderful grace, fantastic powerof dramatic identication and outstandingmas-tery dazzled the audience. Thanks to her self-less service to art and commitment to the stage,she was respected all over the world.[34]

3 Personal life

3.1 Career friendships

Plisetskayas tour manager, Maxim Gershuno, who alsohelped promote the Soviet/American Cultural ExchangeProgram, describes her as not only a great artist, but alsovery realistic and earthy ... with a very open and honestoutlook on life.[35]

During Plisetskayas tours abroad she became friendswith a number of other theater and music artists, includ-ing composer and pianist Leonard Bernstein, with whomshe remained friends until his death. Pianist ArthurRubenstein, also a friend, was able to converse with her inRussian. She visited him after his concert performancein Russia.[12]:202 Novelist John Steinbeck, while at theirhome inMoscow, listened to her stories of the hardship ofbecoming a ballerina, and told her that the backstage sideof ballet could make for a most interesting novel.[12]:203

In 1962, the Bolshoi was invited to perform at the WhiteHouse by president John F. Kennedy, and Plisetskaya re-called that rst lady Jacqueline Kennedy greeted her bysaying Youre just like Anna Karenina.[12]:222

While in France in 1965, Plisetskaya was invited to thehome of Russian artist Marc Chagall and his wife. Cha-gall had moved to France to study art in 1910. He askedher if she wouldn't mind creating some ballet poses tohelp him with his current project, a mural for the newMetropolitan Opera House in New York, which wouldshow various images representing the arts. She dancedand posed in various positions as he sketched, and herimages were used on the mural, at the top left corner, acolorful ock of ballerinas.[12]:250

Plisetskaya also made friends with a number of celebritiesand notable politicians who greatly admired and followedher work. She met Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, thenliving in the U.S., after a performance of Anna Karen-ina, Bergman told her that both their photographs, takenby noted photographer Richard Avedon, appeared on thesame page in Vogue magazine. Bergman suggested sheee Communism, recalls Plisetskaya, telling her I willhelp you.[12]:222

Actress Shirley MacLaine once held a party for her andthe other members of the Bolshoi. She remembered see-ing her perform in Argentina when Plisetskaya was sixty-ve, and writes how humiliating it was that Plisetskaya

had to dance on a vaudeville stage in South America tomake ends meet.[36] Dancer Daniel Nagrin noted thatshe was a dancer who went on to perform to the joy ofaudiences everywhere while simultaneously defying themyth of early retirement.[37]

MacLaines brother, actor Warren Beatty is said to havebeen inspired by their friendship, which led him to writeand produce his 1981 lm Reds, about the Russian Rev-olution. He directed the lm and costarred with DianeKeaton. He rst met Plisetskaya at a reception in BeverlyHills, and, notes Beattys biographer Peter Biskind, hewas smitten by her classic dancers beauty.[38]

Plisetskaya became friends with lm star Natalie Woodand her sister, actress Lana Wood. Wood, whose parentsimmigrated from Russia, greatly admired Plisetskaya,and once had an expensive custom wig made for her touse in the Spartacus ballet. They enjoyed socializing to-gether on Woods yacht.[35]

3.2 Friendship with Robert F. KennedyU.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the youngerbrother to president John F. Kennedy, befriended Pliset-skaya, with whom he coincidentally shared exactly thesame birth date (20 November 1925). She was invitedto gatherings with Kennedy and his family at their estateon Cape Cod in 1962. They later named their sailboatMaya, in her honor.[35]

As the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended a few weeks ear-lier, at the end of October, 1962, U.S. and Soviet rela-tions were at a low point. Diplomats of both countriesconsidered her friendship with Kennedy to be a great ben-et to warmer relations, after weeks of worrisome mili-tary confrontation. Years later, when they met in 1968,he was then campaigning for the presidency, and diplo-mats again suggested that their friendship would continueto help relations between the two countries. Plisetskayasummarizes Soviet thoughts on the matter:

Maya Plisetskaya should bring the candi-date presents worthy of the great moment.Stun the future president with Russian gen-erosity to continue and deepen contacts andfriendship.[12]:265

Of their friendship, Plisetskaya writes in her autobiogra-phy:

WithmeRobert Kennedywas romantic, el-evated, noble, and completely pure. No seduc-tions, no passes.[12]:265

Robert Kennedy was assassinated just days before hewas to see Plisetskaya again in New York. Gershuno,Plisetskayas manager at the time, recalls that on the dayof the funeral, most of the theaters and concert halls in

4.2 Soviet Union 7

New York City went dark, closed in mourning and re-spect. The Bolshoi likewise planned to cancel their per-formance, but they decided instead to do a dierent balletthan planned, one dedicated to Kennedy. Gershuno de-scribes that evening:

The most appropriate way to open suchan evening would be for the great Plisetskayato perform The Dying Swan, which normallywould close an evenings program to thunder-ous applause with stamping feet, and clamorsfor an encore. . . . This assignment cre-ated an emotional burden for Maya. She re-ally did not want to dance that work that night.. . I thought it was best for me to remainbackstage in the wings. That turned out tobe one of the most poignant moments I haveever experienced. Replacing the usual thun-derous audience applause at the conclusion,there was complete silence betokening the feel-ings of a mourning nation in the packed, cav-ernousMetropolitanOperaHouse. Maya cameo the stage in tears, looked at me, raised herbeautiful arms and looked upward. Then dis-appeared into her dressing room.[35]

4 Awards and honors

Plisetskaya receives a governmental award from President ofRussia Vladimir Putin on 20 November 2000.

Plisetskaya was honored on numerous occasions for herskills:[30]

4.1 Russia

Order of Merit for the Fatherland

1st class (20 November 2005) for outstand-ing contribution to the development of domes-tic and international choreographic art, manyyears of creative activity

2nd class (18 November 2000) for outstand-ing contribution to the development of chore-ographic art

3rd class (21 November 1995) for outstand-ing contributions to national culture and a sig-nicant contribution to contemporary choreo-graphic art

4th class (9 November 2010) for outstandingcontribution to the development of nationalculture and choreography, many years of cre-ative activity

Made an honorary professor at Moscow State Uni-versity in 1993[39]

4.2 Soviet Union Hero of Socialist Labour (1985) Three Orders of Lenin (1967, 1976, 1985) Lenin Prize (1964) Peoples Artist of USSR (1959) Peoples Artist of RSFSR (1956) Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1951)

4.3 Other decorations Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters(France, 1984)[39]

Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic(Spain)

Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian GrandDuke Gediminas

Great Commanders Cross of the Order for Meritsto Lithuania (2003)

Gold Medal of Gloria Artis (Poland, 2008)[40]

Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class (Japan, 2011) Ocer of the Lgion d'honneur (France, 2012;Knight: 1986)

4.4 Awards First prize, Budapest International Competition(1949)

Anna Pavlova Prize, Paris Academy of Dance(1962)

Doctor of the Sorbonne in 1985[39]

Gold Medal of Fine Arts of Spain (1991)[39]

8 6 REFERENCES

Triumph Prize, 2000. Premium Russian National Olympus (2000) Prince of Asturias Award (2005, Spain) Imperial Prize of Japan (2006)[39]

5 See also List of Russian ballet dancers

6 References[1] Maya Plisetskaya prolke, viola.bz; accessed 2May 2015.

[2] Maya Plisetskaya: Ballerina whose charisma and talenthelped her ght the Soviet authorities and achieve inter-national fame, The Independent, U.K. 5 May 2015

[3] Caute, David. The Dancer Defects: The Struggle for Cul-tural Supremacy During the ColdWar, Oxford Univ. Press(2003) p. 489

[4] Plisetskaya and Shchedrin settle in Lithuania, upi.com; ac-cessed 4 May 2015.

[5] Two greats of world ballet win Spanish Nobels, expat-ica.com; accessed 4 May 2015.

[6] Current Biography Yearbook, H. W. Wilson Co., 1964, p.331.

[7] Miller, Jack (1984). Jews in Soviet Culture. TransactionPublishers. p. 15. ISBN 0-87855-495-5.

[8] Popovich, Irina. Maya Plisetskaya: A Balletic LethalWeapon, The Russia Journal, Issue 10, May 1999.

[9] Homans, Jennifer. Apollos Angels: A History of Ballet,Random House (2010) pp. 383-386

[10] Eaton, Katherine Bliss (2004). Daily Life in the SovietUnion. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31628-7.

[11] They were sent to ALZHIR camp, a Russian acronym forthe Akmolinskii Camp forWives of Traitors of the Moth-erland, "enemies of the people" near Akmolinsk

[12] Plisetskaya, Maya (2001). I, Maya Plisetskaya. Yale Uni-versity Press. ISBN 0-300-08857-4.

[13] Craine, Debra &Mackrell, Judith. The Oxford Dictionaryof Dance, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2010; pp. 352-353

[14] Ezrahi, Christina. Swans of the Kremlin, Univ. of Pitts-burgh Press (2012) p. 68, 142

[15] Taubman, William; Khrushchev, Sergei; Gleason, Ab-bott; Gehrenbeck, David; Kane, Eileen; Bashenko, Alla(2000). Nikita Khrushchev. Yale University Press. ISBN0-300-07635-5.

[16] Maya Plisetskaya, Ballerina Who Embodied Bolshoi,Dies at 89, New York Times, 2 May 2015.

[17] Master Class: Maya Plisetskayas 'Bolero', Artful Intel,25 October 2011.

[18] Montague, Sarah. The Ballerina, Universe Books, N.Y.(1980) pp. 46-49

[19] Life magazine, 23 February 1959.

[20] Maya Plisetskaya in Don Quixote ca 1959 on YouTube

[21] Plisetskaya-AVE MAYA-documentary lm onYouTube, translated from Russian

[22] Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation, Routledge(2006) p. 164

[23] Dowd, Olympia. A Young Dancers Apprenticeship: OnTour with the Moscow City Ballet, Twenty-rst CenturyBooks (2003) p. 71

[24] Moscow Honors Bolshois 'True Queen'", WashingtonPost, 20 November 2005.

[25] Russian ballet great Maya Plisetskaya dies Bolshoi,GMG News, Agence France-Presse, 2 May 2015

[26] Tolstoy, Leo (2003). Anna Karenina. Mandelker, Amy;Garnett, Constance. Spark Educational Publishing. ISBN1-59308-027-1.

[27] New York magazine, 22 June 1987, p. 65

[28] New York magazine, 21 September 1987, p. 100

[29] New York magazine, 28 March 1988, p. 99

[30] Sleeman, Elizabeth (2001). The International Whos Whoof Women (3rd edition ed.). Routledge. ISBN 1-85743-122-7.

[31] Crisp, Clement (18 November 2005). Mayan goddess.Financial Times. Retrieved 25 June 2008.

[32] " " (in Russian).ITAR TASS. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.

[33] Ballerina Maya Plisetskaya dies of heart attack at 89,Pravda, May 2, 2015

[34] Lukashenko extends condolences over passing of MayaPlisetskaya, Belarusian News, 5 May 2015

[35] Gershuno, Maxim. Its Not All Song and Dance: A LifeBehind the Scenes in the Performing Arts, Hal LeonardCorp. (2005) pp. 61,65,74

[36] MacLaine, Shirley. Out on a Leash: Exploring the Natureof Reality and Love, Simon & Schuster (2003) p. 126

[37] Nagrin, Daniel. How to Dance Forever: Surviving Againstthe Odds, HarperCollins (1988) p. 15

[38] Biskind, Peter. Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced Amer-ica, Simon & Schuster (2010) p. 90

[39] Died ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, TASS, May 2, 2015

[40] Warszawa. Urodziny primadonny at the www.e-teatr.pl(Polish)

97 External links Maya Plisetskaya Dances Ballet, biographical doc-umentary, 1964 on YouTube, 1 hr. 11 min.

Legendary performances: Maya Plisetskaya onYouTube, documentary biography, 1 hr. 20 min.

Maya Plisetskaya in 'Swan Lake' onYouTube, 3 1/2min.

Alexander Godunov, Maya Plisetskaya, Carmen-suite on YouTube, 3 min.

Maya Plisetskaya in 'Spartacus" onYouTube, 2 1/2min.

Maya Plisetskaya - Bolero, by Ravel, video, 20min.

Video: Excerpt from Mayas Dance Studies onYouTube

Stellar ballerinas birthday 20 November 2010 The Ballerina Gallery Maya Plisetskaya le Gala des toiles Maya Plisetskaya A national treasure Maya Plisetskaya

10 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses8.1 Text

Maya Plisetskaya Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya%20Plisetskaya?oldid=661259493 Contributors: Andres, Topbanana, Jacko-fOz, Folks at 137, Explendido Rocha, TiMike, Marcus2, D6,Mapple, YUL89YYZ, Bender235, BACbKA, RJHall, Ghirlandajo, Emerson7,Rjwilmsi, The wub, Kmorozov, Russavia, RaymondCruise, The RamblingMan, YurikBot,Wavelength, Joel7687, Rms125a@hotmail.com,Wallie, Paul Pieniezny, SmackBot, Iopq, Mgreenbe, Kintetsubualo, ERcheck, Bazonka, Colonies Chris, Hgrosser, Mike hayes, Sumahoy,OrphanBot, Aotake, Ohconfucius, SashatoBot, BrownHairedGirl, iga, Ckatz, Growsonwalls, Jetman, Icarus of old, David Warner, Cyde-bot, Peripitus, Galassi, DumbBOT, Editor at Large, Thijs!bot, IamSyber, Vanjagenije, Superzohar, Yellowdesk, Gcm, MER-C, Avaya1,Magioladitis, Connormah, Parsecboy, QuizzicalBee, Hullaballoo Wolfowitz, Waacstats, CommonsDelinker, Hodja Nasreddin, Antopi,Robertgreer, Xyl 54, Idioma-bot, Kelapstick, TXiKiBoT, A4bot, Sk741~enwiki, Snowbot, Seneca91, AlleborgoBot, Macdonald-ross,Pare Mo, SieBot, WereSpielChequers, Jonas Poole, PolarBot, Aumnamahashiva, Gorrrillla5, ImageRemovalBot, All Hallows Wraith,Icarusgeek, IceUnshattered, Parkwells, P. S. Burton, Light show, Deerstop, SilvonenBot, Addbot, Alevtina27, LaaknorBot, Greyhood,Luckas-bot, Ptbotgourou, AnomieBOT, Xqbot, Erud, TechBot, Omnipaedista, RibotBOT, Zumalabe, Schekinov Alexey Victorovich, IkanKekek, Panikowsky, RedBot, Christina Bedina, My very best wishes, Gerda Arendt, Lightlowemon, Badger M., RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot,Javandy, 4meter4, IBO, SporkBot, Brandmeister, ChuispastonBot, BabbaQ, Manytexts, ClueBot NG, Frietjes, OhSoHeartless, Brain-cricket, Viniclassic, Asalrifai, Helpful Pixie Bot, Lawrentia, Ymblanter, Wp fekula, The Almightey Drill, Fatimah M, Sarunas.a, ,Aymankamelwiki, TDKR Chicago 101, Lexidrow, Ruby Murray, Jjj1238, Beo34, Entelian, Vycl1994, Monkbot, Johnsoniensis, Radyan-skysoldativ, Czyz1, AGGAF and Anonymous: 56

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Plisetskaya-Romeo_and_Juliet-1961.jpg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Commons: File:RIAN archive 855342 Maya Plisetskaya inSergei Prokofyevs Romeo and Juliet ballet.jpg Original artist: Mikhail Ozerskiy /

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Early lifeCareerPerforming in the Soviet UnionInternational toursStylePerformancesActing and choreographyDeath

Personal lifeCareer friendshipsFriendship with Robert F. Kennedy

Awards and honorsRussiaSoviet UnionOther decorationsAwards

See alsoReferencesExternal linksText and image sources, contributors, and licensesTextImagesContent license