Maya Plisetskaya, Ballerina Who Embodied Bolshoi, Dies at 89
May 2, 2015
MOSCOW — Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century and virtually the embodiment of the Bolshoi Theater for decades, died on Saturday in Munich. She was 89.
Katerina Novikova, the Bolshoi’s press secretary, said the cause was a heart attack. Ms. Plisetskaya and her husband and sometime collaborator, the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, had lived in Munich since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ms. Plisetskaya, renowned for her fluidity of movement, expressive acting and willful personality, danced on the Bolshoi stage well into her 60s. Vadim Gayevsky, a dance historian and critic, once said she “began by creating her own style and ended up creating her own theater.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/arts/dance/maya-plisetskaya-ballerina-who-embodied-bolshoi-dies-at-89.html?_r=0
Any ballet lovers? I'm saddened to hear that the great Maya Plisetskaya has died. She was one of the best dancers of the 20th century. An inspiration to generations of little girls who wanted to dance like her. May she rest in peace.
"Death of the Swan" was her signature dance. She was known for her beautiful arm movements. Notice how she moves them, like ripples on the surface of the water. Dance starts at 1:50
Here she is in "Carmen".
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Godspeed, lovely Maya Plisetskaya...
I remember watching her in awe. She was so talented. She was also intelligent and outspoken. The Bolshoi treated her poorly by the end of her career with them. She left Russia and continued to dance in other European companies years after most ballerinas would have retired.
Here she is dancing Death of the Swan at 61 and just as captivating as ever. So many ballerinas tried to imitate her port de bras, her arm movements were that good.
Here she is at 48 in Swan Lake.
She had a long life, but it is still sad when a master of their craft leaves us.