Maya Plisetskaya interesting facts. Rare photos and interesting facts from the life of Maya Plisetskaya

"Plisetskaya - the pole of magic. Today the great ballerina would have turned 90 years old.

1) As a child, Maya was an extremely mobile child. She started walking at 8 months! All relatives and friends of the family were surprised at such motor abilities of the girl.

Maya Plisetskaya started walking at the age of 8 months

2) When Maya first came to the theater at the age of five, he struck her incredibly. It was Theatre of Drama, without dancing and music, but the image main character and the atmosphere of the theater impressed the child so much that after the end of the performance, Maya still for a long time“played out in faces” the scenes she saw, copied remarks in her speech, which once aroused the playful indignation of her father.

3) Maya inherited her profession from her maternal aunt. Shulamith Messerer was a soloist Bolshoi Theater and adopted a girl when her fate took a tragic turn. Soon after Maya turned 13, the father of the family was shot, and her mother was sent to a camp for the wives of traitors to the motherland.

4) "The Dying Swan" - the first number of Maya Plisetskaya. The number was supplied by her aunt. Shulamith made changes to the choreography, and the ballerina went to the audience with her back, not her face.

Maya Plisetskaya's first number was choreographed by her aunt

5) Once Plisetskaya had a chance to work with the great teacher of that time, Agrippina Vaganova. It was Vaganova who suggested Maya stage " Swan Lake", and even do it in such a way that "the devil becomes sick."

Maya Pliseyka played the role of Odile in Swan Lake for 30 years

7) Maya and Rodion Shchedrin were introduced by the ballet Cinderella. Shchedrin was fascinated by Maya and went to almost all of her productions. In 1958, the couple got married, and in 1960 Plisetskaya became the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre.

8) The bright image of Maya Plisetskaya, her uniqueness, femininity and grace drove crazy not only her husband. Maya has become a muse, a source of inspiration for many designers and costume designers.

9) Shchedrin and Plisetskaya did not have children, since Maya made a choice in favor of a career. “There are many families with children, but Maya Plisetskaya is alone,” the ballerina said.

Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya have been married for half a century

10) The absence of children in marriage did not prevent the spouses from being especially close people to each other. Shchedrin accompanied Maya on tour, dedicated many ballets to his wife and was always there. Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya have been married for half a century.

What do herring, sports, "Bandit" and Maya Plisetskaya have in common - Interesting Facts from the life of the legend of Russian ballet. The incomparable dancer will forever be remembered by admirers of high art for her magnificent performance of the parts of Odette-Odile. After herself, the ballerina left a bright memory, a mass bright quotes and memoirs.

1. As a child, Plisetskaya dreamed of being an actress like her mother, but fate decreed otherwise.. Under Stalin, her parents were repressed (her father was shot), so the girl was brought up by her maternal aunt, thanks to whom Maya got into a ballet school. Childhood dream - to act in films - Plisetskaya realized only in 1967, playing Princess Tverskaya in the drama "Anna Karenina".
2. The Dying Swan number, which later became Maya Mikhailovna's trademark, was staged by her adoptive mother- Soloist of the Bolshoi Theater and ballet teacher Shulamith Messerer. In the production, she focused on the plasticity and beauty of her niece's hands.

   

3. Maya danced the "swan" for more than half a century: for the first time she appeared on stage with this number in the 42nd year in Sverdlovsk in the evacuation, in last time- in the 96th in Moscow on Red Square. Before Plisetskaya, Anna Pavlova was considered the best "dying swan". Now, modern ballerinas rarely perform a number, fearing comparison with the great Maya.

   

4. In life, the ballerina was distinguished by an enviable constancy. A vivid confirmation of this is the 50-year marriage, full of love and harmony, with composer Rodion Shchedrin. As a sign of fidelity, the spouses bequeathed after death to unite their ashes and scatter them over Russia.

   

5. Plisetskaya adhered to the ideas of "childfree", that is, voluntarily abandoned motherhood in favor of a career.

   

6. There were many fans of Maya famous men . One of them is politician Robert Kennedy. The ballerina met the president's brother during a tour of America. The new acquaintance was very gallant, gave jewels and flowers. When Robert died in an assassination attempt, Plisetskaya dedicated a New York concert at the Metropolitan Opera to his memory.

   

7. Flamenco king and outstanding choreographer Joaquín Cortes, amazed by the way Maya performs spanish dance, gave her his talisman - shoes, in which he conquered the whole world.

   

8. The famous ballerina was attracted to the young all her life. Unlike most dancers, she was not afraid to perform in a duet with partners much younger than herself. IN different years she danced with such rising ballet stars as Godunov, Bogatyrev, Ratmansky.

   

9. Tight, graceful, flexible - Plisetskaya was always in excellent shape. physical form . When asked what the secret of harmony was, she advised: "Eat less." From the diet, the ballerina excluded nightshade, fatty and fried foods, sauces, chocolate, cocoa, dairy products, eggs, meat. Favorite dish Maya Plisetskaya - herring.

   

10. A ballerina who was known as a fashionista, touring abroad, bought fabrics, accessories, shoes, clothes there.. At one time, outfits for Plisetskaya were sewn by Gauthier and Saint Laurent, but after meeting Cardin, she dressed only with him.

    

11. Another significant couturier in the life of a ballet prima was Coco Chanel.. Maya was introduced to the famous Frenchwoman by Serge Lifar. Coco was then 80, but Plisetskaya was impressed by her energy, however, as well as the phrase uttered by Chanel: "Character is destiny."

    

12. The ballerina was distinguished by constancy in relation to aromas. For decades, she has remained faithful to the Bandit perfume, created in the 44th perfumer Robert Piguet. It seemed that the daring, provocative fragrance with masculine notes echoed the essence of Maya herself.

    

13. Plisetskaya rarely posed for fashion magazines, but in 2006 made an exception for El and photographer Bettina Reims.

    

14. The real passion of both the ballerina and her husband was football. In Soviet times, Plisetskaya was a fan of CSKA, and after moving to Munich, you could meet her at the stadium more often than at the opera.

    

15. In honor of the ballerina, the Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra created a giant mural "Maya" on one of the Moscow houses. Beautiful and iridescent graffiti with precise geometric shapes and juicy flowers is 15 m wide and 12 m high. It was dedicated to Plisetskaya's 88th birthday.

    

• Maya Plisetskaya wanted to become an actress as a child, like her mother, silent film actress Rachel Messerer. And ballet was not at all the passion of her life. After Plisetskaya's father was shot and her mother sent to a camp for the wives of traitors, 13-year-old Maya was adopted by her maternal aunt, Bolshoi Theater soloist, ballerina Shulamith Messerer, from whom she inherited her profession.

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  The audience discussed her outfits with great interest. Maya Mikhailovna developed a special relationship with Pierre Cardin - she was the designer's muse, and he created costumes and outfits for her for 30 years. “For me, everything in the fashion world begins and ends with Pierre Cardin. This is the standard of taste, fantasy, beauty ... It never gets old, ”said the ballerina.

• Maya Mikhailovna never liked to train and rehearse: “I think that in the end this extended my stage career: I had unexhausted legs.”

Maya Plisetskaya (2005). Photo: Global Look Press

• In food, the artist was unpretentious: “I like beer with sausages more than sweets ... In general, people have not come up with anything tastier than ordinary bread and butter.”

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  Maya Plisetskaya said that “her“ Dying Swan ”(which later became her calling card) spied at the Moscow Zoo”: “I went there several times with the sole purpose of peeking at the swan’s plasticity, the shape of the movement of the wings, and the landing of the head on the bend of the neck. I got lucky once. Suddenly, a black swan, a few meters away from me, spread its wings to its full extent, raised its webbed foot-paw and stood on the other in a classic arabesque. He stood for an unbelievably long time. I remember admiring - this is sustainability ... ".

Maya Plisetskaya. Photo: Global Look Press

• Plisetskaya drove many men crazy. In 1962, she met the brother of the President of the United States, Robert Kennedy. He gave her flowers and diamonds, courted, but they remained friends.

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  Maya Plisetskaya lived with her husband, composer Rodion Shchedrin, for more than half a century. As the prima herself recalled, they were introduced by the muse and beloved poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, Lilia Brik, who, according to Plisetskaya, loved to bring people together: “Once she asked me to sing a part from The Golden Cockerel on a tape recorder - and then she let Rodion listen to the recording . He has aroused interest in me ... ". Later, Shchedrin was going to write music for a ballet with the participation of Maya Mikhailovna and came to her rehearsal. The ballerina recalled that she met him in a tight black elastic leotard, which emphasized all her virtues, which finally captivated the composer.

Maya Plisetskaya was not only a brilliant ballerina who managed to conquer the whole world with her dance, but also the most ordinary woman with their habits, hobbies, little weaknesses. For the birthday of the artist AiF.ru collected little known facts about Maya Mikhailovna, who open her from an unusual side.

1. Plisetskaya was a creative person, and therefore she chose an appropriate hobby for herself. She collected funny names. Finding "another masterpiece" in some printed edition, the ballerina cut it out and proudly added to her collection. Here are just a few of the pearls she found: Scoundrels, Potaskushkin, Damochkin-Vizzhachikh.

Tour of the Bolshoi Theater in America. Maya Plisetskaya reads newspaper reviews. 1962 Photo: RIA Novosti / Maya Plisetskaya

2. Maya Mikhailovna always dressed with a needle. Despite the fact that in Soviet times get good thing it was not easy, and the ballerina was not allowed to go abroad for a long time, her outfits never went unnoticed. At one of the official receptions Nikita Khrushchev reproachfully said to the ballerina: “You are too beautifully dressed. Are you rich?" Plisetskaya preferred to remain silent - you can’t tell the leader that she buys all her dresses at exorbitant prices from the usual speculator Clara.

At a reception in the Moscow House of Actors in honor of the artists of the English drama troupe. From left to right: National artist USSR Sergei Obraztsov, People's Artist RSFSR Faina Ranevskaya, artist Paul Scofield, Honored Artist of the RSFSR Maya Plisetskaya Photo: RIA Novosti / Boris Ryabinin

3. The ballerina loved nourishing creams. She smeared them thickly on her face, and then sat down in the kitchen and played solitaire. Often, such gatherings continued until late at night, because the artist suffered from insomnia all her life. The only thing that helped her sleep was sleeping pills.

People's Artist of the USSR Maya Plisetskaya getting ready for the performance. 1969 Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Makarov

4. Maya Mikhailovna was tied up friendly relations With Robert Kennedy. They met during Plisetskaya's second American tour. The politician did not hide his sympathy for the Russian ballerina and often congratulated her on her birthday, which, by the will of fate, they had on the same day. The very first gift from him was a gold bracelet with two inlaid key chains. One depicted Scorpio - the common zodiac sign of Plisetskaya and Kennedy, the other - St. Michael the Archangel.

People's Artists of the USSR Nikolai Fadeechev and Maya Plisetskaya perform during a tour of the USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theater ballet in the United States. 1962 Photo: RIA Novosti / I. Koshani

5. Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya have been married for 57 years. Despite the strong sympathy for each other, at the very beginning of the relationship, the couple was in no hurry to the registry office. The idea to sign came to the ballerina. Maya Mikhailovna believed that with a stamp in her passport, she would have more chances to go on tour abroad and the authorities would finally stop following her. In addition, the Minister of Culture herself Furtseva more than once hinted to the artist about the need to tie the knot.

Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin at home. 1971 Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Makarov

6. Before each class and performance, Maya Mikhailovna poured warm water into the heels of ballet shoes so that her feet would sit tighter. And going on stage, most of all she was afraid to forget to look at herself in the mirror, because if the eyes and lips are badly made up, then the audience will see a “colorless moth”, and not a ballerina.

People's Artist of the USSR Maya Plisetskaya before the performance. 1965 Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Makarov

7. Plisetskaya performed most of the cases with her left hand. But at the same time, she was not one hundred percent left-handed - Maya Mikhailovna wrote, nevertheless, right.

People's Artist of the USSR Maya Plisetskaya gives an autograph during the intermission of the performance. 1965 Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Makarov

8. “In terms of the maxi coat, I was Christopher Columbus in Moscow,” Plisetskaya said. In 1966, she brought a floor-length black astrakhan fur coat to the capital. This item was given to her by the artist. Nadia Leger. When the ballerina went out into the street in a new dress, the first woman she met crossed herself and called the ballerina a sinner.

Writer Louis Aragon, ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, writer Elsa Triolet and writer Konstantin Simonov at the Belorussky railway station. Photo: RIA Novosti / Lev Nosov

9. Maya Mikhailovna loved football and was an ardent fan of CSKA. On the eve of her death, the ballerina, along with her husband, also visited the stadium in Munich.

On May 2, the great Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya died. Delightful and incomprehensible, she was timeless. In the memory post, the “golden” rules of the most glamorous ballerina in the country and interesting facts from her life.

Maya Plisetskaya admitted that ballet "was not the passion of her life." She was going to follow in the footsteps of her mother, silent film actress Rachel Messerer, and become an actress.

But after her father was shot, and her mother was sent to a camp for the wives of traitors to the motherland, 13-year-old Maya was adopted by Shulamith Messerer, a maternal aunt, a soloist ballet troupe Bolshoi Theatre. It was from her that Maya Mikhailovna inherited her profession.

"The Dying Swan", which became the hallmark of the ballerina, for the first time Plisetskaya danced at the age of 14.

Shulamith Messerer herself staged the number for her niece and changed the original version of Mikhail Fokin to emphasize the dignity of Maya's figure. She went out with her back to the audience so that the audience could appreciate the beauty of her hands.

Plisetskaya said that she spied her "Dying Swan" at the Moscow Zoo, where she went specifically to watch the swan's plasticity.

Plisetskaya was called the most glamorous ballerina, and her outfits were discussed no less than her roles. Outfits for her were created by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin, and the latter called her his muse.

“Carden made me many priceless costumes and never once asked for money,” said the ballerina.

In 1962, Plisetskaya met Robert Kennedy, the brother of the American president.

He looked after her very beautifully, gave her diamonds and flowers. They remained friends for many years.

Rodion Shchedrin created many ballets for his wife, including Anna Karenina, The Seagull and The Lady with the Dog.

Plisetskaya, who left the stage at 65 (!) years old, said that thanks to her husband, her stage career was extended for half a century.

Maya Plisetskaya loved football all her life. In Munich, Plisetskaya and Shchedrin were often met at football matches. Maya Mikhailovna was sick of CSKA.

Rodion Shchedrin was always next to Maya Plisetskaya during the tour. The ballerina kept her lipstick in her husband's jacket pocket.