Plisetskaya, Maya (1925–)

Russian ballerina. Name variations: Maia Plisetskaia or Plisvetskaia; Mayechka (pronounced MY-echka). Pronunciation: MY-ya Plee-SYET-skaya. Born Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya, Nov 20, 1925, in Moscow; dau. of Mikhail Borisovich Plisetsky (noted engineer) and Raissa (Rachel) Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (actress who starred in silent films); niece of Asaf and Sulamith Messerer, prominent dancers and teachers with Bolshoi Ballet; attended Bolshoi Ballet School; m. Rodion Shchedrin (composer), 1958; children: none (in Dec 2000, Plisetskaya won a libel suit against a Moscow newspaper, Moskovskiye Vedomosti, which had earlier reported that she had secretly given birth to a daughter in 1978; the newspaper printed a retraction).

Prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, who challenged the traditional artistic standards of the Russian dancing establishment, entered ballet school (1934); gave 1st performance with Bolshoi (1936); father arrested and killed during the purges of 1930s (1937); returned to wartime Moscow (1942); entered Bolshoi Ballet Co. (1943); soon began to dance leading roles in such ballets as The Dying Swan, Raymonda, Don Qixote, Sleeping Beauty, and, starting in late 1940s, Swan Lake, in which she danced her greatest role, Odette-Odile, a role she would portray more than 500 times; made 1st trip abroad (1959); became prima ballerina at Bolshoi (1960); awarded Lenin Prize (1964); used her prestige as her country's leading ballerina to develop and perform a different kind of dance, as seen in her portrayal of Carmen in the Carmen Suite, with music arranged by husband (1967); also danced title role in Isadora (1977); as she grew older, became a choreographer at Bolshoi while continuing career as a dancer, creating the ballets Anna Karenina (1972) and The Sea Gull (1980); served as director, Spanish National Ballet (1987–90); celebrated 50th anniversary of her debut as member of Bolshoi (1993); appeared in such films as Stars of the Russian Ballet (1953), Swan Lake (1957), The Little Humpbacked Horse (1962), Plisetskaya Dances (1966) and Anna Karenina (1972). Awarded People's Artist of the USSR (1959); named Hero of Socialist Labor (1985).

See also Women in World History.