By Vechernaya Moskva
On May 2nd the greatest ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya, died in Germany.
Arif Melikov, a People’s Artist of the USSR, a composer, the author of the ballet ‘A Legend of Love’, remembers the legendary dancer:
- I love Maya Mikhailovna so much that it is difficult for me to pull myself together. Plisetskaya was a great ballerina. Russian ballet stepped to such a high level due to the God-given talent, colossal hardwork, commitment and honor of Maya Plisetskaya. She was an engine which drives a lot of talented, self-sacrificing people not only in Russia, but in my native Azerbaijan as well. The whole world considered her to be the number one ballerina, and Maya Mikhailovna had no rivals for many years. There could be second, third, fourth… Maya Plisetskaya had always been the first one.
We travelled around the world a lot with the ballet ‘A Legend of Love,’ and I witnessed how Maya conquered the audience. She was an epoch, a woman-epoch. There have been epochs of men in art – Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev; but Maya Plisetskaya was an epoch of Russian ballet…
I offer condolences to Rodion Shchedrin. It is very difficult to lose such a woman. But Rodion has to cope with the pain and compose beautiful music in honor of Maya – only for her. I know he will do it.
We were friends for many years; and I don’t know a more faithful, open, strong, and tender person than Maya. Not long ago an article by Maya was published. She said that she admired her heroine in the ballet ‘A Legend of Love’, as she gave away the most precious thing for a woman – her beauty. I think Maya would have given anything to save Rodion Shchedrin. They very much loved and still love each other.
Saying Goodbye to the Miracle Named Maya
It is horrible: they always leave unexpectedly. Too unexpectedly. Even when you understand that this is inevitable and think about age.
You protest against this and want to say ‘no.’
I have noticed that they often leave at holidays or weekends. As if they want to interfere with a holiday and remind us about them. Of course it is nonsense. The main feature of great people is an absence of selfishness. However, there is the hand of God in this.
Maya Plisetskaya was an evershining and inapproachable star. Critics and experts will analyze each of her movements in detail. Historians will write her name in the row of names which are our pride, happiness, and eternal values…
A Super Activist of Russian Ballet
One of the goddesses of the Ballet Olympus has gone – the great ballerina of our time Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya.
Every performance with her participation was a real breakthrough. She played roles with passion, poetic spirituality, and spontaneous force. Her perfect appearance, flexibility, character, absolute musical sense, dramatic skills, and natural sense of style enabled her to create miracles on the stage.
She was different, the one and only, a God-given talent, she was a living legend in the history of Russian and world ballet.
A Star Named Maya
I am working in one of Moscow's periodicals and see her again.
She is old, but hasn’t lost her dignity, grace, poise and incredible nobility. She is an actress. Greatness! She is one of the few whom the definition really fits.
“I don’t understand,” she says, “when people change their ringtones to melodies of classical music.”
I am nodding and my phone betrays me, signaling a call with the most well-known music from Swan Lake.
I am blushing. She smiles as if nothing has happened, as if she hasn’t said anything and my phone hasn’t rung.
This is a rare culture.
