The 100th anniversary of Maya Plisetskaya
From the collections of the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum
From 10.12.2025 to 12.01.2026, at the Russian House in Brussels, an exhibition will be presented dedicated to one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century — Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya.
Vernissage: 09.12 at 19:00
The exhibition, dedicated to one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, brings together materials from the collections of the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum, as well as photographs provided especially for this project by the world-renowned photographer Mikhail Logvinov.
“Enraged energy of a master — overcoming the limits of the body, when muscular movement turns into the spiritual.”
Andrei Voznesensky
The legendary Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, a woman of an amazing, unique destiny. She became one of the symbols of the 20th century — a symbol of courage, resilience, and the striving for freedom. Energy, talent multiplied by character and diligence made Maya Mikhailovna one of the key figures of Russian art of the 20th century. People’s Artist of the USSR, prima of the Bolshoi Theatre, who worked with the best choreographers of the world, she was ahead of her time in her art. Enthusiastic viewers and critics called her the best Odette, Raymonda, Kitri, Aurora. Maya Plisetskaya inspired fashion designer Pierre Cardin; poet Andrei Voznesensky dedicated poems to the ballerina and called her “a hellish spark”; choreographer Maurice Béjart called the dancer “the genius of metamorphoses”; artist Marc Chagall sketched Plisetskaya’s ballet poses to later use her wild grace to create his masterpieces…
Plisetskaya received her first role at the age of 7, when she lived with her parents on the island of Spitsbergen. There they staged the opera “Rusalka” by A. Dargomyzhsky. “I played my tiny role with flair,” the ballerina later recalled.
The Bolshoi Theatre teacher Valery Lagunov characterized Plisetskaya very precisely: “On her side was already a unique nature. In ballet, arguing with nature is useless — it always wins. But it is also important to use it, to develop it. She had a masculine jump, extremely rare — nothing like it ever existed again… Secondly, she had an enormous stride… And, of course, the completeness of poses — either soft or sharp. Before her, no one ever finished a ballet phrase that way…
Now the external outline. It is difficult to describe, because it seems as if she is a drawing by Modigliani: a biblical profile, extremely long neck, perfect shoulders, shoulder blades, back, slightly short legs, but when she rises en pointe, they balance out. An elongated waist that gives the ideal fit of the tutu, which on her sat like on a queen. Hands — well, what is there to say about her hands when everything has already been said?! At the same time, the correct positioning of the arms: the ability to properly “catch” the movement, to correctly hold the elbows.
Now the mind. She thought in time and correctly built the directing of her career. All this gave her the opportunity to greatly extend her ballet life. The only one in the world — no one else has succeeded to such an extent.”
And even at eighty she continued to experiment… Maya Plisetskaya still embodies Dance. Her art, combining the Russian academic school and innovation, is an example of high style in the culture of the second half of the 20th — early 21st century. The world is still electrified by Plisetskaya’s energy, and this is the secret of her immortality and incredible popularity.
A rare talent of a tragic actress, her own style of dance, phenomenal creative longevity, ballet numbers that became canonical… For admirers around the world she will forever remain a legend, an unattainable ideal of a ballerina and an extraordinary personality. The unique Maya… Bright, uncompromising, bold, passionate, loyal, home-loving, loving — in these contradictory combinations lies the uniqueness of a personality that changes history.
“The goal of my life has always been dance. And this goal has been achieved — I danced,” Maya Plisetskaya said.
