A representative of the Messerer-Plisetskiy creative dynasty, Maya Plisetskaya became famous as a ballerina with a vibrant personality and recognizable style. Odette-Odile from «Swan Lake», Kitri from «Don Quixote», Zarema from «Bakhchisarai Fountain», Carmen from «Carmen Suite» — these and many other roles of Maya Plisetskaya have entered the history of world ballet. But her talent wasn’t limited to dancing: a memoirist, actress, and model, she starred with Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, and Irwin Pena, and became the first Soviet artist to be invited to shoot for Vogue magazine. Maya was admired by Yves Saint Laurent and Coco Chanel, and Pierre Cardin called her La Plissetskaja — as a cosmic phenomenon.
The exhibition will open with a story about the Messerer-Plisetsky family, a dynasty inextricably linked with choreography and theater. For the first time, the audience will have access to personal family archives and videos provided by Maya Mikhailovna’s brother, ballet dancer and teacher Azariy Plisetsky. Then the story will move to the recreated rehearsal hall, and then to the Bolshoi Theater, where the ballerina performed her most iconic roles. The exhibition will tell in detail about the «Carmen Suite», the atmosphere of which will be conveyed by the works of Natalia Goncharova and Peter Konchalovsky. Nearby you can see portraits of Plisetskaya herself by Arthur Fonvizin and Boris Messerer, the ballerina’s brother.
The final halls will reveal the «unprecedented» side of Maya Plisetskaya’s life: famous fashion shoots for Vogue and Elle, an alliance with composer Rodion Shchedrin, friendship with Lily Brik, Marc Chagall and Pierre Cardin, whose costumes for the roles of Anna Karenina and Anna Sergeevna from the ballet «The Lady with the Dog» are also on display.