Maya Plisetskaya, one of the world’s foremost dancers, rose to
become a prima ballerina of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet after an
early life filled with tragedy and loss. In this spirited memoir,
Plisetskaya reflects on her personal and professional odyssey,
presenting a unique view of the life of a Soviet artist during the
troubled period from the late 1930s to the 1990s. Plisetskaya
recounts the execution of her father in the Great Terror and her
mother’s exile to the Gulag. She describes her admission to the
Bolshoi in 1943, the roles she performed there, and the endless
petty harassments she endured, from both envious colleagues and
Party officials. Refused permission for six years to tour with the
company, Plisetskaya eventually performed all over the world,
working with such noted choreographers as Roland Petit and Maurice
Béjart. She recounts the tumultuous events she lived through and
the fascinating people she met—among them the legendary ballet
teacher Agrippina Vaganova, George Balanchine, Frank Sinatra,
Rudolf Nureyev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. And she provides
fascinating details about testy cocktail-party encounters with
Khrushchev, tours abroad when her meager per diem allowance brought
her close to starvation, and KGB plots to capitalize on her
friendship with Robert Kennedy. Gifted, courageous, and brutally
honest, Plisetskaya brilliantly illuminates the world of Soviet
ballet during an era that encompasses both repression and cultural
détente. Still prima ballerina assoluta with the Bolshoi Ballet,
Maya Plisetskaya also travels around the world performing and
lecturing. At the Bolshoi’s gala celebrating her 75th birthday,
President Vladimir Putin presented her with Russia’s highest
civilian honor, the medal for service to the Russian state, second
degree. Tim Scholl is professor of Russian language and literature
at Oberlin College. Antonina W. Bouis is the prize-winning
translator of more than fifty books, including fiction, nonfiction,
and memoirs by such figures as Andrei Sakharov, Elena Bonner, and
Dmitri Shostakovich.
General
Imprint: |
Yale University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2001 |
First published: |
September 2010 |
Authors: |
Maya Plisetskaya
|
Translators: |
Antonina W. Bouis
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 29mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
470 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-300-17247-8 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-300-17247-8 |
Barcode: |
9780300172478 |
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