100 Years of Maya Plisetskaya: The Girl Who Became a Goddess of Ballet

On November 20, 2025, the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Maya Plisetskaya — a global dance icon whose name stands for freedom, talent, and unbreakable will. Her life story is that of a girl from a repressed family who, despite the tragedies of her time, rose to the very peak of the ballet world and brought worldwide fame to the Soviet Union.

Born in Moscow in 1925, Maya faced hardship early: her parents were repressed, and her aunt, the renowned dancer Sulamith Messerer, adopted her. For Maya, ballet became more than a profession — it became salvation, breath, destiny.

During the war, just after graduating, she stepped onto the Bolshoi stage for the first time. Moscow was stunned by her debut performance of The Dying Swan — fluid, dramatic, almost weightless. A new star had been born.

Soon she was entrusted with the leading roles — Odette-Odile, Raymonda, Juliet, Aurora. In 1960, she became the Bolshoi’s prima ballerina, and in 1967 the world was mesmerized by her fiery Carmen Suite — bold, free, revolutionary.

Plisetskaya didn’t only dance — she created. She staged ballets, led companies in Rome and Madrid, collaborated with Roland Petit, Maurice Béjart, and major theatres worldwide. She became a muse to composers, designers, and artists. Pierre Cardin designed her costumes, while critics called her “the highest flight of the human spirit.”

Even after leaving the stage, Maya remained devoted to ballet — founding organizations, supporting young dancers, writing books, inspiring generations.

Maya Plisetskaya passed away in 2015, but her legend lives on — in films, performances, books, monuments, and every breath of world choreography.

A hundred years of Maya Plisetskaya — and her dance still continues.