Russian ballerina great Maya Plisetskaya dies at 89

Maya Plisetskaya, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, died in Germany on Saturday at the age of 89, the director of the Bolshoi, Vladimir Urin, announced. Plisetskaya danced for half a century and her modern choreography and performances charged with eroticism flouted Soviet convention. She joined the Bolshoi in 1943. During 50 years as a performer - remaining at the Bolshoi well beyond the normal age limit - she captivated audiences with the purity of her performances and dazzling looks that she retained into old age.

She died of a severe heart attack. The doctors tried everything, but there was nothing they could do.

Vladimir Urin, director of the Bolshoi Ballet

Born in Moscow on November 20, 1925, Plisetskaya was deprived of her parents early in life. Her engineer father was shot under Stalin’s regime in 1938 for being “an enemy of the people” and her actress mother was accused of being a traitor and sent to a labour camp in Kazakhstan. She first sparked scandal in 1967 after a meeting in Moscow with Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso, who as a citizen of a friendly communist country was allowed to create for her the Carmen Suite.

Whatever she dances, I feel in her an enormous strength and sensuality, but above all, a modern approach.

French dancer and choreographer Maurice Bejart

Arts Maya Plisetskaya