Maya Plisetskaya. Hellish Spark

Before you is the biography of Maya Plisetskaya, a woman of astonishing and unique fate, who became one of the symbols of the 20th century. A symbol of courage, resilience, and the pursuit of freedom. She proved herself to be a brilliant dancer — a performer of classical roles, and then — one of the first in the Soviet Union to dance modern ballets, acted in films, worked as a model and even as a mannequin. For more than half a century, she has been the muse and wife of one of the most talented composers of our time — Rodion Shchedrin. Her work inspired the designer Pierre Cardin, poet Andrei Voznesensky dedicated poems to her, calling the ballerina a hellish spark; choreographer Maurice Béjart referred to her as a genius of metamorphoses; artist Marc Chagall sketched Plisetskaya's ballet poses to later use her wild grace to create a masterpiece…