Maya Plisetskaya

A look at the rich history of the Mariinsky Theatre in the birth and growth of the Russian tradition in opera, music and ballet.

The telefilm is dedicated to one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov.

Maya Plisetskaya was born in Moscow in 1925 and studied at the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet School, becoming a principal dancer with the Bolshoi on graduating in 1943. She became prima ballerina in 1962, and after being excluded for political reasons many years from tours to the West, she was finally in 1959 allowed to join the American tour with the Bolshoi. She soon gained recognition as one of the world's foremost ballerinas, combining flawless technique with a sensitivity to emotional nuance and becoming the first to truly understand how to combine outstanding dance skills with dramatic expression. This documentary features footage of her greatest successes as a ballerina together with an interview in which Plisetskaya describes her life as a dancer, from Stalin to perestroika, giving an insight into the life of an artist in this extraordinary chapter of Russian history.

No plot available for this movie.

Rodion Shchedrin's ballet based on the short story of the same name by Anton Chekhov, staged by the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. The inimitable Maya Plisetskaya in the on-screen version of the theatrical ballet, which is an original production, solved by means of a television movie.

The plot is based on the fate of the artist, reflected in art, which always accompanies people's lives, as well as dreams, pain or joy...

The plot centres on the tragic fate of Carmen, a gypsy girl, and Jose, a soldier who has fallen in love with her and whom Carmen leaves for the young Torero.

Product Description ••••• A complete 1978 performance of this classic ballet stars the magnificent Nadezhda Pavlova and Vyacheslav Gordeev; the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra is conducted by Alexander Kopilov. DVD Bonus: Scenes from Don Quixote filmed at the Bolshoi in 1964 and starring the legendary dancers Maya Plisetskaya and Maris Liepa; Bolshoi Orchestra conducted by Youri Fayer.

A TV movie inspired by Ivan Turgenev's Torrents of Spring.

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation. A Bolshoi Ballet adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel with choreography by Maya Plisetskaya, who also took on the titular role.