The Foundation - News

14th December, 2010:
"An encore to the 85th birthday anniversary": the gala concert in honor of Maya Plisetskaya in Moscow

One could get the impression that Paris, the Mecca of dance, had been infected by the Maya Plisetskaya fever, when a celebration of her 85th birthday was organized in the beginning of December. Even the symbol of Paris the Eiffel Tower had shined in all directions and in different shades the name of the great diva of ballet on this day. "What can I wish more?" Maya Plisetskaya asked very pleased. The gala concert at the Théatre des Champs-Elysees which was organized by the famous ballet star, Andris Liepa, the son of the legendary Maris Liepa, was a great success too.

Behind Paris which is almost "crazy to Plisetskaya" Liepa remarked, Moscow as the birthplace of the great ballerina did not want to stand back. On 14th December as Maya Plisetskaya was again together with her husband Rodion Shchedrin in Moscow, it was finally made, because a birthday party would have been unimaginable without her. The leading ballet dancers from Moscow and St. Petersburg walked on stage of Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in this evening and passed in review the glorious career of the Grande Dame of the ballet with some party pieces of Plisetskaya's repertoire. Andris Liepa, who has already organized concerts in honor of Maya Plisetskaya, admitted that such events are not only for the audience, whether in London, Madrid, Ravenna or Moscow, but also for the dancers a highlight. These concerts would take place under a high rush of adrenaline, because Plisetskaya with her strong presence would put each dancer into a state of "artistic euphoria". Her opinion would also have an authority which does not lose its importance over the years and therefore its value might be higher than all public recognition and awards together. "Plisetskaya's life is an example for us, but no example in sense of imitation, as it would be in any case unattainable. Maya Plisetskaya is a light for us by which we always have to orientate ourselves." (Andris Liepa in an interview for the radio "The Voice of Russia" of 14 December 2010)

The 85th birthday Maya Plisetskaya was also due shared by the political head of the Russian Federation. The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin brought their congratulations in person to the great artist. As a sign of special recognition and respect Medvedev had signed a decree awarding Plisetskaya with the National Order of Merit of the 4th Class – a category that has been missing in Plisetskaya's rich collection of honors and will soon make her bearer of all four classes of Orders. The art figures, Plisetskaya awakened by her personality on the stage into life, belong according to Dmitry Medvedev even today to the classics of modern art.