An Excellent Documentary
"Plisetskaya Dances" (black and white, 1964) is an excellent documentary about the famous Bolshoi ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya. "'Plisetskaya has a rare combination of natural gifts: broad leaps; light, soaring jumps; a lithe and supple body; wonderful arms; but all this is not enough for a ballerina's success,' said the famous Ballet Master, Jean George Naverre. 'The language of ballet can only be understood,' he asserted, 'when the heart commands it to speak.'" This is a nice summing up of her talents, but she is also a nice "turner," as well. In the last couple of decades, there has been a tendency toward extremely thin ballerinas. Maya has a much different build. She is trim, but she carries more natural weight than most of today's super-waifs. There has also been a recent preference for long-legged dancers, but Maya has shorter limbs. Maya has good leg extension, but not great. She does, however, have a very flexible back. So, she doesn't have the "look" that we have become accustomed to, but it can be refreshing to watch a natural, normal looking girl dance and not worry about whether she has an eating disorder.
This documentary talks about Maya's childhood and her family. Her mother was a film actress, and Maya inherited her good looks. There are film excerpts of Maya training at the Bolshoi Ballet School. Maya's uncle, Asaf Messerer (1903-1992), was also a famous Bolshoi dancer, and there are some shots of Asaf instructing Maya in his dance class. Later on, the tape shows Maya's husband, Rodion Shchedrin, a composer who dedicated some of his ballet scores to her. Throughout her life, Maya has been surrounded by family members who are in the performing arts.
This tape gives you a nice sense of her preparation for a ballet. Maya's dancing has been influenced by her own study of art and sculpture. It shows her meeting with a conductor to discuss the intricacies of a musical score. In my opinion, her theatrical abilities are more refined than most dancers, and her mother may have influenced this somewhat. There are some rehearsal excerpts of Maya training with distinguished ballet teachers and tutors. Maya has very nice arms and hands, and there is an interesting interview with her about it. There are many performance excerpts on this tape, and these artistic touches can be found throughout in her dancing.
The commentator states, "Maya Plisetskaya performs a wide range of roles, and in each, she is the same superb ballerina who masterfully combines pure classical tradition with a keen sense of our time." Here is a list of the dance excerpts on this tape: a complete performance of "The Dying Swan" by Camille Saint-Saens; performance excerpts from acts two and three of "Swan Lake" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; rehearsal and performance excerpts from "The Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky; performance excerpts from "Laurencia" by Alexander Krein; performance excerpts from "Spartacus" by Aram Khachaturian; performance excerpts from "The Little Humpbacked Horse" by Rodion Shchedrin; performance excerpts from "Khovanshchina" by Modest Mussorgsky; a short film excerpt from "Raymonda" by Alexander Glazunov; performance excerpts from "The Stone Flower" by Serge Prokofiev; rehearsal and performance excerpts from "Romeo and Juliet" by Serge Prokofiev; performance excerpts from a Charles Gounod piece; and performance excerpts from "Don Quixote" by Ludwig Minkus. The excerpts give you a clear idea of her technical and theatrical abilities.
There isn't room to discuss all of the excerpts, but a few comments are in order. The "Swan Lake" excerpts will give you a feel for her full length "Swan Lake" (1957) from Kultur Video that is also available on Amazon.com. I enjoy that video very much. "Laurencia" and "Don Quixote" are bold, Spanish numbers, and in them she does some high-energy bucking jumps, with arched back and hands thrown way back. It is interesting to compare Plisetskaya's "Romeo and Juliet" excerpts with the Royal Ballet's 1966 version with Margot Fonteyn, as each ballerina has different strengths and weaknesses. The excerpts from the Gounod piece are very charming; I really enjoy watching Maya dance these type of fast numbers, because she has so much flair. While rehearsing for "The Sleeping Beauty," Maya did a couple of seven revolution supported pirouettes, but she played it safe and only did four in the actual performance. If you enjoy watching ballerinas soar through the air, then you will like this tape. I enjoy the slow motion camera effects on her grand jetes and tour-jetes during rehearsal, as I frequently stop my tapes and re-watch jumps at one-fifth speed. Maya has a lot to offer, and that's why her tapes continue to sell after all these years.
Maya was born in 1925, and her career continued after this documentary was made in 1964. She has maintained her good figure, and you can still see her dancing "The Dying Swan" in her late sixties on "Essential Ballet: Stars of the Russian Ballet." "Plisetskaya Dances" is an excellent documentary that was thoughtfully made. I have watched it a number of times, and I come to appreciate more of its details each time I watch it. In conclusion, I am glad to have this tape in my video library. The tape says that "[Maya Plisetskaya] believes that the language of Russian classical ballet, inspired and melodious, endlessly renewed, brings joy to people," and I agree.
