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Photo, Print, Drawing Maya Plisetskaya in the Role of The Great Barefoot.

About this Item

Title

  • Maya Plisetskaya in the Role of The Great Barefoot.

Summary

  • This photograph was taken in 1977 by photographer Leonid Zhdanov (1927-2010) as part of the series "Great Dancers of the Twentieth Century. Isadora Duncan-Maya Plisetskaya." That year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of American dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), in honor of which French choreographer Maurice Béjart (1927-2007) created the ballet Isadora at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. By this time, the name and work of the "Great Barefoot," the name given to Duncan by her contemporaries, had become almost a myth. Béjart's Isadora, choreographed for Maya Plisetskaya (born 1925), the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater and one of the great ballerinas of the 20th century, restored Duncan's reputation. The premiere of Isadora was a great success. Plisetskaya recreated the style and spirit of Duncan's free dance, formed at the turn of the 19th--20th centuries without regard for the rules of classical ballet. Trained in Moscow, a student of Elizaveta Gerdt and later Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951), Plisetskaya came to the Bolshoi Theater in 1943, when Galina Ulanova was considered the model classical ballerina. Plisetskaya's bravura, life-affirming, and virtuosic dance contrasted with Ulanova's style of lyricism and emotion. Plisetskaya changed the aesthetics of the ballet during the second half of the 20th century, introducing a new understanding of beauty and forms of movement. At the age when most ballet dancers retire from the stage, she adopted a new style. She abandoned classical ballet in favor of modern choreography. Some of the best choreographers of the 20th century--from Kasian Goleizovsky to Roland Petit and Maurice Béjart--created works for her. Zhdanov, a Bolshoi dancer and then a professor of choreography for 50 years, was also a professional ballet photographer for most of his career. His pictures are spontaneous and capture on film the movements, moods, and emotions of the unposed dancers. The Reborn Art Foundation in Moscow holds this image and the rest of the Zhdanov archive.

Names

  • Zhdanov, Leonid, 1927-2010 Photographer.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1977.

Headings

  • -  Russian Federation--Moscow--Moscow
  • -  1977
  • -  Ballerinas
  • -  Ballet
  • -  Béjart, Maurice, 1927-2007
  • -  Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR
  • -  Costumes
  • -  Dance
  • -  Dancers
  • -  Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927
  • -  Pliset︠s︡kai︠a︡, Maĭi︠a︡, born 1925
  • -  Theatrical productions

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 black and white photograph ; 35 millimeter negative.
  • -  Original resource at: The "Reborn Art" Charitable Foundation.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021669111

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Zhdanov, Leonid, Photographer. Maya Plisetskaya in the Role of The Great Barefoot. Russian Federation Moscow, 1977. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669111/.

APA citation style:

Zhdanov, L. (1977) Maya Plisetskaya in the Role of The Great Barefoot. Russian Federation Moscow, 1977. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021669111/.

MLA citation style:

Zhdanov, Leonid, Photographer. Maya Plisetskaya in the Role of The Great Barefoot. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021669111/>.