Search Results

Upon Graham’s return to the United States, the State Department declared her a “very valuable asset.” As the “First Lady” of modern dance, Graham had “made a positive contribution to overall Department of State foreign relations objectives.” Performances “convinced everyone that modern American culture had made an important contribution to the development of the twentieth century.” While photographs of Graham and Kissinger show a mutual if stiff respect, Graham’s principal alliance shifted to First Lady Betty Ford as Graham looked for White House invitations and financial support. Even as her company remained unstable, plagued by deficits that left it veering toward bankruptcy, Graham stayed on the government diplomatic resource list, and she tightened her alliance with the East Wing through to the West. As New York City veered toward bankruptcy, Graham staged lavish galas and star-studded events with Soviet defector and ballet star Rudolf Nureyev in tow. Betty Ford and Halston became key figures in her promotional efforts. Graham received the Medal of Freedom from Ford, but with his election loss to Jimmy Carter, Graham refocused her strategy.

In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya explains why she would not seek political asylum in the West even if she had the chance and chose to remain in Russia. She witnessed how Americans enjoyed freedom and lived in abundance, while Russians like Maya did not. Yet she stayed in Russia for fear that the Soviet authorities would have her killed. In 1961, Rudolf Nureyev reportedly asked for political asylum in a Paris airport when he was separated from the Kirov Ballet troupe leaving for London. There was an attempt to force him to fly back to the Soviet Union, which practically ended his ballet life. Maya had her chances to do the same, first during her second American tour in 1962 and second during a trip to England in 1963. But Maya believed that her life was only beginning, having become the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet following Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova's retirement. Two other reasons she did not stay in the West was her husband Rodion Shchedrin, without whom she could not imagine life, and her conscience.

In this chapter, Maya Plisetskaya reflects on her performances in Don Quixote and Khovanshchina. She also recalls the time she asked for a pay raise as a ballerina for the Bolshoi Theater but her request was denied. This caused her to focus on her rehearsal as Kitri in Don Quixote under Elena Ilyushchenko as coach. One of the spectators during her performance was Rudolf Nureyev. Maya then turned to Khovanshchina, an opera by Nikolai Semyonovich Golovanov, who was once the principal conductor at the Bolshoi Theater. The dances in Khovanshchina were choreographed by Sergei Gavrilovich Koren.

Having had most of her training via scholarship at the Vaganova Institute, Martínez returned to Cuba to work on special programs there including in theater and television. She emphasizes the dedication to intellectual development that Fernando Alonso brought to his students and shares a bit of Cuban history and the overlap between the arts and the guerrilla movement in the mountains and workers’ organizations in Havana, ending with the hope that Fernando Alonso’s role in the development of ballet in Cuba will finally get the recognition it deserves.