Secrets of Russian ballerinas: how to stay young until old age

Maya Plisetskaya, Galina Ulanova, Ekaterina Maksimova even in retirement surprised the royal posture, chiseled figure and incredible vitality. How did they do it?

In Russia, the phrase of Maya Plisetskaya (1925-2015) "we need to eat less" is widely known»: this is how she answered questions about her figure. In fact, the ballerina meant something completely different: on stage and in rehearsals, such a huge amount of energy is spent that the artist does not even need to think about a diet.

In addition, she confessed her love for beer and herring, and considered the best dish in the world to be simple bread and butter. However, she always stressed that the career of a ballerina is hard and hard work.

But the secret of her signature "swan" wave of the hand and posture, she, according to her confession, spied on the birds in the zoo. She went on stage until the age of 70.

Galina Ulanova (1910-1998) was not only a famous ballerina, but also a teacher, who taught choreography, including Plisetskaya. She was a very private person, and in her rare interviews admitted that she takes strength by relaxing in nature. She especially liked to drive a kayak.

Ulanova danced until the age of 50, and the audience was delighted with her grace. But even after she left the stage, she took ballet classes every day and restricted herself to eating nothing fried or heavy.

At home, she did exercises with a chair, using it as a ballet loom and always walked in heels.

Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951), an artist of the Mariinsky Theater, whose name is borne by the legendary Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, was known as an unusually strict teacher. She considered discipline the most important thing in ballet. By nature, she was short, short-legged and plump, but thanks to her work, she managed to stand out during the star hour of Anna Pavlova and Matilda Kshesinskaya

Her book "Fundamentals of Classical Dance", published for the first time in 1934, is still considered the most famous textbook for ballet dancers.

Unlike other choreographers of her time, she believed that it is not necessary to stop ballet classes even during the summer holidays, so as not to lose shape, especially since in the warm season "you do not have to waste time to 'warm up' your legs, they are already 'warmed up' before the start of the lesson, they are more receptive and gain more benefit from any effort."

A student of Galina Ulanova, Ekaterina Maksimova (1939-2009) danced until the age of 60 and kept her aspen waist until her death. With a height of 1.57 m, she weighed 40-45 kilograms, and even at a solid age, she was taken for a teenager.

At a rehearsal at the Bolshoi Theater, Maximova suffered a spinal injury, and although doctors say that she will not be able to walk, the ballerina returned to the stage in triumph. For a whole year, she went in a corset and studied according to the method developed by her husband, the artist Vladimir Vasiliev. She danced until she was 60!

Despite her natural fragility and lightness, Maximova had one feature that made life very difficult: one toe was much shorter than the others, which meant that it was very difficult for her to stand on pointe shoes, and all the years she had to bandage this finger to the right size.