About the book: 2020 / She is perhaps the most charming of the ballerinas in the history of ballet. Laconic and extremely restrained, closed and inaccessible in life, on stage and on screen she seemed the embodiment of light and joy - light, graceful, radiant, sparkling with humor in comic roles, but captivating with deep drama in tragic roles. “Goddess...” - they whispered with admiration behind her back... She is a great Russian ballerina - Ekaterina Maksimova! The French nicknamed her Madame “No” because this word sounded from her lips more often than others. Both our compatriots and countless fans around the world unanimously insisted that there is no one like her, that people like her are born once in a century. Valentin Gaft dedicated poems and lines to her: “You are eternal, like a wonderful moment from Pushkin’s Natalievskaya Rus'.” She lived a long and vibrant creative life, in which her husband and stage partner Vladimir Vasiliev was always nearby. I never pretended or did anything for show. Despite her great fame, she tried not to attract attention to herself. She was open, sincere with her loved ones and friends - “the main wealth of her life.” The images created by Ekaterina Maximova will forever remain part of the world to which she was faithful all her life, no matter what the circumstances. His name is Ballet!