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Russia on Sunday mourned the death of Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century who dazzled the world with her mesmerising performances and rare beauty, AFP reported.

Plisetskaya, whose free-wheeling spirit defied the limits of Soviet-era art, died Saturday of a heart attack in Munich at the age of 89.

Despite her advanced years, the Russian ballet icon had brimmed with energy and her death plunged the Bolshoi Theatre, where she had planned to celebrate her 90th birthday in November, into shock.

"Plisetskaya is forever," said the Bolshoi where Plisetskaya danced well into her 60s. "She was, she is and she will be."

Bolshoi artists and viewers observed a moment of silence for the dancer at the start of Sunday's performance of the ballet "Lady of the Camellias."

Tributes for Plisetskaya known for her huge eyes, long legs and a flame of red hair, poured in from ballet greats and dance lovers from all over the world.

"The star of Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya, who became the embodiment of the very essence of ballet art for several generations of spectators from all over the world, its refined beauty and regalness, will now shine from heaven," Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre said in a statement.