Perfection in everything he does. Wonderful grace, elevation, power, beauty of line, perfect placing and thrilling performance with a great dramatic gift for interpretation of a role and real musicality. Totally inspirational in all that he does. Hurray for him! What an example for us all.
alison dowdeswell yes, it's very hard to pick a flaw - even if one were in the mood too! from his phrasing the chore to the music and his creation of character to technique - he is very interesting about his work in 'Baryshnikov at Work' which you may well know.
An absolute joy to watch and as other posters noted, he had the audacity to improve quite significantly which is hard to fathom. There is a generosity to his spirit and art. Incredible musicality and presence. Devoid of pretence and artifice. I was lucky to see him in the Nutcracker as a child (my first ballet), and even more lucky to be old enough to remember. I have loved ballet ever since.
my sentiments exactly. i saw him first in the mid 1970s on a tour of Australia (of all places) - he danced a Don Q PDD and did Act 2 of 'Giselle' with Natalia Makarova
Amazing. I saw him perform six times during the ‘70s when he was with the ABT. His performances were far superior to these two. So even though he was a little older by then, his artistry and technique were incredible.
Exacto en sus pasos, técnica impecable!! Bellísimo y masculino, expresivo y lo más importante: baila al son de la música!! Baila y baila, lo lleva en la sangre, en los músculos, la expresión de una pasión, la fuerza del ser humano potencialmente divino!!! Es y será el mejor bailarín del mundo, le guste al mundo, o no!!! mi aplauso eterno, y mi eterna rendición a semejante elegancia y perfección!! A tí, amante del ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, mi humilde devoción!!
In college my roommate had a huge poster of Mikhail on the wall. Every night the last thing I saw was his dreamy face. Every morning he was the first thing I saw. I've never been a fan of ballet but I'm certainly a fan of Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I just finished watching White Nights, this man is an incredible talent that only come once in 100 years. Besides being a great dancer he is a fantastic actor and he even played piano, a Chopin waltz. And here at such young age he is a flawless Solor.
yes hard to think of a ballet he would not be successful. he is very intelligent about his research into ballets he is about to perform, the specific technical and expressive challenges of each and so on in his book "Baryshnikov at Work' - do you know this book? lots of great images too!
No, I haven't seen the book,, have to find it, thank you. Tsiskaridze is similar and also wrote a book, also a very intelligent man and very knowledgeable about ballet, literature, opera and art. I have a great photo of him in Albrecht costume with Lunkina, Misha and Katia Maximova after guest performance at ABT.
the book is well worth getting - i see it about for sale a lot, including cheaply on Amazon www.amazon.com/Baryshnikov-at-Work-Mikhail/dp/0394735870 by the way is the Tsiskaridze you mention in English or Russian?pity YT doesn't have a photo sharing function - the one of Lunkina, Misha and Katia Maximova after guest performance at ABT sounds great. i have a blog just for posting photos and then i had a link from here to the photo in the blog - one way to try to get round the problem!
I buy all my books and CDs on Amazon so I will take a look. There were two books about Tsiskaridze, one a photo album and the other his bio and reviews about him, they were on Amazon and Russians wanted a fortune for them, now they are not available, I haven't seen the one he wrote, they are in Russian. One way for you to see the pictures is on Facebook in my group and my page.
The remarkable thing about Barishnikov was not only his amazing dancing and elevation but he was one of those rare dancers who could really act as well and make you believe in the character he was playing -be it Basil in Don Quixote-Colas in La Fille -Solor in Bayadere making them real people rather than just sillouettes
hi Siegrfried yes, his mastery of character is seen for me in 'Vestris' - a solo piece created for him by Jacobson to show a range of very different people in a short space of time. hard to pull off! and he could also articulate how he built a role and thought about the style of movement required for a ballet, such as the Fokine works he danced this quality comes out a lot in his book: 'Baryshnikov at Work' by Mikhail Baryshnikov (1978) really worth getting if you haven't it already cheers
Yes John I had a copy of that book but unfortunately misplaced it during a house move Another thing was Barishnikovs versatility shown by the many roles and different choreographers he worked with Ashton -Balanchine -Petit and Twyla tharp to name but a few !!!
Siegfried yes, part of the reason for his defection of course was to try different styles and while he was not 'natural' in all he attempted (such as Martha Graham rep.) he was pretty damn interesting to watch as a newcomer to some styles!
And don't forget Kolia in White Nights where he was really an actor in a film. Another dancer who has that acting ability is Nikolai Tsiskaridze who was premier dancer at Bolshoi for many years. Both were amazing actors in Petit's ballet Yong Man and Death.
I was fortunate enough to see him dance once live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA....he seems to float in the air and hang...defying gravity. He is beautiful!
Patricia Scott lucky to have seen him - i saw him in 1975 just after he defected - he toured, including Australia, with Makarova - 'Giselle' Act Two and the Don Q PDD - just wonderfully exciting! i saw him later at Covent Garden in 'Sleeping Beauty' i was a kid and these were great introductions to ballet!
La calificación más alta, de jueces y del público... Aún dudan de su exactitud y belleza en ejecución?. Siempre el mejor, no hay otro igual ni superior. Misha el mejor!!!
Absolute genius! Saw him and Fonteyn perform the pas de deux from Swan Lake in the mid 70's. Fonteyn was 55, regal and ripped. Her skin was alabaster. her torso and legs were granite, but her arms were so supple and liquid. They rippled and fluttered once, twice, three times, then collapsed in the final death throes. She had quite literally morphed into a swan and died so exquisitely, so elegantly before us. Fonteyn was technical and artistic perfection. She was my inspiration and why I started dancing with The Royal Ballet at 9. I remember her performance like it was yesterday. Baryshnikov is a god! I have never seen any danseur leap so high, spin so fast, turn 10-12 times and never as much as a wobble. He has beautiful feet, arched and perfectly pointed. So expressive and charismatic, he owned the stage the moment he walked onto it. My Russian teacher - she taught until she was nearly 90 and was a former ABT dancer (her mother partnered with Nijinsky) - saw both dance and said, in her opinion, Baryshnikov was the greatest. I never saw Nijinsky dance, of course, but I did put flowers on his grave in Montmartre Cemetery 2 years ago. It was covered in pink and lavender roses and a ballerina had placed her toe shoes there. Despite a bone spur (my only foot injury my entire life) and osteoarthritis in both hips, I managed a deep, slightly wobbly, reverence to show my respect for this legendary artist. It was early October, chestnut season in Paris, and the beauty of that place was otherworldly, At any moment, I expected Nijinsky to rise from his grave and dance among the falling leaves. I cherish the chestnuts I gathered from his grave. They sit in a beautiful crystal bowl in my home. I am looking at them now. Vive la danse!
+Tia Mia Wow, you are so lucky! I'm not a ballet lover, but Mikhail just takes my breath away. You said it more eloquently than I, and you were spot on. You have led a wonderful life!
To this day, I have not seen a danseur as gifted as him. He has/had it all. Not only did he have the intelligence and the unique physical abilities that make a great danseur, but he was a wonderful actor as well, so expressive and convincing in his roles. He also had that visceral connection with his audience - the "IT" factor - that all great artists have. I only saw him in live performance that one time, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
+Tia Mia yes, the most complete dancer i ever saw - he wrote a big format picture book - 'Baryshnikov at Work' - which he shows such great intelligence and understanding of history he brought to building each role. he came to Australia not long after defecting - 1976 i think - it was with Makarova - they did the Don Q PDD and Act 2 of 'Giselle' - true champagne! and then i saw him back in Europe in 'SL' and 'Beauty' and 'Romeo and Juliet' - great to look back on and enjoy in memory!
John Hall Hi John, a very happy New Year to you! I will definitely have to read that book. My dancing days are long over but once a dancer, always a dancer and I love watching ballet videos and reading books about ballet. I loved Makarova and all the ballets you mention. Ouch, those ballotes! I remember learning those from my Russian ballet teacher ("Pull up, pull up, keep your core!")...but I was young and very strong back then (not any more, boo-hoo). Seriously though, in interviews Baryshnikov shows himself to be a very sensitive, articulate, intelligent man, and that translated directly to the beauty and quality of his dancing. Non-dancers don't realize how very difficult and disciplined classical ballet is, that it's just not mastering the mechanics of the steps, stretching/contorting your body to unnatural extremes, and the memory involved to learn intricate choreography, but also the musicality, sensitivity and intelligence it takes to convey a character convincingly. Baryshnikov had ALL of this like no other. He is the greatest danseur I have seen in my lifetime, technical and artistic perfection (a mountain of roses at his feet!). I wish I could have seen Nijinsky dance. I felt incredibly honored to "just" stand at his grave at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. There in front of me lay the remains of the greatest danseur in history. It was too much to take in. I did a reverence then stood there for several minutes lost in the moment, the beauty of that place. I've read that Nureyev is buried in/near Paris as well. Definitely will pay my respects next time I'm there. Vive la danse!
+Tia Mia hi Tia Mia! you’ll enjoy the book, i promise! lots of wonderful photos too, as well as his insights into preparing for a role sig his understanding of the history of the creation of ballets. i trained with Rex Reid, a protégé like Robert Helpmann, who also went to Europe for a career - he was with Ballet Rambert - he was Moira Shearer;s partner for a time too. but i never went on to perform - my life took another turn and i ended up in academia. but the ballet is still in my blood - and i can’t bring myself to throw away some old tights and slipped i still have! Rex was great in class - he could ‘see’ issues and had a memorable way of correcting - my shoulders were too high one time and he said ‘you look as though you are wearing earrings!’! i love Baryshnikov’s humbleness too - saying how difficult he found ‘Spectre’ with all its deep plies. i agree he is the most complete intelligent dancer i have ever seen. such a pity nothing of Nijinsky exists on film except his walking down a street in Vienna in 1945 - Nureyev is buried in the most beautiful grave in a Russian cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris - it reflects his personality exactly - beautiful and exotic. cheers!
+2degucitas yes, not animal but strong and powerful and masculine - yes the porte de bras is very expressive! i feel lucky to have seen both on stage - absolutely two greats!
+2degucitas My Russian ballet teacher used to shake her finger in the air and declare, "There is NO perfection in ballet; we only strive for it!" But I saw perfection that night when I watched Baryshnikov dance on stage at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Dancers like him come around maybe once every a hundred years. Technical and artistic perfection.
yep, he compares well by todays standards. was lucky to see him just after he defected - in a tour of Australia with Makarova doing Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD.
John Hall he would be outstanding today too ,his cleaness and perfection in dancing ,his fastness ,his virtuosoty ,his superb schooling ,have a look at nawadays boring and weak mariinsky maledancers ,and what l told will appair very clearly.
John Hall me too saw in 75 just after his defection in giselle with fracci and don q with kirkland ,medea with fracci and again in 77 with kirkland in bayaderka. repeat that he would be stunning today too.have again a look at his giselle var who can do it like that today?
pediatrapaola i agree about his his Giselle var. on every level - such taste in the chore and interpretation decisions he makes! i would have preferred to see him with Fracci in Giselle - i saw Nureyev and the Italian ballerina in the ballet in Milan in 1973 (?) as i may have mentioned before. you are lucky to have seen so many of his early performances!
pediatrapaola i agree - he talks in 'Baryshnikov at Work' about trying to achieve the things you mention - and he did to an extraordinary degree. a thoughtful intelligent dancer, compared with ... .
sí y pensó profundamente sobre la creación de papeles y lo que significaba la tarea en relación con el ballet - "Baryshnikov en el Trabajo 'es un gran libro para revelar estas cualidades sobre Misha.
Juanita Ramírez sí, el libro es maravilloso - lleno de ideas acerca de la coreografía, las exigencias técnicas de determinados pasos y así sucesivamente. él es muy serio acerca de la danza, así como un gran bailarín. y luego se enfrentó a ser director artístico del ABT - un trabajo duro en cualquier compañía de ballet.
Es verdad. También el que hubiera bailado las coreografias de Twyla Tharp y experimentar movimientos y diferentes coreógrafos. El es muy versátil. Además... lo que es bastante meritorio y con la experiencia que tiene el abrir el Baryshnikov Arts Center. Imagínate todo el talento ahí concentrado. Magnífico.
Juanita Ramírez sí una asombrosa diversidad de las cosas que ha conseguido. y tomar algunos riesgos - como el Twyla Tharp 'hora de la verdad "- cuando habría sido más seguro y más esperado para bailar otra' Corsario 'o' Las sílfides '. y como hemos dicho se puede articular sus ideas tan bien en documentales y libros. hombre increíble!
Love it! Thank you so much for posting this! I was so sad when he hurt his knee. I just saw a docu on him, and was shocked that he's aged. Considering I was born in 1972 and this was in 1969... I supposed that was inevitable. There will never be another like him. Great ass, too. ;-)
Creo que siempre tuvo una libertad de espíritu y eso que eso fue lo que permitió que se expresara de esta manera, mas allá de los límites sociales, culturales y políticos
I have a DVD from the Moscow Competition where he won gold called Young Ballet.. so many famous dancers were judges there, Chabukiani, Alonso, Ulanova and others.
Sitizen Kane hi! i sit in the middle - cos i saw Rudi so much as a kid on stage and grew up with him in a sense - and then saw Misha as few times - notably touring Australia in 1976 with Mararova, doing Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD - so i feel committed to both on grounds that are not purely detached.
Yes, John Hall. Even if there are wonderful soloists nowadays, for me, not one of them has ever reached Nureev and Baryshnikov's perfection. Patrick Dupont and Nicolas Le Riche were maybe the ones who've been closer to this level. (Excuse me, my English isn't perfect :-)
yes, and it's more than technique - particularly for Baryshnikov, it's understanding the appropriate style of the ballet and the context of its making. your English is perfect - as a French speaker, i make lots of mistakes! :)
Oh, Misha doing 'La Bayadère' ! Yeah, I recognize this! Ho boy, I recognize this... How can I not? This was probably his best... more than his "Nutcracker" on "Don Quixote". Even his "Sex and the City"! Now I personally thought he did it better than Nureyev. Now Rudi has his own unique style... He danced with a lot of passion and anger and intensity. Even a practical re-definition of what ballet and male bravura was supposed to be about. The only thing missing is the scene where they drape the medal around his neck.
+Dane Youssef i agree with you - i think he did it better than Nureyev - not mannered in the way Rudi could be. and it's so great seeing a great dancer at the very beginning of their career, with all the promise for things to come. yes, the scene with them giving Baryshnikov being given the gold medal is on YT - which i guess you know. i have the whole competition - i should have added this at the end :(
....then in the 1980's we were standing in the parking lot out at the end of machine gun alley, a girl named Nadia was talking about gymnastics, the kids asked, "Who's that?" "His name's Mikhail Baryshnikov.". " He's a ballet dancer." she continued. The kids said that she was going back to Belarus and "He's a defector." they said about Mikhail, "He's going to stay." They were standing on the other side of the Berlin Wall, out in the middle of nowhere.
your description 'Balzac can see, a gigantic, monstrous complexity in every human being' reminds me of Rodin's famous statue of him - which turns this vision of his into physical characteristics.
i agree about Balzac being able to look with a clear eye i was reading Émile Zola's 'Thérèse Raquin' the other day and felt the eye was too clear and cold - probably just my mood of the day - i wish i was more consistent in my reactions!
Хороший танцовщик Барышников - это безупречная техника + чистота русской академической школы...но всегда есть сравнение. Внешние данные + фактура , презентация мужского стиля танца- это ГОДУНОВ Александр.
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My favorite thing is how he stops cold. Like he’s a statue you only dreamed you saw moving.
yes, the control is amazing - and allows his to express exactly as he wishes
Great comment, spot on!
Perfection in everything he does. Wonderful grace, elevation, power, beauty of line, perfect placing and thrilling performance with a great dramatic gift for interpretation of a role and real musicality. Totally inspirational in all that he does. Hurray for him! What an example for us all.
alison dowdeswell yes, it's very hard to pick a flaw - even if one were in the mood too! from his phrasing the chore to the music and his creation of character to technique - he is very interesting about his work in 'Baryshnikov at Work' which you may well know.
An absolute joy to watch and as other posters noted, he had the audacity to improve quite significantly which is hard to fathom. There is a generosity to his spirit and art. Incredible musicality and presence. Devoid of pretence and artifice.
I was lucky to see him in the Nutcracker as a child (my first ballet), and even more lucky to be old enough to remember. I have loved ballet ever since.
my sentiments exactly. i saw him first in the mid 1970s on a tour of Australia (of all places) - he danced a Don Q PDD and did Act 2 of 'Giselle' with Natalia Makarova
Misha was so young, so artistic, so athletic! !
Amazing. I saw him perform six times during the ‘70s when he was with the ABT. His performances were far superior to these two. So even though he was a little older by then, his artistry and technique were incredible.
The height the technique absolutely flawless
absolutely!
Who knew his technique would actually IMPROVE over the years!!
Yes! Even into the late 1980s! And he's still acting in 2022, in plays..
His technique is faultless and his interpretation magnificent ! That says it all !
+Voichita Cociasu yes, the performance i see in my mind when i hear the music!
+Voichita Cociasu I have got to agree.
Exacto en sus pasos, técnica impecable!! Bellísimo y masculino, expresivo y lo más importante: baila al son de la música!! Baila y baila, lo lleva en la sangre, en los músculos, la expresión de una pasión, la fuerza del ser humano potencialmente divino!!! Es y será el mejor bailarín del mundo, le guste al mundo, o no!!! mi aplauso eterno, y mi eterna rendición a semejante elegancia y perfección!! A tí, amante del ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, mi humilde devoción!!
Nice to see how much the audience truly appreciated him. He will always be counted among the very best dancers.
mgraulau hi - yes i know dancers feed off an audience's reaction - it can really inspire them to excel!
Christ almighty he makes it look so effortless. He makes it look easy yet breathtaking
Erica Rouge Lazarus that was his gift. He was doing movements that everybody KNEW were close to impossible and he made it look like they were trivial.
Just watched Bayadere today in the movie theater with the Bolshoi. Lovely. But nobody, to this day, does it better.
Gravity simply doesn't rule him as it does the rest of us. Lovely.
true!
Thanks for posting such an artistic document!!!
What an unbelievable talent. He makes it look so easy!
In college my roommate had a huge poster of Mikhail on the wall. Every night the last thing I saw was his dreamy face. Every morning he was the first thing I saw. I've never been a fan of ballet but I'm certainly a fan of Mikhail Baryshnikov.
yes, he was so beautiful and gentle seeing :)
Extraordinary.........
Очень хорошо помню его выступления на этом конкурсе. Смотрела по телевизору. Запомнила только его и Еву Евдокимову.
I just finished watching White Nights, this man is an incredible talent that only come once in 100 years. Besides being a great dancer he is a fantastic actor and he even played piano, a Chopin waltz. And here at such young age he is a flawless Solor.
yes hard to think of a ballet he would not be successful. he is very intelligent about his research into ballets he is about to perform, the specific technical and expressive challenges of each and so on in his book "Baryshnikov at Work' - do you know this book? lots of great images too!
No, I haven't seen the book,, have to find it, thank you. Tsiskaridze is similar and also wrote a book, also a very intelligent man and very knowledgeable about ballet, literature, opera and art. I have a great photo of him in Albrecht costume with Lunkina, Misha and Katia Maximova after guest performance at ABT.
Are you on FB? I have there on my page lots of photos and have a ballet group.
the book is well worth getting - i see it about for sale a lot, including cheaply on Amazon www.amazon.com/Baryshnikov-at-Work-Mikhail/dp/0394735870 by the way is the Tsiskaridze you mention in English or Russian?pity YT doesn't have a photo sharing function - the one of Lunkina, Misha and Katia Maximova after guest performance at ABT sounds great. i have a blog just for posting photos and then i had a link from here to the photo in the blog - one way to try to get round the problem!
I buy all my books and CDs on Amazon so I will take a look. There were two books about Tsiskaridze, one a photo album and the other his bio and reviews about him, they were on Amazon and Russians wanted a fortune for them, now they are not available, I haven't seen the one he wrote, they are in Russian. One way for you to see the pictures is on Facebook in my group and my page.
Incredible!
Misha is THE BEST...
WINNER 😘
amazing is not the word, you can see the joy and passion.... draws you in... unbelievable
and the control without it being seen as technique - yes, unbelievable
His jumps are always so high and effortless... The best ballet dancer of all times!
i agree! and he floats at the top of a jump. fantastic! i saw him a few times on stage not long after he defected - amazing amazing!
The remarkable thing about Barishnikov was not only his amazing dancing and elevation but he was one of those rare dancers who could really act as well and make you believe in the character he was playing -be it Basil in Don Quixote-Colas in La Fille -Solor in Bayadere making them real people rather than just sillouettes
hi Siegrfried
yes, his mastery of character is seen for me in 'Vestris' - a solo piece created for him by Jacobson to show a range of very different people in a short space of time. hard to pull off!
and he could also articulate how he built a role and thought about the style of movement required for a ballet, such as the Fokine works he danced
this quality comes out a lot in his book:
'Baryshnikov at Work' by Mikhail Baryshnikov (1978)
really worth getting if you haven't it already
cheers
Yes John I had a copy of that book but unfortunately misplaced it during a house move Another thing was Barishnikovs versatility shown by the many roles and different choreographers he worked with Ashton -Balanchine -Petit and Twyla tharp to name but a few !!!
Siegfried yes, part of the reason for his defection of course was to try different styles and while he was not 'natural' in all he attempted (such as Martha Graham rep.) he was pretty damn interesting to watch as a newcomer to some styles!
And don't forget Kolia in White Nights where he was really an actor in a film. Another dancer who has that acting ability is Nikolai Tsiskaridze who was premier dancer at Bolshoi for many years. Both were amazing actors in Petit's ballet Yong Man and Death.
I was fortunate enough to see him dance once live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA....he seems to float in the air and hang...defying gravity. He is beautiful!
Patricia Scott lucky to have seen him - i saw him in 1975 just after he defected - he toured, including Australia, with Makarova - 'Giselle' Act Two and the Don Q PDD - just wonderfully exciting!
i saw him later at Covent Garden in 'Sleeping Beauty'
i was a kid and these were great introductions to ballet!
Goose bumps every time I watch this. Wow.
Perfecto,como siempre.
Simply amazingly beautiful. Perfection. I could watch him dance for hours and hours and think it was only for a few minutes.
La calificación más alta, de jueces y del público... Aún dudan de su exactitud y belleza en ejecución?. Siempre el mejor, no hay otro igual ni superior. Misha el mejor!!!
Absolute genius! Saw him and Fonteyn perform the pas de deux from Swan Lake in the mid 70's. Fonteyn was 55, regal and ripped. Her skin was alabaster. her torso and legs were granite, but her arms were so supple and liquid. They rippled and fluttered once, twice, three times, then collapsed in the final death throes. She had quite literally morphed into a swan and died so exquisitely, so elegantly before us. Fonteyn was technical and artistic perfection. She was my inspiration and why I started dancing with The Royal Ballet at 9. I remember her performance like it was yesterday. Baryshnikov is a god! I have never seen any danseur leap so high, spin so fast, turn 10-12 times and never as much as a wobble. He has beautiful feet, arched and perfectly pointed. So expressive and charismatic, he owned the stage the moment he walked onto it. My Russian teacher - she taught until she was nearly 90 and was a former ABT dancer (her mother partnered with Nijinsky) - saw both dance and said, in her opinion, Baryshnikov was the greatest. I never saw Nijinsky dance, of course, but I did put flowers on his grave in Montmartre Cemetery 2 years ago. It was covered in pink and lavender roses and a ballerina had placed her toe shoes there. Despite a bone spur (my only foot injury my entire life) and osteoarthritis in both hips, I managed a deep, slightly wobbly, reverence to show my respect for this legendary artist. It was early October, chestnut season in Paris, and the beauty of that place was otherworldly, At any moment, I expected Nijinsky to rise from his grave and dance among the falling leaves. I cherish the chestnuts I gathered from his grave. They sit in a beautiful crystal bowl in my home. I am looking at them now. Vive la danse!
+Tia Mia Wow, you are so lucky! I'm not a ballet lover, but Mikhail just takes my breath away. You said it more eloquently than I, and you were spot on. You have led a wonderful life!
To this day, I have not seen a danseur as gifted as him. He has/had it all. Not only did he have the intelligence and the unique physical abilities that make a great danseur, but he was a wonderful actor as well, so expressive and convincing in his roles. He also had that visceral connection with his audience - the "IT" factor - that all great artists have. I only saw him in live performance that one time, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
+Tia Mia
yes, the most complete dancer i ever saw - he wrote a big format picture book - 'Baryshnikov at Work' - which he shows such great intelligence and understanding of history he brought to building each role.
he came to Australia not long after defecting - 1976 i think - it was with Makarova - they did the Don Q PDD and Act 2 of 'Giselle' - true champagne!
and then i saw him back in Europe in 'SL' and 'Beauty' and 'Romeo and Juliet' - great to look back on and enjoy in memory!
John Hall Hi John, a very happy New Year to you! I will definitely have to read that book. My dancing days are long over but once a dancer, always a dancer and I love watching ballet videos and reading books about ballet. I loved Makarova and all the ballets you mention. Ouch, those ballotes! I remember learning those from my Russian ballet teacher ("Pull up, pull up, keep your core!")...but I was young and very strong back then (not any more, boo-hoo). Seriously though, in interviews Baryshnikov shows himself to be a very sensitive, articulate, intelligent man, and that translated directly to the beauty and quality of his dancing. Non-dancers don't realize how very difficult and disciplined classical ballet is, that it's just not mastering the mechanics of the steps, stretching/contorting your body to unnatural extremes, and the memory involved to learn intricate choreography, but also the musicality, sensitivity and intelligence it takes to convey a character convincingly. Baryshnikov had ALL of this like no other. He is the greatest danseur I have seen in my lifetime, technical and artistic perfection (a mountain of roses at his feet!). I wish I could have seen Nijinsky dance. I felt incredibly honored to "just" stand at his grave at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. There in front of me lay the remains of the greatest danseur in history. It was too much to take in. I did a reverence then stood there for several minutes lost in the moment, the beauty of that place. I've read that Nureyev is buried in/near Paris as well. Definitely will pay my respects next time I'm there. Vive la danse!
+Tia Mia
hi Tia Mia!
you’ll enjoy the book, i promise! lots of wonderful photos too, as well as his insights into preparing for a role sig his understanding of the history of the creation of ballets.
i trained with Rex Reid, a protégé like Robert Helpmann, who also went to Europe for a career - he was with Ballet Rambert - he was Moira Shearer;s partner for a time too.
but i never went on to perform - my life took another turn and i ended up in academia. but the ballet is still in my blood - and i can’t bring myself to throw away some old tights and slipped i still have!
Rex was great in class - he could ‘see’ issues and had a memorable way of correcting - my shoulders were too high one time and he said ‘you look as though you are wearing earrings!’!
i love Baryshnikov’s humbleness too - saying how difficult he found ‘Spectre’ with all its deep plies.
i agree he is the most complete intelligent dancer i have ever seen.
such a pity nothing of Nijinsky exists on film except his walking down a street in Vienna in 1945 -
Nureyev is buried in the most beautiful grave in a Russian cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris - it reflects his personality exactly - beautiful and exotic.
cheers!
Magnifique!
Those attitude turns en dehors are no easy feat! Amazing!
I fell in love with you in 1974
so many did :)
Incredible dancer.
Magnifico. Altro che Bolle !
Magnifique !!!!
He has such beautiful arm work. More lyrical than Nureyev, but without the animal power. Two greats.
+2degucitas yes, not animal but strong and powerful and masculine - yes the porte de bras is very expressive! i feel lucky to have seen both on stage - absolutely two greats!
+2degucitas My Russian ballet teacher used to shake her finger in the air and declare, "There is NO perfection in ballet; we only strive for it!" But I saw perfection that night when I watched Baryshnikov dance on stage at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Dancers like him come around maybe once every a hundred years. Technical and artistic perfection.
@@JohnRaymondHall The best gracious "port de bras" I've seen.
He could do some MAD spinning round kicks in Taekwondo. WOW!
He was just 22 years old then, 1969, now he's 69 and still dancing.
and dancing intelligently and within his capabilities - still good to watch!
I remember when he defected. The world was stunned, but we were so happy to have him.
+PinkLederhosen yes, more than happy - and the same with Makarova and Godunov.
Thank you for posting
pleasure :)
Baryshnikov is absolute genius!
yes, one of the greatest!
Барышников- хороший танцор... но не для классики) сейча записи с таким исполнением вызывают только улыбку)
The greatest ever...
can't disagree!
Increible!!!!!
Awesome - and it's the least I can say for this awesome performance !
+Voichita Cociasu awesome indeed - and the first real glimpses of Baryshnikov for the West
+John Hall - He was and is still proud of that performance ! In spite of his outstanding career !
+Voichita Cociasu
hi!
yes, and so he should be!
:)
What a beautiful spirit!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
*MISHA*
He adds new meaning to the word "Superhuman"...
That was such a long time ago I was only four but what a talent even now to be in that kind of condition
👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋
So Russian in style, naturally. Love the jumps, spins, and musculature of the young Bary.
+Tee JuneE
yes yes yes yes yes - absolutely yes to all those five comments :)
and grace
Tuve la suerte y el honor de verlo varias vecez
Wowwww, el mejor!!!
More more of Misha please ¡¡¡
hi Feliandyx16
yes, there can never be enough of Misha!!!
Bravo!
exactly! :)
45 years ago ,and still outstanding in skills and portraying
yep, he compares well by todays standards. was lucky to see him just after he defected - in a tour of Australia with Makarova doing Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD.
John Hall he would be outstanding today too ,his cleaness and perfection in dancing ,his fastness ,his virtuosoty ,his superb schooling ,have a look at nawadays boring and weak mariinsky maledancers ,and what l told will appair very clearly.
John Hall me too saw in 75 just after his defection in giselle with fracci and don q with kirkland ,medea with fracci and again in 77 with kirkland in bayaderka. repeat that he would be stunning today too.have again a look at his giselle var who can do it like that today?
pediatrapaola i agree about his his Giselle var. on every level - such taste in the chore and interpretation decisions he makes! i would have preferred to see him with Fracci in Giselle - i saw Nureyev and the Italian ballerina in the ballet in Milan in 1973 (?) as i may have mentioned before. you are lucky to have seen so many of his early performances!
pediatrapaola i agree - he talks in 'Baryshnikov at Work' about trying to achieve the things you mention - and he did to an extraordinary degree. a thoughtful intelligent dancer, compared with ... .
❤️❤️❤️
Больше всего меня поражает графичность танца Михаила. Сегодня у растянутых и техничных артистов нет этой чёткости линий на полу и в воздухе...
Да, у него каждое движение отточено, каждый поворот, каждый жест.
Misha es el ejemplo del bailarín dedicado, con disciplina. Ojalá los jóvenes que están iniciando en este arte sean tan virtuosos como el.
sí y pensó profundamente sobre la creación de papeles y lo que significaba la tarea en relación con el ballet - "Baryshnikov en el Trabajo 'es un gran libro para revelar estas cualidades sobre Misha.
Voy a leer el libro. Desde muy joven me he interesado en el trabajo de Misha... Gracias!
Juanita Ramírez sí, el libro es maravilloso - lleno de ideas acerca de la coreografía, las exigencias técnicas de determinados pasos y así sucesivamente. él es muy serio acerca de la danza, así como un gran bailarín. y luego se enfrentó a ser director artístico del ABT - un trabajo duro en cualquier compañía de ballet.
Es verdad. También el que hubiera bailado las coreografias de Twyla Tharp y experimentar movimientos y diferentes coreógrafos. El es muy versátil. Además... lo que es bastante meritorio y con la experiencia que tiene el abrir el Baryshnikov Arts Center. Imagínate todo el talento ahí concentrado. Magnífico.
Juanita Ramírez sí una asombrosa diversidad de las cosas que ha conseguido. y tomar algunos riesgos - como el Twyla Tharp 'hora de la verdad "- cuando habría sido más seguro y más esperado para bailar otra' Corsario 'o' Las sílfides '. y como hemos dicho se puede articular sus ideas tan bien en documentales y libros. hombre increíble!
The Fred Astaire-like ability to make the very difficult look easy, with power that drops your jaw.
he simply brilliant!
isn't he!
That is a man who can stop on a dime.
+Elaine S true - and very rare!
21 yrs old
Love it! Thank you so much for posting this! I was so sad when he hurt his knee. I just saw a docu on him, and was shocked that he's aged. Considering I was born in 1972 and this was in 1969... I supposed that was inevitable. There will never be another like him. Great ass, too. ;-)
Thank you for sharing.
very happy to share!
me encantó el es bailarín increíble genio famoso besos
+Mercedes Cervantes absolutamente un genio de la danza - el bailarín más completo que he visto nunca! ¡Besos!
Maravilloso!!! el talento de abre y se demuestra en una sociedad que lo siente y permite
+Adriana Mañero sí, él tenía mucha libertad para probar cosas nuevas cuando vino al oeste y tuvimos mucha suerte de poder verlo a continuación
Creo que siempre tuvo una libertad de espíritu y eso que eso fue lo que permitió que se expresara de esta manera, mas allá de los límites sociales, culturales y políticos
+Adriana Mañero Sí, acepto totalmente - es por eso que tuvo que salir de Rusia para Occidente - y tenía una variada y sorprendente carrera tan
More new videos of Misha please :]
magnificient!!!!😄
The greatest !!
+Madelyn5454 absolutely!!
Bravo Bravo❤
I have a DVD from the Moscow Competition where he won gold called Young Ballet.. so many famous dancers were judges there, Chabukiani, Alonso, Ulanova and others.
yes, i have this too - and the 1965 one with Hideo Fukagawa
cest magnifique!
c'est vrai!
John Hall Qui, merci.
pas du tout!
PERFECT
I'm more of a Nureyev guy but Baryshnikov's technicality is outstanding.
Sitizen Kane
hi!
i sit in the middle - cos i saw Rudi so much as a kid on stage and grew up with him in a sense - and then saw Misha as few times - notably touring Australia in 1976 with Mararova, doing Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD - so i feel committed to both on grounds that are not purely detached.
21 years old.
happy twenty first!
Gracias!!!!!!!!!Grandioso!
hi Tina, yes, a totally complete dancer!
CUANDO BAILAR ES VOLAR!!!
He can fly!
yes he soars!
happy to oblige! one of my all-time favourite dancers!
tomorrow or the next day.
cheers!
Thé Best
absolutely! :)
Uno de los mejores!Tengo el dvd del Quijote con Cinthia Harvey!
Just perfect.
absolutely!
Yes, John Hall. Even if there are wonderful soloists nowadays, for me, not one of them has ever reached Nureev and Baryshnikov's perfection. Patrick Dupont and Nicolas Le Riche were maybe the ones who've been closer to this level. (Excuse me, my English isn't perfect :-)
yes, and it's more than technique - particularly for Baryshnikov, it's understanding the appropriate style of the ballet and the context of its making. your English is perfect - as a French speaker, i make lots of mistakes! :)
+Maria Jesus Ortega
muchas gracias - y un buen domingo por la tarde a usted también - espero que la próxima semana es una buena!
+John Hall gracias - alegro que te guste también - espero que tu semana es una muy buena también!
The ballon!
yes, amazing!
Oh, Misha doing 'La Bayadère' ! Yeah, I recognize this! Ho boy, I recognize this... How can I not? This was probably his best... more than his "Nutcracker" on "Don Quixote". Even his "Sex and the City"! Now I personally thought he did it better than Nureyev. Now Rudi has his own unique style... He danced with a lot of passion and anger and intensity. Even a practical re-definition of what ballet and male bravura was supposed to be about. The only thing missing is the scene where they drape the medal around his neck.
+Dane Youssef i agree with you - i think he did it better than Nureyev - not mannered in the way Rudi could be. and it's so great seeing a great dancer at the very beginning of their career, with all the promise for things to come. yes, the scene with them giving Baryshnikov being given the gold medal is on YT - which i guess you know. i have the whole competition - i should have added this at the end :(
....then in the 1980's we were standing in the parking lot out at the end of machine gun alley, a girl named Nadia was talking about gymnastics, the kids asked, "Who's that?"
"His name's Mikhail Baryshnikov.". " He's a ballet dancer." she continued.
The kids said that she was going back to Belarus and "He's a defector." they said about Mikhail, "He's going to stay."
They were standing on the other side of the Berlin Wall, out in the middle of nowhere.
your description 'Balzac can see, a gigantic, monstrous complexity in every human being' reminds me of Rodin's famous statue of him - which turns this vision of his into physical characteristics.
Tempos áureos do balet e na minha opinião, até hoje, não surgiu outro que dê para comparar.
luizacarral Concordo em absoluto!
I'm sorry he's not at desk in anymore he's not dancing anymore I miss him
me too - so exciting seeing him on stage in the theatre!
Beautiful
absolutely!
i agree about Balzac being able to look with a clear eye
i was reading Émile Zola's 'Thérèse Raquin' the other day and felt the eye was too clear and cold - probably just my mood of the day - i wish i was more consistent in my reactions!
hi Gloria - yes, isn't he!
Faultless
Why can’t I be as much of a good dancer :(
and why couldn't i LOL :)
When the floor is lava
Хороший танцовщик Барышников - это безупречная техника + чистота русской академической школы...но всегда есть сравнение. Внешние данные + фактура , презентация мужского стиля танца- это ГОДУНОВ Александр.
Никаких сравнений, хватит! Барышникова ни с кем нельзя сравнивать, потому что он Барышников!!! Кстати он и внешне хорош.
класс лайк вам
that sculpture reminds me of Balzac's famous character, Vautrin, gigantic villain with insightful malice yet very caring in a strange way.