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Two-part Baryshnikov interview by Tavis Smiley


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Most surprising: "I don't go to Russia." Wow! Sad!

I missed Pt. 1, so thanks for linking, California!

I thought it was a very interesting interview.

As far as Russia goes--he pooh-poohs psychoanalysis, but it's clear the wounds go very deep though they are framed in terms of his anger at the country for the suffering and (as he described it, from his perspective) absurdity of his parents' lives. Smiley did not push him on post-Soviet Russia, but Baryshnikov volunteered a sentence to the effect that it had changed, yes, but not in the way he would have liked.

He rambled a bit at times but I thought Smiley was right to let him do so rather than interupt.

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Part II is now on the Smiley site in streaming video: http://video.pbs.org/video/2221951497

His memories of the Soviet Union, Latvia, and his parents are quite moving.

In other interviews over the years, he has said specifically that the KGB still seems to be running Russia. Putin, of course, is a former KGB agent, so there's something to that. Makarova has gone back to visit and left her personal archives to the Mariinsky. Baryshnikov left his to the NYPL Dance Collection (for which we can all be extremely grateful).

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His memories of the Soviet Union, Latvia, and his parents are quite moving..

They certainly are. I would have loved for the program to last 90 minutes instead of 30, as he clearly had a lot to say - it was riveting and must have been very difficult to edit to fit the timeframe.

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