The 50th anniversary of Baryshnikov's defection

[volcanohunter]

Mikhail Baryshnikov defected in Toronto on 29 June 1974.

Michael Crabb provides a detailed timeline.

The New York Times interviews Baryshnikov.

 

[Marta]

Thanks for the link to the fascinating article by Michael Crabbe.  

[volcanohunter]

It's behind a paywall, but journalist John Fraser, who was directly involved in Baryshnikov's defection, has also published a lengthy anniversary piece in the Globe and Mail. I'll try to pick out the salient bits without exceeding allowed republication limits.

"...It is not at all a stretch to say that this singular act, which made headlines around the world, dramatically changed the course of the art of dance during the next half-century.

"That’s a big statement. But when you consider how this one artist bolstered the classical ballet at the same time as he thrust himself into both popular entertainment dance as well as some of the outer boundaries of avant-garde 'movement,' it is not inaccurate at all. On top of all that, he longed – what am I saying, he lusted – after every artistic opportunity that came his way, as well as pushing for experiences he had to fight hard to do."

"...There were no serious repercussions because of the defection. He was already well estranged from his father, his mother had died when he was very young, and, as a bit of a loner, he had kept his friends at a safe distance. That’s why as soon as Misha managed to get his new life in New York into some sort of order, he began performing with extraordinary urgency and prowess at American Ballet Theatre. Like so many who remember those days at ABT, the athletic magic combined with his impeccable and elegant demeanour established new highs in the world of dance. He had, for example, a trademark tour en l’air in which he jumped so high as he crossed his legs at the high point that you had the distinct impression he was literally walking on air. For me, this was the physical reality T.S. Eliot evoked when he described 'the still point in the turning world.'"

"...And as his physical strengths gradually succumbed to the realities of aging, he was always moving restlessly along, looking for new opportunities. I mean, honest to God, just a few months ago I went down to Montreal to see him perform anonymously as the Yellow Clown in an extraordinary theatrical curiosity, Slava’s SnowShow. Performance after performance, no one in the Montreal venue had a clue that the world’s most celebrated living dancer was in their midst; that anonymity after a life so focused on centre stage gave him enormous satisfaction. He said he enjoyed feeling nervous on stage again!"

And: "I asked him once what his motivation was for taking on this role in that particular show [Sex and the City]. The answer was pure Baryshnikov: 'Finally,' he said, with the same twinkle in his eyes that enraptured more than just Ms. [Sarah Jessica] Parker, 'I wanted to try to be in something my children weren’t allowed to watch.'"

Finally: "Is this now the place for the obligatory 'fair disclosure'? It’s one I can make with huge pride and gratitude. I was a performing arts journalist (dance and second-string music reviewer) for this newspaper in 1974. In an escapade that now seems to me closer to a Feydeau farce, I was able surreptitiously to hand him a note with a phone number that put him in touch with his friends who were ready in New York to help him make his decision. That little act of intrigue won for me a dear, generous and loyal friend for all these subsequent 50 years."

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-fifty-years-after-his-defection-were-still-living-in-the-age-of/ 

Edited July 2 by volcanohunter
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[Marta]

Thank you again. I loved the choice bits you quoted and especially enjoyed reading how MB played the Yellow Clown.

[volcanohunter]

I'm a little slow in posting, but this piece includes details about how Baryshnikov's defection intersected with Lorne Greene and Richard Nixon.

https://www.tvo.org/article/my-life-is-my-art-why-mikhail-baryshnikov-defected-in-toronto-half-a-century-ago

[Helene]

I was on a summer program for high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit; it took place about an hour outside of NYC.  The program directors decided to take us on two cultural trips, one to the theater and one to Lincoln Center, and they booked group tickets in advance.  We saw Moon for the Misbegotten with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards, and for Lincoln Center, the choice was a Mostly Mozart concert.

The date was July 27, 1974.  When I learned that Baryshnikov was making his American debut, I demanded to know why the program directors hadn't chosen ABT instead of Mostly Mozart.  Their response was, "Well, we didn't think the boys would like the ballet."  I have never been able to listen to Bach Brandenburg #5 happily since.

[Jayne]

15 minutes ago, Helene said:

I was on a summer program for high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit; it took place about an hour outside of NYC.  The program directors decided to take us on two cultural trips, one to the theater and one to Lincoln Center, and they booked group tickets in advance.  We saw Moon for the Misbegotten with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards, and for Lincoln Center, the choice was a Mostly Mozart concert.

The date was July 27, 1974.  When I learned that Baryshnikov was making his American debut, I demanded to know why the program directors hadn't chosen ABT instead of Mostly Mozart.  Their response was, "Well, we didn't think the boys would like the ballet."  I have never been able to listen to Bach Brandenburg #5 happily since.

What a memory of a missed opportunity! 

[volcanohunter]

Aargh!

Admittedly, it would have been difficult to score tickets to that Giselle. But if the program directors had succeeded, those boys would have received lifelong I-was-there bragging rights.

[Helene]

They'd bought the tickets before Baryshnikov's defection to Canada and long before anyone knew he'd guest with ABT that summer.  There were plenty of tickets to be had to either performance, and opted for Mostly Mozart.  

Some of the boys actually did care when the read the NYT review.

I'm not sure Giselle was the original programming.  For some reason, I remembered it as a mixed bill, but I could be completely wrong about that.

[Marta]

5 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

I'm a little slow in posting, but this piece includes details about how Baryshnikov's defection intersected with Lorne Greene and Richard Nixon.

https://www.tvo.org/article/my-life-is-my-art-why-mikhail-baryshnikov-defected-in-toronto-half-a-century-ago

Thanks for this article.  It's much more detailed than most of the  articles published in the US when Baryshnikov first landed in our midst.

[Meliss]

On 6/29/2024 at 11:22 AM, volcanohunter said:

Mikhail Baryshnikov defected in Toronto on 29 June 1974.

 

Why did Baryshnikov become the art director of ABT after Chase? Was there no one else or was someone promoting him?

[Helene]

Because the Board asked him to.  The Board members at the time wanted him to succeed Chase.   Anyone who isn't a founder of their own company only gets the job by being supported by enough of the Board to be chosen as a successor to someone else.  Sometimes it's the result of a long and exhaustive selection process, and sometimes the Board makes an offer without much input or even advertising the opening. Some Board members always have more clout than others, but they'd still need to align other people behind them. 

Bujones wrote that Makarova wanted to be Chase's successor, but she didn't have the support.  So there was a least one other person who wanted it, and there were likely more. 

ABT under Chase was buoyed by the 1970's dance boom, but money was drying up as the boom receded, and even some Board members who'd supported her thought that, at minimum, she should be open to a succession plan, or, at worst for her, that she should retire, and she was not interested in either.  So she was ousted.  Enough of the Board also wanted to "modernize" ABT, which is ironic since they started as a company that did contemporary ballet, and only added the classics later.  With the classics came the need for international stars, which became a double-edged, expensive sword.  Promoting from within is always cheaper, and the dancers you choose usually support your leadership in return.  

The best way to modernize is to have someone with the best classical credentials be behind it.  It's like Nixon could go to China and not be called a Communist, while a Democratic president could not.  There was no one in the US with better classical credentials, he had been a member of the company, and there he was for the taking, as Balanchine grew ill, and Baryshnikov was suffering from tendonitis, a common issue with Balanchine dancers, both homegrown and those who joined as established dancers.

Ballet companies are workplaces, and a lot of what happens in business happens in ballet companies.  A founder who won't leave a public company/institution and is pushed out by the Board is pretty common.

Again, timing plays a role.  If Chase had been willing to retire five years earlier, she might have had a say in her successor.  The Board making the choice would have been different, and they might have been looking for something else, they might not have considered Baryshnikov seriously at the time, they might have wanted Chase's blessing, there might have been other choices available, etc.  Seven years later was as very different time for ABT.

[Meliss]

10 hours ago, Helene said:

Because the Board asked him to.  The Board members at the time wanted him to succeed Chase.

Thank you. It's just strange that the position was not offered to someone from the ABT, but was offered to someone who had left this theater with a promise not to return. It is also interesting what was the reason for the strike of ABT dancers at the beginning of the first season under the leadership of Baryshnikov.

[Helene]

Many companies hire people who are not from within the company.  I don’t find it at all strange that National Ballet of Canada hired Erik Bruin, that La Scala hired Manuel Legris, that San Francisco Ballet hired Helgi Tomasson, then Tamara Rojo, that Saint Louis Ballet hired Gen Horiuchi, that Boston Ballet hired Mikko Nissenen, that Royal Ballet hired Ross Stratton, that Pacific Noerthwest Ballet chose Peter Boal (over three people who’d been established and/or star Principal Dancers with the company)  anymore than I find it strange when dancers hire from within or from dancers who left.

Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.  

If dancers are going to strike, it’s at then end of contract negotiations, when their union and management’s/the Board’s lawyers can’t come to an agreement the dancers can accept.  The issue are money/benefits and workplace conditions, like where they stay and transport on tour, the number of rehearsals they can do in a day and how often there are mandatory breaks, how often the costumes are cleaned, etc.  

That timing is fixed.

[Meliss]

5 hours ago, Helene said:

 The issue are money/benefits and workplace conditions,

It seemed to me that strikes took place in ABT more often and for longer than in other theaters during that period. Was that not the case?

[Helene]

Not necessarily.  NYCB dancers struck less often because Balanchine told them he'd just leave and start another company in Switzerland. and the dancers mostly backed down.  The musicians were another story, because both companies' orchestras did strike.

If ABT dancers struck a lot, it would have been across multiple managements.  Baryshnikov only actively managed ABT for a few years and was a figurehead for nearly as long.

[Meliss]

On 8/10/2024 at 12:32 AM, Helene said:

Baryshnikov only actively managed ABT for a few years and was a figurehead for nearly as long.

Really? And why did the theater need a figurehead ?

[Helene]

The Board decided that it was better for him to be the figurehead Artistic Director than to hire someone else. 

They had the power, and that's the way they used it.

[Meliss]

1 minute ago, Helene said:

The Board decided that it was better for him to be the figurehead Artistic Director than to hire someone else. 

They had the power, and that's the way they used it.

I understand that they decided that way, but I don't understand why. What was wrong with him as an art director? And what does figurehead mean? Did the Board of Directors make decisions for him?

[Helene]

Baryshnikov wanted to quit: being Artistic Director of ABT after a couple of years.  The Board preferred him to be Artistic Director with as much or as little involvement as he wanted, presumably for the prestige and as a name to raise money behind. 

Being a figurehead means your name is on the role, but not doing the job in full or at all.  From Bujones' memoir, Baryshnikov was still involved to a small extent, but not to the full extent.  He had a lot of outside interests at the time, and he was still dancing, albeit mostly modern/contemporary work.

Even when he was in the role, the Board was fine with him picking and choosing what he wanted to do, and he was notoriously uninterested in confrontation or delivering bad news, which is why it was so unusual for him to have written to Bujones with accusations instead of just leaving it with Dillingham.  But, of course, with a letter, it's not face-to-face/eye-to-eye.

[Meliss]

10 minutes ago, Helene said:

Being a figurehead means your name is on the role, but not doing the job in full or at all. 

Is this typical of American theaters, or was there a special case with Baryshnikov?

[Helene]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, which is an established source for etymology (word origin) of the English language, the first known use of the word "figurehead" is from the mid-1700's.  It applies to far more than the theater.

[Meliss]

39 minutes ago, Helene said:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, which is an established source for etymology (word origin) of the English language, the first known use of the word "figurehead" is from the mid-1700's.  It applies to far more than the theater.

It seems to me that not everyone would agree to be figurehead.

[Helene]

That is true:  not everyone would.  For whatever reason, Baryshnikov, who tried to resign, was asked and he agreed. .  It was not an easy time for the company -- moving on from a founder is rarely easy, even when there is a friendly win/win decision on both sides -- and from the outside and where the money was, it was an important decision.  Most people looking from the outside would have no reason to know that Baryshnikov, the most well-known dancer in the US at the time, was mostly a figurehead.

[Meliss]

1 hour ago, Helene said:

Most people looking from the outside would have no reason to know that Baryshnikov, the most well-known dancer in the US at the time, was mostly a figurehead.

And how did others find out about it? And who actually worked instead of him?