The 50th anniversary of Baryshnikov's defection

[Helene]

There are more romantic roles than Siegfried, roles that, according to the Kirov casting standards, Baryshnikov would not have been cast in, characters he didn’t find dull.  He danced them in the West, where, thankfully, how someone moved, how they embodied a role, and the strength of their technique were more important than their height.  He got to Siegfried eventually. All dancers have their preferences.

[Meliss]

22 minutes ago, Helene said:

There are more romantic roles than Siegfried, roles that, according to the Kirov casting standards, Baryshnikov would not have been cast in, characters he didn’t find dull.

Do you believe that he really found the role of Siegfried boring? Do you believe that Makarova had no one else to dance with at Swan Lake but him? Do you believe that Makarova was glad that Misha would dance with her a role that he called boring?) And finally, why are other roles of the same plan - the prince in "Sleeping Beauty", for example, not boring?

[California]

1 hour ago, Meliss said:

Do you believe that he really found the role of Siegfried boring? Do you believe that Makarova had no one else to dance with at Swan Lake but him? Do you believe that Makarova was glad that Misha would dance with her a role that he called boring?) And finally, why are other roles of the same plan - the prince in "Sleeping Beauty", for example, not boring?

Makarova knew that, with Baryshnikov announced as her Siegfried, those performances were guaranteed sell-outs. The dance boom that started in 1974 with his defection was still going strong in 1981. In the period from 1975-78 at the Kennedy Center, ABT visited Kennedy Center twice a year for 2-3 weeks at a time and they often sold out before casting was announced, as people were so eager to see him. That was starting to fade a bit by 1981 when newcomers to ballet realized that he did not dance at every performance. I don't think I would have attended all those Swan Lakes myself, except to see Baryshnikov in a role I'd never seen him in before.

He seems to have made a number of observations about Siegfried over the years, perhaps wrestling with it himself. I don't remember that he ever did the full-length Sleeping Beauty (although I might be wrong on that), although he did the wedding PdD with Makarova. 

[Meliss]

47 minutes ago, California said:

Makarova knew that, with Baryshnikov announced as her Siegfried, those performances were guaranteed sell-outs.

Wouldn't tickets be sold for Makarova with another partner?

I would prefer a prince like that:

Edited August 16 by Meliss

[Helene]

He was the one who spoke about Siegfried, and being bored by Swan Lake itself growing up, so he'd have to answer any questions about other characters, for which his appearance was also considered unsuitable by Kirov standards.  James Whiteside, a current ABT Principal recently spoke on his podcast about how he had to create a backstory that might have resonated with Tchaikovsky, but not the Soviet establishment, in order to dance Siegfried.   Siegfried is seen as a dope for mistaking Odile for Odette, which makes him less appealing than Prince Desiree, who only shows up in Acts III-IV, with a straightforward mission in Act III, and a grand pas de deux in Act IV.  A hero, not a dope.

There were always male dancers with whom Makarova could be cast.  Her long-time partner in David Blair's production that Baryshnikov's early '80's revision replaced was Ivan Nagy, who retired during the Chase era, much to Makarova's chagrin.  Markarova and Baryshnikov were considered gold from the outside, but I don't think they were especially well-matched on stage, aside from something, likely heritage, that they shared in "Other Dances."  They didn't have "it" together on stage like Baryshnikov and Kirkland did.

Kisselgoff wrote about the 1981 performances:

Quote

Significantly, Mr. Baryshnikov waited until he could restage ''Swan Lake'' before appearing in it in the United States, and our first view of him here - after one Washington performance - comes in the latest version that American Ballet Theater has introduced into its repertory. It differs in many dramatic details, choreographic passages and in mood from Ballet Theater's previous staging by David Blair, although that version's outline, sets and most of its costumes have been retained.

The ABT website lists the Baryshnikov production of Swan Lake as dating from 1988 (Costa Mesa) with the NY debut in 1989.  Sasha Anawalt's article in the New York Times on the new production clarifies that in 1981 he made changes to the existing production, but 1988's was a new one.  I never saw the 1988 production, having become much less interested in ABT and its dancers than NYCB.

[Meliss]

3 minutes ago, Helene said:

Siegfried is seen as a dope for mistaking Odile for Odette

Misha, apparently, tried very hard to convey this super-original interpretation of Siegfried's image to the audience and critics with his performance)).

[Marta]

In Baryshnikov at Work , he discusses his roles.  The section on Swan Lake is fascinating [pp. 153-161].  He does say that as a child watching SL, he was bored.  I would think that for a male dancer, SL is one of the least interesting choreographically.  I am over-simplifying but  the danseur is essentially porteur in the White Swan PdD, and has to wait until Black Swan to dazzle.  The male roles in Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, DQ and Bayadere all have much more to dance.   

[Drew]

As mentioned above, Makarova's main partner for many years at ABT was Ivan Nagy--who had himself "defected" from Hungary a few years earlier.  (I have read that Hungary did eventually allow him to return to visit his family even before the Berlin wall fell.) Nagy was a gallant partner and photos simply do not convey how breathtakingly handsome he was. I saw him close up once at the stage door and he seemed to me even more breathtaking than he was on stage! A little later, after Nagy's retirement, she developed a wonderful partnership with Anthony Dowell--another very gallant partner and an extremely elegant and imaginative dancer.  I never saw her dance with Baryshnikov--which I regret. But though I never thought Baryshnikov was a bad partner and mostly, when I saw him, though him a very good one--and electric with Kirkland at the start of their partnership--I don't remember him as gallant in the same way as Nagy or Dowell.

By gallant, I mostly mean "ballerina comes first": but there were other issues with Baryshnikov in the final years of his classical ballet career.  At that time, I saw him "upstage" the ballerina during curtain calls--that is, move way upstage during bows so that a)he appeared as if he were taking bows alone and b)when the ballerina turned to him, marking the fact that they were together, she had to have her back to the audience or even appear to be paying him tribute. This, by the way, was not just with Kirkland during the era when her health/behavior and their partnership were both at a low point.  I commented on it to a friend who had seen him do it to Patricia Mcbride at New York City Ballet. (Earlier in his classical career I never saw this sort of thing.)

That said, I wish I had seen Baryshnikov's Siegfried --especially with Makarova; I think the picture posted above is beautiful.  I certainly also wish I might have seen Godunov whose long lines and intense presence must, I imagine, have suited the role of Siegfried very well. Of the Siegfrieds I did see, no-one who has read my posts over the years will be surprised to learn that Anthony Dowell remains my 'immortal beloved.'

 

Edited August 17 by Drew

[volcanohunter]

Baryshnikov was not alone in his ambiguous attitude toward Swan Lake. Balanchine famously said that only the second act was interesting. Neumeier, whose Illusions, like Swan Lake is one of the ballet's most cohesive reinterpretations, likewise said that the second act was the ballet's reason for being. Everything else he rechoreographed, except for the "black swan" pas de deux, because he suspected the audience would be unhappy without it. So he found an ingenious way of incorporating it into his revised storyline.

In any case, Baryshnikov's 1988 production was not designed as a vehicle for him because it was never his intention to dance in it.

[Meliss]

12 hours ago, Marta said:

The section on Swan Lake is fascinating [pp. 153-161].  He does say that as a child watching SL, he was bored.

Maybe the key words are "as a child" here?

[Meliss]

11 hours ago, Drew said:

I think the picture posted above is beautiful. 

And I think it's funny, because the prince is short and his partner is taller.

11 hours ago, Drew said:

I certainly also wish I might have seen Godunov whose long lines and intense presence must, I imagine, have suited the role of Siegfried very well.

https://yandex.ru/video/preview/16268174341208466405?how=tm

[Meliss]

9 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Baryshnikov was not alone in his ambiguous attitude toward Swan Lake.

And let them. There were a lot of other perfect dancers who enjoyed playing Siegfried.

[volcanohunter]

This is Baryshnikov with pupils of the National Ballet School in Toronto in 1977. Standing second from the left is Jeremy Ransom, and Sabina Allemann is sitting on Erik Bruhn's lap. (So this would be the class of 1980.) Baryshnikov's Nutcracker was filmed in Toronto in 1977 and featured children from the school.

[volcanohunter]

Baryshnikov's first Canadian post-defection performance, in La Sylphide with Veronica Tennant in August 1974. According to the caption, 14,500 people attended the performance at the theater-in-the-round at Toronto's Ontario Place (where, once upon a time, the National Ballet of Canada presented summer seasons annually, even though it wasn't possible to use conventional sets there).

[Meliss]

[Meliss]

[Drew]

The above photos are new to me…without context I can’t say much about them but I do want to remark that on stage Baryshnikov’s humor and irony were a gift. As was his willingness to make fun of himself as in Push Comes to Shove. 

I was away at camp when he danced his very first performance with ABT—I knew the date it was scheduled—and dismayed to have no chance to see the performance (unlikely in any case) or even read about it in the newspapers as we didn’t have any. One of the counselors knew of my distress and brought me the New York Times coverage/review of the performance. (I don’t know how she got the paper, but she had cut everything out for me.) It was an act of kindness I have never forgotten—I was a bit of a misfit at camp—and, of course, I was super excited to read about the performance. 
 

Edited to add: I just reread what @Helene wrote about her experience with a group visiting New York that same summer. Too bad we didn’t know each other then. 

Edited August 18 by Drew

[volcanohunter]

 

When looking at old documents or newspapers, I'm often surprised by what sort of personal information is or isn't included. Baryshnikov's temporary residence permit from Canada has hardly any personal information at all, as though it could theoretically be used by any man from the USSR with the same name, born at any time.

Also from the archives, a New Yorker story on Baryshnikov after about half a year of working in the United States.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1975/01/20/mikhail-baryshnikov-defection-american-ballet-theatre 

[Helene]

2 hours ago, Drew said:

The above photos are new to me…without context I can’t say much about them but I do want to remark that on stage Baryshnikov’s humor and irony were a gift. As was his willingness to make fun of himself as in Push Comes to Shove. 

He also wasn't afraid of not being the best dancer on the stage: when he took on modern and contemporary dance, he was clearly engaged, but very elite dancers can wipe out their muscle memory and dance another genre natively. yet that didn't discourage him..  To me, getting on stage with Mark Morris and Rob Besserer in a piece by Mark Morris is still one of the most revealing examples of a great artist who was willing to put ego aside to learn and to experience. I always found his dancing most interesting when he was seeking and experimenting in real time.

[Marta]

Some of the above photos were new to me too.  Very enjoyable and as Drew said, a reminder of Baryshnikov's humor and great comic timing.  Thanks also to Helene for her astute observation about "a great artist who was willing to put ego aside to learn and to experience." 

[Meliss]

5 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

a New Yorker story on Baryshnikov after about half a year of working in the United States.

I've read this article before and I have a lot of questions for its author).  To begin with,

"The Russians were predictably outraged to learn that one of their leading classical dancers had deserted the company that had trained him. (In point of fact, Mr. Baryshnikov defected in Toronto from a third-rate Bolshoi touring company to which he had been lent.)" 

What did the author mean by that? That Baryshnikov didn't leave the company that had trained him?) But he did! As for "a third-rate Bolshoi touring company" - who or what is the author digging at? At Canada, which is unworthy of having first-rate troupes performing in it? Or Baryshnikov, who for some reason performs with a third-rate company? The author wants to justify Baryshnikov's defectoin, but he does it very clumsily.

"Mr. Baryshnikov stands five feet seven" - actually five feet six.

About Kirkland - "“I’d like to try that again, please,” she said, with an audible sniffle." 

 

Edited August 18 by Meliss

[Meliss]

5 hours ago, Helene said:

He also wasn't afraid of not being the best dancer on the stage: when he took on modern and contemporary dance, he was clearly engaged, but very elite dancers can wipe out their muscle memory and dance another genre natively. yet that didn't discourage him..  To me, getting on stage with Mark Morris and Rob Besserer in a piece by Mark Morris is still one of the most revealing examples of a great artist who was willing to put ego aside to learn and to experience. I always found his dancing most interesting when he was seeking and experimenting in real time.

Baryshnikov started dancing in the White Oak project when he was already 43. At this age, it is problematic to be the best on stage dancing classics. And obviously, this is no longer Albrecht or Basil.

[Helene]

The author was digging at the Bolshoi troupe.

I don’t see where the author tried to justify his defection: she was describing it.  The tour was an opportunity for him to defect, and he took it.

 Had Baryshnikov looked like Albrecht or Basilio in a photo of a White Oak piece, that would have been an epic fail.  Just like it would have been an epic fail if Godunov looked like a ballet dancer in Witness.

[Meliss]

5 minutes ago, Helene said:

The author was digging at the Bolshoi troupe.

To me, such critical remarks in parentheses seem very unprofessional. If there is something to say about the quality of dancing in essence, it is necessary to say and be sure to justify your criticism.

8 minutes ago, Helene said:

I don’t see where the author tried to justify his defection: she was describing it.

Oh, was she? "The Russians were predictably outraged" - Did the author see it?) 

She tried to justify Baryshnikov's decision by saying that he had run away not from his troupe, but from the third-rate Bolshoi troupe - otherwise why would it have been mentioned at all?

[volcanohunter]

On 4 July 1979 the Canadian Press agency published a story titled "Bitterness in Bolshoi over defection" when the tour reached Vancouver. Irina Kolpakova and tour director Alexander Lapauri were interviewed. 

"Miss Kolpakova, who danced with Barichnikov for several years, and was scheduled to star with him here Tuesday night, said her former partner was seeking 'only financial success and fame' in fleeing to the West. 

"She said his training in the Soviet Union would not integrate well into Canadian ballet."

[]

Kolpakova also called him an egotist, who loved only himself.

Interestingly, Lapauri said Baryshnikov "could have done this at the end of the tour, at least."

The tour received a good review--especially for Baryshnikov--at its first stop in Ottawa, but terrible reviews once it reached Toronto: "The Bolshoi Ballet that Canada gets is the over-the-hill gang" (Globe and Mail, 22 June 1974).

It has to be said, though, that five years later, when the Bolshoi proper, with Grigorovich at the helm, opened its North American tour in Canada, it also got terrible reviews, and there were not a few letters to the editor from ordinary ballet-goers complaining that they had been victims of false advertising, poor productions and inflated ticket prices.

Also, in October 1974 it was announced that the Kirov Ballet would perform in Canada the following June, but in May 1975 the tour was canceled: "Kirov Ballet, fearing defections, cancels tour" (Globe and Mail, 6 May 1975). A Canadian Press story published the following day also mentioned that performances during the Bolshoi tour the year before had been picketed by Jewish and Ukrainian protesters, which was "embarrassing" for Soviet officials, according to the impresario. The Bolshoi's 1979 tour was also picketed by Jewish organizations protesting the Soviet government's refusal to issue exit visas to Jews trying to immigrate to Israel.

Edited August 18 by volcanohunter