"Carrie Bradshaw’s perfidious boyfriend."

(Photo taken from NY Times.)







While I was scanning the New York Times today I came across a familiar face, Mikhail Baryshnikov. It seems that this man is everywhere: in the dance studio, on your TV, in art galleries and now in the newspaper. One of the many things that amaze me about this incredible artist is the extreme longevity of his career. He broke onto the scene and was immediately successful in the United States and to this day is still one of the most recognized names in all of dance. Ask any male dancer who his top influences are and Baryshnikov is sure to be near (if not AT) the top of the list. Some of my friends that don't know a thing about ballet even know who he is (blame "Sex and the City.")

For me, even more than his extraordinary initial career I find myself wanting to emulate what he has done afterwards. He has transitioned more into the modern dance world, champion’s young choreographers (one of my favorite pieces at Fall For Dance was AsZure Dance, whom he works with in the article) and seems to constantly be broadening his horizons. The world of ballet is notoriously stereotyped as uneducated and shallow, yet he defies all of that. Most dancers (rightfully) fear what they will do once their dance career is over but Baryshnikov seems to have done it with ease.

I find my peers frequently comparing the careers of people now to Baryshnikov and wondering if anyone will ever have the type of impact that he had and still has. Will anyone ever bring the audience to ballet that he was able to? Of course, comparing anyone’s career to someone as legendary as him is an impossible task; no one will ever be him.

Comments

[sophie b]

You're right, a very tough career to match..

I saw him last week at the 92nd street Y talking about his new children's book -- he was great. I have to admit that it was quite thrilling to hear him namedrop as he talked about all the amazing people he's worked with throughout his career. He also discussed the need for better arts education in the US. I thought he was a very charming speaker!

[Jennifer]

Baryshnikov had a few things going for him that are no longer in place for dancers in the US today that helped him become as famous as he is.

First, he came here when the Cold War was in full effect which gave him a great story that played well to a country that was both frightened as well as fascinated by Russia.

Second, audiences back then actually grew up watching ballet on good old network television, so they had at least a passing failiarity with the plots of the major ballets which meant that they were more than willing to go and see him dance. He also got to dance a lot on tv, he even did a special called Baryshnikov on Broadway with Liza Minelli which aired on ABC. I can't think of a ballet dancer today who has that same cache and it's not for lack of talent, it's simply that ballet is not appreciated by the majority of Americans and I don't see that changing.

Dancers can still go on to do wonderful things after they "retire", they just won't become household names while doing them.

[tonya]

Perfectly said, Jennifer. B was obviously a great dancer but politics played a HUGE part in his fame -- politics WAS THE reason for his fame. Ballet was obviously a lot more popular back then as well. It's a mystery in need of unlocking why that changed, but I know ballet dancers and promoters cannot sit around on their high horses assuming they're superior to everyone else, that their dance form is superior to all other forms and expect everyone to agree. It's often said that Fred Astaire paved the road for the great male ballet dancers of the 20th century. Today ballet dancers just love to make fun of the poppy TV shows (that exclude them) ... They can do that all they want, but they're digging their own graves, IMHO...

[tonya]

I hope I didn't sound "attacky"! I just think there's a way for ballet to draw on the general dance popularity right now. I also don't think B was better than all other dancers then or now and ballet or otherwise. And it annoys me to no end that if you ask the average person to name a "great contemporary ballet dancer" all they can come up with is him.

[M]

Jennifer you bring up very good points about what propelled him to fame and circumstances now don't really accommodate any type of repetition.

Obviously for any one artist to want to BE someone else is foolish because everyone has their own artistic path. I hope that my final comment about no one ever matching him wasn't misconstrued....I changed it now to no one will ever "be" him. People will certainly surpass him in some ways and never come close to touching him in others.

I don't know if I would go as far as saying that politics was the ENTIRE reason for his fame. Baryshnikov was doing things technically that no one before him had done. The political background certainly shone a spotlight on him (overshadowing other great dancers like Bujones.)

I think ballet obviously (we had this conversation before) needs to revaluate the way that it gets an audience but I think in no way is a show like "So You Think You Can Dance" the answer. To me you have someone like Danny Tidwell on there who is miles above most of the dancers technically and that is a great step forward but most of the dancers are presented in limited lights. If you watch their solos they do the same tricks over and over again which is therefore teaching a new audience that THAT is what dancing is. I'm still bitter about Ricky getting kicked off....how the hell did that happen? Some of the choreography on the show is great and fun but in the end I don't think it's exactly the platform to further the art form.......Fred Astaire on the other hand, who can argue with that?!

[tonya]

To say Tidwell is technically superior to the other dancers sounds ballet-elitist and ballet-supremacist. There are many many MANY people who HATE ballet dancers for that attitude.

[Delirium Tremens]

I think there is yet another factor in Baryshnikov's stardom that has been overlooked here.

His straightness.

Unlike the stereotype of the gay male dancer (sorry Matt!) he was hypermasculine. He was, and in at least his first movie role, played a womanizer. A man who could move with grace but had none of the qualities of a "sissy" as male dancers were commonly seen.

Sure there are other straight dancers! But I think combined with the other factors (his immense talent, his fabulous story due to political issues) this was really a key to his level of success. A lot of people who could name "Baryshnikov" as a famous dancer had never seen him dance, even in his films. They knew him as a sex symbol.

[Delirium Tremens]

Tonya, you said:

"It's often said that Fred Astaire paved the road for the great male ballet dancers of the 20th century."

That may be true, but following on my earlier ruminations, I would say that the musical theater dancer who was a true precursor of Baryshnikov was not Fred Astaire, but Gene Kelly--a mans man. A guy who made it ok for "ordinary guys" to dance (though of course there was nothing ordinary about Gene Kelly's abilities!!

[Anonymous]

"The world of ballet is notoriously stereotyped as uneducated and shallow"...Really? How can that be? Oh, I forgot...I only read you. Thanks for everything...every word...for every moment you spend sharing your insights with the world.