When Baryshnikov Comes to Town…

BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT

Ever since I was little, Mikhail Baryshnikov has served as a backdrop for my dance obsession.

Remember the 1977 Nutcracker movie with Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland? I remember watching it on PBS as a kid, fascinated by the close-up of Baryshnikov’s leaps.

Show-off…

Then I discovered White Nights, the 1985 dance drama. Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines floored me. The bravado, the ability, the energy – I was enthralled.

The 80s music enthralled me even more!

And then there was the Barry Wall. While living in San Francisco in my early twenties, my dancer roommates and I decided to decorate our hallway with photos of Baryshnikov cut out from a book. We dubbed it the Barry Wall and entertained each other for hours imitating poses from the photographs.

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We couldn’t figure out why our guests didn’t take us seriously.

So when Baryshnikov recently toured to Santa Monica’s The Broad Stage in Man in a Case, a dance-theater multi-media retelling of two Anton Chekhov stories, I knew I had to go see for myself the man who had been the backdrop of my ballet obsession all these years.

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Barry, here I come!

Baryshnikov is 66 now. He didn’t do those crazy jumps and turns he was doing back in the day with Gregory Hines, but nevertheless he was mesmerizing. To be honest I had a hard time following the plot because I was so taken by watching him; his stage presence and energy were enormous.

The overall experience of seeing Baryshnikov perform live had a deep impression on me, and I came away with new insights. I learned that when Baryshnikov comes to town…

1. Don’t bother with your flask, because Barry’s presence commands quite the social stir. Everyone was there, on some level, to see Baryshnikov. Yes, the production itself was very good, but I doubt there would have been a red carpet gala had Baryshnikov not been starring in it.

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Who needs a flask when Barry comes to town?

2. When the guy next to me asked his girlfriend, “So was this guy on So You Think You Can Dance or something?” I learned that even Baryshnikov can be reduced to just another dude that likes to dance. There will always be someone who’s never heard of him. He is out there at 66 still performing because it feeds him still, regardless of fame (or apparent lack thereof).

3. There are no rules when it comes to how to be a dancer. There is no expiration date, no set path. If Barry can be a famous ballet dancer, then run a ballet company as artistic director, then act in film and television, then run an arts center, then tour in a small play based on Anton Chekov, well, I know he’s the exception to the rule, but he also serves as an example of how to throw the rule book across the room and never look at it again.

I am 27 years old. I have no idea what the future holds for me dance-wise, but I do know that I will continue to get out there and dance, despite not being wildly successful and regardless of whatever societal preconceptions there are about how to be a dancer. Right now I’m a dancing-writer, or a writing-dancer, or sometimes just a dancing-bum-around-the-house. Whatever. I look at Baryshnikov and think of how successes come and go, but as long as dancing still feeds us, that’s what counts.

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Thanks for the great show, Barry!

Photographs by Antoinette Engel