The personification of perfectionism is the only description that does justice to Baryshnikov's performances in EVERY ballet 🩰 he has ever danced in!!! He is a rare and beautiful gem 💎 of a dancer whose name is synonymous with exquisite style grace and power.!!! No one has EVER surpassed Misha!!!! Much love 💕 and respect and awe from a fellow dancer, myself, when I was a member of the Detroit Chamber Ballet 🩰 Society in Woodward Ave. In Detroit, Michigan in the early 1980's n late 1970's!!!
i agree - Alexandra Danilova said he was the best dancer she'd seen in decades- and a complete dancer. i was lucky to see him in the mid 1970s with Natalia Makarova on tour - the performed the Don Q PDD and Act 2 of Giselle
For the love of all that is holy. No one will ever compare to him. He had it all: the artistry, the lyricism, the athletic power but the understanding of how to restrain his power at the right moment within the choreography. And his understanding of blending all these qualities until the lines were blurred and all you saw was the dance and the shape of his musical interpretation... He combined all of these qualities in a way that seems to be gone from ballet today. I think only Vladimir Vasiliev, and perhaps also Bruhn and Nagy, had these qualities as well, but Misha and Vasiliev had that extra technical power and precision. So beautiful. Thank you so much for posting this.
and a real intelligence about how to approach roles and make movement meaningful and the history of the ballet - all well on display in his book 'Baryshnikov at Work'.
Thanks for this video ! Baryshnikov is the best 99% of the time, he is unsurpassed in "other dances", either with Natalia Makarova or Gelsey Kirkland, in Don Quixote, or Tarantella with Patricia Mc Bride, and not only technically, but with style, precision and interpretation, BUT there is one role that I don't like at all, it is "le Spectre de la Rose" ! I think that he is "heavy" in this role, maybe he didn't find his feminine side to perform it, his upper body is not nice, both arms and head ! Nobody's perfect, even Michael Baryshnikov ! but I love him anyway .....
It's so much more than technique or musicality. There's this deep fundamental purity in Misha - purity of intent, whole-heartedness, modesty. No one can teach this. He is living in a perpetual state of grace.
I know Im asking randomly but does anybody know a trick to get back into an instagram account? I was stupid forgot my login password. I would love any tricks you can offer me
@Vincent Miller i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
I like it so much that he does not perform the same thing, but changes the variation: here and there he waves his hand in a different way, here and there he adds something with his feet ))) a greatest artist
Delicacy of touch with intriguing lifts for his prima ballerina.The steps are in perfect synchronicity, hence brings the audience into higher realms of dimension. Sometimes Misha halts his body into statuesque immortality.♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Misha ' s dancing takes my breath away! Such an attack on every step, such heights and grace and power! I was lucky to see him perform once, in Detroit. I can certainly see why he is a legend!
yes, his dancing leaves you spell-bound - i saw him a number of times, even here in Australia with Makarova on a tour - they did Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD. so easy great elevation
What a privilege! My sister and I took my mum to see Nureyev and Fonteyn. They were getting on then but wonderful. Barishnikov is just superb. I love Vasiliev in it now as well. He’s wonderful as well. It’s just the charm and the little nuances isn’t it. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
He dances like it's nothing. He makes it look completely effortless and just as if he's doing the whole thing right in the moment off the top of his head. Too many dancers these days look like they are trying so very hard, out of control or just throwing big tricks or extensions. No. This is what we should have, control, exuberance, artistry and power. His musicality is so spot on. Always a joy to see him and I'm so happy he was filmed so much.
It is so sad to me that he is getting older, like all of us but his dance is frozen in time. I think he is the best male dancer of this last century. No one could touch him.
@@JohnRaymondHall I could have seen him as I was in NYC when he was dancing but I was too stupid. His grace and carriage to me just can't be touched. It isn't just his high jumps, it's the way he holds his arms and his expressive hands. We were so blessed to have someone so talented and with the foresight to defect so he could dance.
@@JohnRaymondHall Also, do you think he looks quite a bit heavier in the early filming of him in La Bayadere. I hope I am spelling and referring to the right one.
I have the third piece with Ludmilla Semenyaka on a video. It is danced with such panache, style and ease that I used to show it to my students to demonstrate attack and brio in allegro. Misha was truly the best male dancer I have ever seen.
OK this needs to be on every channel for the sake of biomechanics alone…If someone gave Misha a set of ice skates all the Olympic ice skaters would quit.
For me the first D Quichotte j saw is forever Pontois-Barychnikov at Paris-Opera 1975 ; they danced this some months after at New-York june 1975 , the Top of technic in lightness Noella Pontois
Even when he is jumping up, he has forward speed, so he actually stays longer in the air, while traveling horizontally. If the jump is not a traveling jump, he was so strong, not only in his legs with that deep pliable plié, but also in his feet which were big, flexible and gave him an extra push. When in the air, he would spin so fast, that it looked like he was floating longer up there.
Eccezionale Mickail! Che salti, che velocita' di giri, che leggerezza allo stesso tempo, e che stile....! e senza quei inutili petits rondes jambes nella variazione, vero Ennrico?
si ma guarda il fenomenale don q dopo defezione con gelsey kirkland ,misha e'l'unico defector migliorato ulteriormente in occidente .e guarda anche il suo solo di giselle quando gia'all ABT POI MI DIRAI
Thank you for these fabulous four clips! I agree that the Misha-Gelsey version of Don Q PdD is sublime, despite her few tiny flaws, and they have great chemistry.
expecially misha was far superior in that version than in these .as told he was the only defector to greatly improve after defection.when l saw him in 75 twice and later in 77 he was far far better than on this video despite also here is good
I agree. I never saw him in the Soviet era. I first saw him in 79 and several times later, but never in DQ. It would be a thrill to see the post 1974 collection. Please!
me too saw also in 79 many times but then he was with balanchine (saw the whole nycb season in london) and imo misha was not suitable to the repertoire l vastly prefered in classics l saw him in giselle and medea with our fracci saw him with gelsey k in don q and bayaderka
Even if he wasn't suited ideally to the repertoire, there were some memorable performances - Tchaikovsky PdD, Prodigal, Apollo, Who Cares and especially Other Dances. I would have loved to have seen him live in Giselle and/or Bayaderka! I saw la Fracci around 2000 in a production of Aida in Rome. The movement was minimal modern dance, yet still I was honored to be in her presence.
I can only imagine how sick of that variation Baryshnikov felt. No wonder he wanted to leave the USSR, the narrowness of their emploi would strangle any artist.
Alas, you are absolutely right... In an early interview after his defection, Misha says that he would not have left the USSR if he had been able to work for several months a year on a contract abroad, with different choreographers ((
John, I have rewatched all these perfomance many, many times, and I guess I am learning Russian by osmosis :) just now I noticed something at 7:55, the presenter says "Grigorovitch, ballet Bolshoi". Semenyaka is very, very young here, this must be a gala when she had just moved from the Kirov to the Bolshoi. This is at least 1972, probably 1973, since Baryshnikov defected mid-1974.
@@JohnRaymondHall Most references give the date as 1969 in an international competition that Baryshnikov won. Somewhere I read that Semenyaka was 16 or 17. I never tire of watching this compilation! thanks so much!
Something's up with that last chick's feet. I'm like is she flatfooted cause she can barely get directly up on the point of her shoe. She might've made it that high up just by pure determination and hard work. God Bless her!
Hebrews 6:19-20 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Che emozione nel vedere quel talentuoso ragazzino ansimare dietro le quinte
Simply put the best male dancer in history. Thank you!
can't argue with that!
The personification of perfectionism is the only description that does justice to Baryshnikov's performances in EVERY ballet 🩰 he has ever danced in!!! He is a rare and beautiful gem 💎 of a dancer whose name is synonymous with exquisite style grace and power.!!! No one has EVER surpassed Misha!!!! Much love 💕 and respect and awe from a fellow dancer, myself, when I was a member of the Detroit Chamber Ballet 🩰 Society in Woodward Ave. In Detroit, Michigan in the early 1980's n late 1970's!!!
i agree - Alexandra Danilova said he was the best dancer she'd seen in decades- and a complete dancer. i was lucky to see him in the mid 1970s with Natalia Makarova on tour - the performed the Don Q PDD and Act 2 of Giselle
For the love of all that is holy. No one will ever compare to him. He had it all: the artistry, the lyricism, the athletic power but the understanding of how to restrain his power at the right moment within the choreography. And his understanding of blending all these qualities until the lines were blurred and all you saw was the dance and the shape of his musical interpretation... He combined all of these qualities in a way that seems to be gone from ballet today. I think only Vladimir Vasiliev, and perhaps also Bruhn and Nagy, had these qualities as well, but Misha and Vasiliev had that extra technical power and precision. So beautiful. Thank you so much for posting this.
and a real intelligence about how to approach roles and make movement meaningful and the history of the ballet - all well on display in his book 'Baryshnikov at Work'.
Greatest male ballet dancer in history. No one can touch his solo performances.
Absolutely 💖
yes, i agree - he was the best i ever saw! :)
Thanks for this video ! Baryshnikov is the best 99% of the time, he is unsurpassed in "other dances", either with Natalia Makarova or Gelsey Kirkland, in Don Quixote, or Tarantella with Patricia Mc Bride, and not only technically, but with style, precision and interpretation, BUT there is one role that I don't like at all, it is "le Spectre de la Rose" ! I think that he is "heavy" in this role, maybe he didn't find his feminine side to perform it, his upper body is not nice, both arms and head ! Nobody's perfect, even Michael Baryshnikov ! but I love him anyway .....
I thank God to be alive and to be able to rejoice in such wondrous beauty.
exactly!
It's so much more than technique or musicality. There's this deep fundamental purity in Misha - purity of intent, whole-heartedness, modesty. No one can teach this. He is living in a perpetual state of grace.
I know Im asking randomly but does anybody know a trick to get back into an instagram account?
I was stupid forgot my login password. I would love any tricks you can offer me
@Ariel Riley Instablaster ;)
@Vincent Miller i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Vincent Miller it worked and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thanks so much you saved my account :D
@Ariel Riley Glad I could help =)
Love to see his dancing at all ages, thx for posting
me too :)
The speed of those spins! WOW! What a great video, thanks for posting.
I like it so much that he does not perform the same thing, but changes the variation: here and there he waves his hand in a different way, here and there he adds something with his feet ))) a greatest artist
yes, it shows he is an artist, especially are these variations seem 'right' for the ballet and the performance
Baryshnikov will always be one of the timeless male dancers. But man, that video quality just keeps getting better and better!
doesn't he!
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delicacy of touch with intriguing lifts for his prima ballerina.The steps are in perfect synchronicity, hence brings the audience into higher realms of dimension. Sometimes Misha halts his body into statuesque immortality.♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Misha ' s dancing takes my breath away! Such an attack on every step, such heights and grace and power! I was lucky to see him perform once, in Detroit. I can certainly see why he is a legend!
yes, his dancing leaves you spell-bound - i saw him a number of times, even here in Australia with Makarova on a tour - they did Giselle Act 2 and the Don Q PDD. so easy great elevation
What a privilege! My sister and I took my mum to see Nureyev and Fonteyn. They were getting on then but wonderful. Barishnikov is just superb. I love Vasiliev in it now as well. He’s wonderful as well. It’s just the charm and the little nuances isn’t it. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
👣👣 Amazing dancer.
And Beautyful soul .
💌
He dances like it's nothing. He makes it look completely effortless and just as if he's doing the whole thing right in the moment off the top of his head. Too many dancers these days look like they are trying so very hard, out of control or just throwing big tricks or extensions. No. This is what we should have, control, exuberance, artistry and power. His musicality is so spot on. Always a joy to see him and I'm so happy he was filmed so much.
i agree - and when there is the sense of effortlessness one can focus on the interpretation
It is so sad to me that he is getting older, like all of us but his dance is frozen in time. I think he is the best male dancer of this last century. No one could touch him.
yes, a great great dancer! i was lucky to see him - first with Makarova on a tour in the mid 1970s in Australia - the Don Q PDD and Act 2 of Giselle
@@JohnRaymondHall I could have seen him as I was in NYC when he was dancing but I was too stupid. His grace and carriage to me just can't be touched. It isn't just his high jumps, it's the way he holds his arms and his expressive hands. We were so blessed to have someone so talented and with the foresight to defect so he could dance.
@@JohnRaymondHall Also, do you think he looks quite a bit heavier in the early filming of him in La Bayadere. I hope I am spelling and referring to the right one.
@@pamelasertich9850 totally agree about arms and hands
@@pamelasertich9850 yes, that well may be the case - i'll look at the footage again
I have the third piece with Ludmilla Semenyaka on a video. It is danced with such panache, style and ease that I used to show it to my students to demonstrate attack and brio in allegro. Misha was truly the best male dancer I have ever seen.
Maravilloso!!!!!
He became much better in the late 70's into the 80's. He became perfection.
agreed!
Great video John!, many thanks for sharing it!
pleasure Nancy
It's crazy, but from these 4 perfomances I love the first one more than others - so young, but so professional ❤ In 4th his solo became perfect 👌
yes, there is a freshness about that first performance
He's the best male dancer !!!!!!
the best i ever saw! :)
Merci beaucoup Alex! Mikhail exceptionnel!
mon plaisir. Il est unique.
02:18 He simply defies the laws of gravity. Breathtaking.
an avian ancestor? LOL
OK this needs to be on every channel for the sake of biomechanics alone…If someone gave Misha a set of ice skates all the Olympic ice skaters would quit.
well put! :)
For me the first D Quichotte j saw is forever Pontois-Barychnikov at Paris-Opera 1975 ; they danced this some months after at New-York june 1975 , the Top of technic in lightness Noella Pontois
Thank you for this wonderful collection!
pleasure - want to do a set post 1974 now
That was seriously unbelievable!
How does he manage to stay longer in the air than other human beings ? What about universal laws of gravitation ?
Even when he is jumping up, he has forward speed, so he actually stays longer in the air, while traveling horizontally. If the jump is not a traveling jump, he was so strong, not only in his legs with that deep pliable plié, but also in his feet which were big, flexible and gave him an extra push. When in the air, he would spin so fast, that it looked like he was floating longer up there.
imo baryshnikov is the only one ,among the defectors ,that improved again very much after his defection.
Eccezionale Mickail! Che salti, che velocita' di giri, che leggerezza allo stesso tempo, e che stile....! e senza quei inutili petits rondes jambes nella variazione, vero Ennrico?
si ma guarda il fenomenale don q dopo defezione con gelsey kirkland ,misha e'l'unico defector migliorato ulteriormente in occidente .e guarda anche il suo solo di giselle quando gia'all ABT POI MI DIRAI
yes, he had the intelligence to understand and avoid the difficulties of defection
Thank you for these fabulous four clips! I agree that the Misha-Gelsey version of Don Q PdD is sublime, despite her few tiny flaws, and they have great chemistry.
yes, perhaps a chemistry in part from their off-stage relationship - whatever, it works as performance.
expecially misha was far superior in that version than in these .as told he was the only defector to greatly improve after defection.when l saw him in 75 twice and later in 77 he was far far better than on this video despite also here is good
I agree. I never saw him in the Soviet era. I first saw him in 79 and several times later, but never in DQ. It would be a thrill to see the post 1974 collection. Please!
me too saw also in 79 many times but then he was with balanchine (saw the whole nycb season in london) and imo misha was not suitable to the repertoire l vastly prefered in classics l saw him in giselle and medea with our fracci saw him with gelsey k in don q and bayaderka
Even if he wasn't suited ideally to the repertoire, there were some memorable performances - Tchaikovsky PdD, Prodigal, Apollo, Who Cares and especially Other Dances. I would have loved to have seen him live in Giselle and/or Bayaderka! I saw la Fracci around 2000 in a production of Aida in Rome. The movement was minimal modern dance, yet still I was honored to be in her presence.
Самое чистое совершенство и фиксация движений, не говоря о красоте рук и артистизме
Il y du divin chez Baryshnikov. Comme chez Vasiliev.
А не наоборот?
なんて貴重なフィルム！
亡命したダンサーの記録は全て抹消されると聞きました💦
残っていたんですね💦
途中、日本のアナウンサーの解説も聞こえました😸
I can only imagine how sick of that variation Baryshnikov felt. No wonder he wanted to leave the USSR, the narrowness of their emploi would strangle any artist.
Alas, you are absolutely right... In an early interview after his defection, Misha says that he would not have left the USSR if he had been able to work for several months a year on a contract abroad, with different choreographers ((
@@ГалинаЛуточка the bureaucratic fools tried to keep lightning in a bottle.
Is no one also noticing her (Kuvatova) wow! Russia doesn't have a ballet rep for nothing holy shit
Basilio was actually Baryshnikov's first role with the Kirov!
that's interesting :)
John, I have rewatched all these perfomance many, many times, and I guess I am learning Russian by osmosis :) just now I noticed something at 7:55, the presenter says "Grigorovitch, ballet Bolshoi". Semenyaka is very, very young here, this must be a gala when she had just moved from the Kirov to the Bolshoi. This is at least 1972, probably 1973, since Baryshnikov defected mid-1974.
i must confess i've watched them many times too! thanks for your osmosed (a word?) understanding - and for narrowing down the date
@@JohnRaymondHall Most references give the date as 1969 in an international competition that Baryshnikov won. Somewhere I read that Semenyaka was 16 or 17. I never tire of watching this compilation! thanks so much!
17:29 OOPS!
Guess he was always good!
Something's up with that last chick's feet. I'm like is she flatfooted cause she can barely get directly up on the point of her shoe. She might've made it that high up just by pure determination and hard work. God Bless her!
Это называется выворотность
Hebrews 6:19-20
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Skaistākais un tehniskākais dejotājs krievu baletā.