Dancers in the autumn of their career 5/5 - Baryshnikov 1993-2007

The previous dancers in this series had stayed (mostly) within the realm of classical ballet even in their 'old' age. Baryshnikov chose a different strategy and reinvented himself outside of it.
This is the last post in this series. I thought I would get enough footage for a sixth installment but I was mistaken.

[@zohraghezaili7564]

Monsieur Baryshnikov, est toujours aussi beau, aussi élégant et aérien. Il est sûrement très exigeant, sachant se renouveler, mêlant parfois le mime, l'humour, ou la dérision à ses chorégraphies. Éclectique. Un grandissime danseur.

[@garotadagavea]

He was from his 40s to almost his 60s in the compilation. And he was mesmerizing! Be still my heart!

[@esperanzapenagos9340]

1111111¹o1o¹oo²p

[@bowerydoll]

So sweet to run across this tonight. I still remember when he defected in the 70s. So gifted and always brilliant. There is only one Misha x0x

[@angele810]

“Dance!” ordered Myrtha - and he did.

[@chanchan5349]

I saw Baryshnikov dance with Merce Cunningham in NYC, front row, saw the sweat drip of Baryshnikov's face & the concentration, control as he danced with Cunningham's company. Awe inspiring. Merce danced with a lucite bar within easy reach but was still so controlled & beautiful. It was nothing I'd ever seen in my life. Tickets were cheap to students (first comers)@$20.00/ticket. I've never felt so lucky! You could see the work both put into the performance-not something undertaken lightly but true dedication & art.

[@kallenesperian9538]

He soars like an eagle...and that is beautiful

[@ruthannbowman8061]

Baryshnikov is amazing his style of dance is amazing and he's not like any other ballet dancer I can watch him for hours

[@Clara-hg1hd]

I love watching older dancers! Why don’t we see it more? The experience and stories of a more mature character, a more mature body are as beautiful and worthwhile as those of a young body.

[@anatexeirapintosguerra5104]

Pocos bailarines tienen un tempo tan integrado. Es un placer verlo sentir la música.

[@BeveC21E]

Here he is, dancers the world over! The one who has set the barre for all others to follow and ultimately (if you're that fortunate) reach!

[@arepo]

Wonderful phrasing and body control, hard to believe he was sixty in the last one. Reinventing himself was the right decision. Why retire when you still have so much to give?

[@arepo]

And he dances with the whole body, not only with the legs.

[@Marta44339]

Thank you for these fascinating compilations. I enjoyed them all. In my view Baryshnikov is the dancer in this series whose autumnal period is most worth watching. Ballet Janie, very well said. I agree completely. Yes, the memory of him in Giselle or DQ or Tchaikovsky PdD is certainly exciting, yet there is still so much to appreciate in these clips.

[@laconja1]

ballet janie exactly I felt like his dancing became a real internal journey & discovery of himself.

[@jtika1978]

I’d say because of agism in the industry

[@virginiamariadubois3105]

Barysnikov is always Barysnikov wits Its style and elegance ....

[@simaraft7373]

Thank you so much for this series. I enjoyed all 5 very much, the way one enjoys a threadbare carpet as opposed to a shiny new one, what the Japanese call wabi sabi. Baryshnikov, clever as he is, reveals the least wabi sabi by showing us small fragments where the carpet is least worn. Merce Cunningham was the master of wabi sabi. Did anyone see him on stage as an old man? That was wabi sabi perfection, which is the ultimate paradox. Now we’re getting into zen!

[@simaraft7373]

I saw him in a new work where his movements were very limited but very expressive. At some point he lifted his newest dancer and walked en face toward the audience as if to present her. Very moving.

[@maracmallen]

El humor y la elegancia

[@freddiemercury4evr]

This is such a delight to watch! He continues to be fascinating and unpredictable.

[@DonnaMcMasterRiver]

Thank you for this compilation, Navarre! As I see it, Baryshnikov kept doing what he's always done, which is to tell stories through movement. He has continued to evolve after the 2007 piece here. I love some of the recent work as much as my favorites from his athletic prime, though in a different way. They speak to the soul. Being 70 myself (2 years younger than Baryshnikov), he inspires me and makes me question how I've assumed that I can no longer do this or that. Some examples (links in playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLhsOr8ghgvv0nqK-Hzg297G_rPBrbB6g_): 2009 (age 61) Place/Ställe with Ana Laguna, herself over 50. 2013 (age 65) The Old Woman with Willem Dafoe. 2015 ad for Rag & Bone with Lil Buck. 2016 (age 68) Letter to a Man, a solo exploration of Nijinsky's diaries. 2016-2019 Brodsky/Baryshnikov based on the poems of Joseph Brodsky. In Nov 2019 (age 71) he talked about a new project he'd been exploring. Who knows what comes next?

[@lilianaparavan1860]

Magnifico, único, perfecto en toda clase de baile. Combina de maravillas ,técnica y expresión!!!

[@josephinestabel9647]

👣 Amazing Dancer . And Beautyful Soul. 💌

[@alexingresss2420]

Thank you for this series, very interesting.

[@jhlee3187]

Awesome

[@theresa42213]

Wow! Dancing to one's own heartbeat is VERY COOL indeed! Happy 85th Birthday Dad! l love you! ....and Happy 85th birthday to you too Rudic. You big dummy!

[@user-dc9yr6dm3n]

Русская школа классического балета восхищает красотой осмысленного танца.

[@katiamarin9425]

Thank you Sir

[@stylishblog22]

Наслаждение какое....

[@asclepius3117]

Rumor says that the injuries sustained at NYB prevented him from doing what he used to be able to do. He had plenty of artistry to fall back on but people wanted to see the stratospheric jumps and lightning quick brisees (me included!).

[@innerlight617]

Thanks! Baryshnikov is outstanding even just standing waiting the bus.. look at him here it was 2009. Wonderful,powerful,moving! 13.29. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZ-8pqNraK6kY6s and here 2015 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKOpg4evm9x1fpo I am not surpised the man is turned out to be an excellent drama actor of modern theater. Such a gifted artist,but he is an exceptional person too, imo.

[@miamiracer]

He is the Fred Astaire of classical dance. There is nothing more to say.

[@TraciMann]

Love it!!!!!

[@rleroyradford]

Love the nod to Nijinsky.

[@Marta44339]

Could the clip labeled "2002?" be a work by Ruth Davidson Hahn called Upon a Whim? I saw Baryshnikov dance something resembling this piece in White Oak in the mid 1990s . I think the music is Schumann. Thanks again for this terrific series.

[@seunghyepark1332]

I wonder why i still see "young Baryshnikov" some moments in this clip.

[@garotadagavea]

Because it is the same person. Watch "Vestris". The movements are all there.

[@polinagergieva2509]

Because you want to.

[@ShirlyKtemple]

Where can I find the piece at 10:00

[@nataleemerola3271]

Anyone know what the song is around 13:23?

[@KrysP125]

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings

[@pediatrapaola]

HAVING me seen many times baryshnikov at his top in 70's l didn't feel to go to see him in the second part of his carrer l din't feel and l didn't also when l would have had the occasion because he was in italy with his late works and performances ,l prefered remembering him in his magnificent shape of the first part of his carrer in 70's but anyway his strategy was more intelligent and succesful than nureyev's of fracci's he never was ridicolous or umprobable.

[@virginiamariadubois3105]

pediatrapaola Anch'io preferisco il Misha della prima parte della sua carriera,se non altro perché trovo questi ultimi balletti molto noiosi...

[@AnnabellaEdeL]

He kept clean lines and technique. Looks like he's kept his training and his body is in very good shape. But besides that, it's BORING. He just keeps doing steps or movements in a way that you almost get depressed. He, as well as all the others, should have been wiser and disappear from the stage at the time he retired. He was such a big star of ballet, but that stays in the past. The past can't be brought back.

[@alexingresss2420]

He should have disappeared from the stage at the time he retired? But he didn't retire and came back. I think you completely missed the point of this series, none of the dancers featured in the series retired, they kept dancing into old age. Alessadra Ferri is an example of a dancer who retired officially and came back after many years. I don't think Baryshnikov wanted to bring his youth back. That was Nureyev, who kept doing the same old warhorses (or warhorse pastiches of his own creation) over and over again. Baryshnikov danced a different genre and not his own choreography.

[@pediatrapaola]

agree misha showed far more taste changing his style and kind of performances and despite me too am not crazy fan of these works l clearly see that he never became ridicolous and pathetic as happened to rudy

[@kabardinka1]

Maybe you didn't like the choreography or style of dance, but he performed it well and performed works which well suited his aging body. It's two separate issues. I respect his artistic choices especially since he continued to perform them at a high standard unlike some others.

[@innerlight617]

Right. ,i respect tremendously Baryshnikov exactly because he was wanting to try so many different things. It's wonderful that he did not fall into the rut of repeating what first made him successful, but that he constantly searches for the new, for the exciting and for the less conventional. He is not just a dancer, but truly an artist, an original one.

[@John-mk3oe]

shows what name recognition will do....nothing great about any of these....the modern weird stuff is just weird....he doesn't look good with fluffy hair and that slight build....doesn't look good in heels performing boring "jazz" to strings....best was the orange body tard, slippers, short hair....showed his line, but movement was too quirky.

[@oliviakirby1409]

You're a moron.

[@Bluesbabesrv]

John ` your comment shows how little you know of Misha. Many of these performances would be difficult for a much younger man, Misha is 50+ and a phenomenal performer doing his own thing. As far as the “fluffy hair and slight build “ that has always been his look. This brilliant man has moved on with the times.

[@kenjoneslee]

@@Bluesbabesrv I am a ballet dancer who loves jazzy/rhythmic more than modern weird stuff. Modern can be fascinating, but it takes the right creativity. Broadway jazz can be too "commercialized" and trite looking. Classical ballet suffers from stuffy, unoriginal choreography...same old same old...just one athletic feat after the next - all classroom routines....nothing original. I've seen hiphop pop...Lady Gaga stuff....that I find far more fascinating to watch.