The one that got away

Nearly 40 years after Mikhail Baryshnikov’s defection, the city in which he once lived marks his 65th birthday.

By Viktoria Koltsova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: January 23, 2013 (Issue # 1743)

maria baranova The images include ones of Baryshnikov in theater plays, such as ‘ In Paris.’

The celebrated Russian émigré ballet dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, who celebrates his 65th birthday this month, is being paid tribute to in St. Petersburg with an exhibition.

“Ballet Is a Castle of Beauty,” an abbreviation of the opening line of a 1976 poem dedicated to Baryshnikov by poet Joseph Brodsky, is the title of a new photography exhibition at Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art that consists of images of the dancer on stage.

The photographs on show, which are exclusively images of Baryshnikov on stage, build up the story of his dance and theater career through the work of three prominent dance photographers who captured Baryshnikov during performances and rehearsals at different stages of his career.

Art historian Irina Ivanchenko said at the exhibition opening that Baryshnikov’s main contribution to the art form was his demonstration of the potential of the human body, adding that he was also an innovator who had pushed new boundaries in dance when he unexpectedly left classical ballet in 1989 to become a modern dancer.

“He was unique and without any competition the best performer of modernist choreography, [he] influenced the development of the American dance genre, far from classical ballet,” said Ivanchenko.

Baryshnikov, heralded by New York Times critic Clive Barnes as “the most perfect dancer I have ever seen,” famously defected in 1974 while on tour in Canada with the Kirov Theater, as St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater was known during the Soviet era.

He sought political asylum in Toronto, and after announcing that he would never return to the U.S.S.R., has spent the rest of his career abroad, most famously spending 18 months as principal dancer at the New York City Ballet when it was run by the legendary choreographer George Balanchine.

“Baryshnikov not only provided modernist choreographers [with] the opportunity to work with professional class [dancers] and revealed new horizons of creativity to them and aroused their imagination, but discovered through his performances the benefits of classical education for contemporary dancers. In this case — the benefits of the Russian classical school,” said Ivanchenko.

The photos on show at Erarta were all taken by three photographers: Nina Alovert, who photographed ballet at the Kirov and Bolshoi Theaters in the 1950s before emigrating to the U.S. in 1977 and who is the author of Baryshnikov’s biography; Paul Kolnik, the official photographer of the New York City Ballet for the last 30 years, who photographed Baryshnikov during his time at the company; and Maria Baranova, a fashion and dance photographer who has mostly photographed Baryshnikov’s recent work in various plays.

The photos are different in epoch and style, but Baryshnikov’s phenomenal energy and brilliance are present in every image.

The exhibition has been organized by the Open World Dance Foundation, a charity that encourages children who are interested in ballet to pursue their ambitions, and that counts Baryshnikov among its supporters. The foundation was set up with the goal of helping orphans to develop their creative talent and integrate into society through the arts and psychological care.

“We do not set a goal to raise ballet stars; for us it is important to give children the opportunity to have a choice,” said founder Yekaterina Schyolkanova, a former soloist with the Kirov Ballet and the American Ballet Theater and a native of St. Petersburg.

“We hope that children involved in dance will never fall into a criminal environment, as art changes people. Familiarity with ballet connects children to different kinds of art — theater, music and decorative art,” she said.

Although the exhibition mainly features photographs of Baryshnikov in acting roles, they are just as energetic and striking as the images of him dancing in Roland Petit’s “Carmen” 30 years earlier. The show is proof of the words of ballet historian and critic Vadim Gayevsky, who wrote of Baryshnikov:

“…What was really unique was his intellect, a mind that broke all barriers and could understand the logic of any choreographic structure. He wanted to do what he could not do, he wanted to try everything, and he was always successful. He flies through the dance, he is free.”

“Ballet Is a Castle of Beauty” runs through Feb. 9 at Erarta Museum and Galleries of Contemporary Art, 2, 29th Liniya, Vasilyevsky Island. Tel. 324 0809. www.erarta.com