Baryshnikov

[tannalv]

First: amazing to see him still have the same joy and passion for ballet as he's always had. You'd think a person who's been involved in it for as many years as he has would be burnt out and tired of it, seems like the opposite is true, he has such passion still he wants to teach and give others the same joy and pleasure he's gotten from it.

Second: Mean?! He's smiling, never saying "no! no!", just showing how, rather than "how not". He seems like a wonderful teacher!

[jazziefey1]

Man ooh man! He's so good. And it doesn't even look like he tries

[Golritz]

this is so amazing! He literally taught without using language!! just demonstration and gestures! God, he's soooo amazing!!!

[kungfudoggie]

OMG Thank you for keeping the camera on HIM!!!!!!! pant pant

[vgoth100]

misha is such a god of dance....to see him at his 'old' (haha) age is still tremendous.....i had the privilege to see him in Ann Arbor a while back....he is, and will always be, a legend in the dance world.

[singaporegirl16]

even when he's demonstrating it looks like a piece of art

[AkiraChan24]

It's amazing to see this man in ordinary clothes ust switch into 'dance mode' and kick butt doing it! XD

[payodes]

omg

[89krysie]

omg i'd sell my kidney on the black market to take class from baryshnikov!!! he is brilliant!!! Nobody will EVER top him, he is the best, and always will be.

[feroxcvpiditas]

Amazing! In under 2.5 minutes he gives (and demonstrates beautifully!) a goldmine of essential technique. Gorgeous!

[brassmonkeyjew]

i would hate for him to be my teacher! WHAT A MEANY!

[Euphrosyne1216]

"i would hate for him to be my teacher! WHAT A MEANY!"

"Mean"? "Mean" describes one who seeks to inflict pain on another to gratify his own anger or hatred. The demeanor of the teacher in this video gives no indication of anger or hatred. His demeanor is that of one who has attained technical perfection - a priceless treasure! - and who desires to impart this treasure to these students. In order for this to happen, however, both teacher and students must work very, very, very hard.

[ALEXRAG81]

definitivamente un maestro!! que tecnica mas limpia y definida!! impresionante!!

[SAntonoyannakie]

If only you could show us more of the students, dancing, and let us see his work instead of simply his figure...

[filmergeek]

i would be so honored to be taught by him!

[94miata]

Baryshnikov the best the ever was, and best there ever will be.... Just incredible.

This was filmed in 2007?

That would make him 59 years old in this video.... that is just incredible, considering he moves better than MOST 20 year olds...

So much talent, words can't begin to describe.

[gothlolidoll]

I'd take a mens class taught by Baryshnikov, and I'm a girl!

so lucky!

[martaKetamin]

guru

[joeymorales]

Would kill for a chance to dance w/ Misha! Such a great talent...

[lucianaoliverB]

Yo también estuvo cuando fue a Cuba Baryshnikov!! Fue increíble Poder verlo en los pasillos!!!!

[jamesacleary]

Anyway I love Misha he taught us at ABT school a few times he's an unbelievable teacher and anyone who has him is extremely fortunate

[juliefreelance217]

Those guys are so lucky they get to be taught under Mikhail himself.

[Rachet88]

Guh. To be taught a dance by Misha himself. I think I'd have a heart attack!

:)

[violetcloud]

is he even using words? international language of dance <333

[1Krishnna1]

wOow *.*!

I REALLY LOVE when guys dance ballet :)

[temple2heaven]

Gorba clearly doesn't know anything about ballet and respect... Misha is the greatest ballet dancer that ever lived. To have an opportunity to see him teach and move is an honor and a priviledge. If he moves and you miss it, you have created a travesty. He is wonderful and amazing and those students are supremely blessed as are all of us who get to witness him in life and in dance.

[Qitten33]

He's in Cuba? How come he gets to go to Cuba and I can't? It's not fair. I WANT TO GO TO CUBA!! They are not MY enemies.

[bolshoiboy8]

OMG i SOOOOO agree... baryshnikov is cool and all but i wanna see the male students of this school who are so rarely filmed.

[candle3090]

I know me too. It was getting annoying youd get like a 5 sec look at them and then get to see him standing there.

[jamesacleary]

well heres a thought....look of the title of this video and then ask yourself why is the camera-man focusing on baryshnikov? could it be that it's the title of this video? NO WAY?!

[bolshoiboy8]

ummm you make a title AFTER you film a video... that was a quite stupid remark shitface...

[bachgen1]

he is a lengend and carlos acosta is just another amazing lenged one day

im a royal ballet associate

[gorba4ov]

good for you haha

[PICKLETREE]

If he taught me, I think I would stand there and drool for a while before actually being able to dance!

[burreiro17]

this man is such an inspiration for every ballet dancer in the world!!!! Watching a class video of him just reassures my profound respect for his work and career!!!!

[AijaP]

Boo-hoo!! He's coming to my country this May but all the tickets are sold!!! It would have been enough If I had the cheapest eight dollar ticket...

[bbudacious]

What talent

[CLeaf82]

Man, I envy and don't envy those boys. . .being evaluated in class by one of the best; that HAD to be the definition of pressure.

*CL*

[geaaglo]

this man is incredible. I don't know anything about ballet, but I DO know there aren't many 60 year-old's jumping and dancing like he does, even less with that grace. Every one of his performances are amazing, he's an icon.

[MCBenjyness]

My students need to see this...pearls of wisdom. Get ya 5th position sorted. No sound on landing!.Cool...such precision. Defo no ballet boys..more like real men with artistry.

[tiana985296]

mmmmm ballet boys :]

[GiorgiaMarquez]

Anybody knows the music's name?

[svettyfan]

he can still do his fifths and jumps. :]

[TrzyPolishGirls]

he is just amazing, no words for describing him...

[gmlch]

pure simplicity is the most beautiful thing. his assembles are to die for. gotta love misha

[souriceau02]

You are right : premier danseur Assalute - For Ever young

[redravensounds]

Thank you for posting this!

Only Misha could turn perfectly executed assemble's and jete's performed in class, into art. My god, he's demonstrating full out, and his knees have been blown out.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Premier Danseur Assalute.

[jcvancamp]

Baryshnikov danced several performances of Swan Lake with Makarova at the Kennedy Center with ABT in the early 1980s. According to press reports at the time, it was strictly a favor for her, as he never considered it much of a role for the male. As far as I know, that was the only time he performed it with ABT. It's possible he performed it as a guest artist with another company in the late seventies after his defection in 1974.

[x0x0kari]

mikhail baryshnikov is smokin hot!!

[Vryanna]

Wow - beautiful. Was Isaac Hernandez one of the students there, by chance? One of them looks like him.

[orangeblueandlavenda]

that was alittle funny,i think he was trying 2 explain to them to land more softly :p

[TrippinZiggy]

oh wow! this is wonderful. You get to see Misha teach! hehe, he keeps the atmosphere light and seems to let the dancers have fun. That's great, of course he still wants what he wants, but... oh man, this was great! thank you to whoever posted it!

[leonardirma]

I love him, he dances so beautifully, he is my favorite dancer !!!

[osheen18]

He's still got it ...

[zemaneh10]

I saw him dancing with his company 2 weeks ago in São Paulo - Brazil and he is still dancing and jumping and touring and piruetting as always. (jumping a little bit lower, but still perfectly). He is brighting as always and when he comes into the stage he fills the whole space with his carisma, personality and amazing interpretation. He is wonderful!!! The best in the planet in anytime.

[funkyspacemonkey]

oh my gosh THANK YOU for posting this! the man is still smoking HOT lol.did you film this? did you get to shake his hand? if you did shake his hand i hope you did what anyone would have done which is to never wash that hand again lol.

[esmeraldacolumna]

lol! yei i filmed the video, i didnt shake his hand but i took a pic together!

[anna315]

i am so envious! so does he only dance in south america now? or does he ever return to europe?

[esmeraldacolumna]

He´s still dancing all around the world, and teaching in USA, this class its in a FESTIVAL!

[AkiraChan24]

@esmeraldacolumna Oh my goodness, I would kill to have a photo taken with him. I wonder if people always ask him to do a ballet pose with them (and if so, I bet he says "I'd rather not") lol!

[tayounorise]

@esmeraldacolumna

so you are a very blessed person (*____*@

Thank you for sharing

*bow*

angela

[SCRstarr]

he's amazing

[qbendanny1]

The master teaching master class. The essembles to the fifth whether devant, second, derriere are textbook perfect.

[orangeblueandlavenda]

i wonder if he ever did swan lake?

[orangeblueandlavenda]

i had herd years ago that he had wanted to see russia change, and it has. i think it's amazing

[WillowMe3]

What a small perosn you must be mr pritchill. I'd like to see you do anything that man has accomplished in the span of his lifetime.

He brought a whole new attitude to how men dance in ballet on a global scale. Was he the first? No. But he was certainly the most outspoken and most courageous. He svered ties with ABT to work with Balanchine. Though it wasn't what he thought it would be, at least he attempted.

[elemilex]

..de hecho, me estaba fijando en las correcciones y

en la primera que les hace se ve bien clara la diferencia entre el petit jeté cubano y el ruso (y francés); francamente yo también prefiero que se vea el soubresault.

[elemilex]

It's true!!! he makes NO sound at landing.. and his jumps are still elastic, generous and gracefull; he has tremendous prescence...

[katerinavander]

Thank you for posting this - fascinating to see his wonderful skill and expressiveness(?) at passing on his art and sharing his knowledge.

[claudiall]

Wow, his form is still so perfect! I think it's awesome, specially considering his age.

[SusannTx]

He hasn't quit ballet, he still performs but does modern dance more.

And mrpritchill, you are a complete ass.

mim2006 is correct. In your late fifties, you can't do what you did in your twenties and thirties, especially when you've had 4 knee surguries!

Politeama, I'm sure he remembers! He has been invited back to Russia but refuses to go. He said the same people were still running the country. He did return to Lativa once.

[x46686]

He said in an interview that he had close to 11 surgeries

[tovictorianna]

he told us he moved to the USA for the MONEY {ie NOT artistic reasons}  Russia has changed a lot in 40yrs .!

[SusannTx]

He may have moved for the money, but he is the only Russian ballet artist who actually went out and danced something other than the classics!

He sought out different choreographers and genres of dance.

Everybody who defected said it was for artistic freedom, he was the only one who actually did anything different that what he did at the Kirov.

And...is Russia really so different now? Ask the people who publicly denounce Putin.

Oh wait, that would be difficult since most of them end up dead.

[AijaP]

Hes coming again this May!(crappy show - all the tickets are sold and I don't get any T_T ) Why doesn't he want to come more than two times in hes life? I don't understand...I just mean - it's hes homeland. Does he still think that there are Soviet leaders around or what!?

[homewalk]

Misha suffered a knee injury and that's why he had to quit ballet.

[esmeraldacolumna]

yes! April 4 2007

[mrpritchill]

motherfucker can't jump like he used to

[mim2006]

He`s almost 60 years old, he still in WONDERFULL shape and still with wonderfull lines, do u WANT him to jump like a 20 years old?! Asshole

PS: Is that really 2007?! He look younger

[philking58]

Its petit allegro, not grande allegro, or a variation like Don Q. I bet he can still jusp pretty high if he wants to, even if it not as hight as it used to be.

[Politeama]

I wonder if Baryshnikov remembers the terrible oppression that he felt when he lived under a communist regime as those Cuban dancers are living now & he was able to fly away to be free like those young dancers would like to be able to do as well. It isn't just dancing.

[elemilex]

Well I've never been in Cuba, but.. as far as I know, Alicia Alonso always had a good relationship with ABT and the elite cuban dancers actually have opportunities to make castings, get scholarships and even make a great career, there (just like Carreño); or am I wrong?

[Politeama]

Well, Carreño like Lorna Feijoø are not free to say what they feel, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go back to Cuba, like Lorena Feijoø (Lorna's sister), Rosario Suarez, Jorge Esquivel, Dagmar Moradillo, etc., etc.

[Politeama]

Alicia Alonso es the chief, like Castro. If you open your mouth you are dead. She controls every the life of every single dancer in the Island. I have talked to several dancers and they all admit that Alicia as good as she has been as a dancer, has been as bad as a person (you can read Esquivel's book), he used to be her partenaire.

[elemilex]

Wow.. I'm gonna look for that book; thanks.

[evilAniron]

what an honor!

[xokatyxo]

Wow! Did you meet him? I would be SO intimidated to be in a studio with Baryshnikov. I'd be too scared to dance.

[Aditaaa82]

That was a dancing course, I was there, just returned from it one week ago. Sometimes I was so close to Baryshnikov I could have slapped him :P If you have the chance to go to that course next year, do so...it's the best experience ever.

[UnklRudi]

What a great post! Thank you.