It's more than just his stage presence though, the moves he performs are extremely difficult and the stamina he appears to have is amazing. His technique and the apparent ease with which he performs the movement vocabulary is unbelievable. When I hear people joke about men doing ballet and wearing tights, I say "have you ever seen Baryshnikov" because I don't know of a more manly display of physicality than his dancing.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Macho Macho Man
I just watched the videos Jessica put up of Mikhail Baryshnikov and after seeing them I don't how I could not write about him. I've frequently been given the note "be more masculine" and when I hear that I think of Baryshnikov. His dance has a powerful mix of gracefulness and ease with strength and masculinity that are the picture of bravado. when I saw these videos all I could think was "wow." His stage presence and confidence make his execution of the moves more than just technically great, they add character, dimensionality, and strength.
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I think you're right when you talk about how Baryshnikov could add so depth to his dancing through his personality. It is really interesting to me to think about how important or unimportant personality is. When does it become part of technique? Is it something we bring to technique after we pick up the basic building blocks, or is it in itself one of the building blocks of technique? Personally, I think it can definitely be one of the building blocks, but wherever it stands, you're right when you say Baryshnikov brings a whole new dimension to his dancing with his personality. I also think I'm sounding a little pretentious, which I don't mean to.
ReplyDeleteAs for the idea of masculinity, I just think that's an interesting topic to think about in general. As male dancers, do we have to try harder than guys in other areas of study or professions to prove ourselves as "real men" to the rest of the world? Should I be learning how to grill? I just think it's really interesting to think about. Again, I don't mean to sound pretentious.