Check out my latest YouTube video on The Turning Point outtakes featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov. My last video featured solos from Baryshnikov in the 1977 movie. The movie featured big name ballet stars of the 1970s including Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins, Antoinette Sibley, Fernando Bujones. For those that can’t get enough of the movie’s great dancing, former New York City Ballet dancer Kurt Froman posted outtakes on his Instagram feed from the movie that ended up on the cutting room floor. In this video, I provide an analysis of Baryshnikov’s Sleeping Beauty solo, filled with great confidence and subtlety that did not make it into the film. Also, the pas de deux from Le Corsaire with Marianna Tcherkassky. Thanks to dancer Stephen Nelson for helpful comments on a draft version.
Thank you for your excellent commentary on the great Mikhail Baryshnikov. Personally, I studied ballet for a little over five years and when the dynamic Baryshnikov defected to the West, a fellow ballet student gave me a book on Baryshnikov. I will only issue one MINOR correction in your pronunciation of ballet steps in French: “cabriole” is pronounced “ca-bri-o-lay.” Nevertheless, thank you for your fine work.
Almost all ballet dancers, choreographers, and teachers in English-speaking countries pronounce it “Ca-bri-ol”. It’s not strictly correct French, but it’s traditional.
Thanks!
Cual es el libro sobre M. Barysnikov. Gracias
I had always wished there were outtakes of the cut dance footage from “The Turning Point”. Thank you so much for making that wish come true! Before I knew you had Baryshnikov’s “Sleeping Beauty” solo here, I wrote a lengthy comment about it after your other “Turning Point” video. What you have here confirms my memory of the solo piano accompaniment while they were filming at the Shrine Auditorium. When Baryshnikov initially came out to film, I’m (almost) certain he had a wig with a tiny ponytail. If I’m right, then they obviously changed their minds about it prior to final filming of the solo. His series of four tours en l’air is remarkable, especially since during the rehearsal he botched the landings on two or three of them and became frustrated. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Shrine Auditorium. It’s a huge 1920s palace with an “Arabian Nights” theme to its decor. The house and stage are huge, among the largest in the U.S. All the big ballet companies, including ABT, NBC, Bolshoi, and Kirov, used to do two or three week seasons there. It’s south of downtown L.A., near the Memorial Coliseum and the University of Southern California. The neighborhood used to be a bit seedy, but it was a great place for ballet. As far as I know, they don’t dance there anymore.