That's Life and One For My Baby- Baryshnikov Dances Tharp: Elaine Kudo and Mikhail Baryshnikov- Choreographed by Twyla Tharp

Brace yourselves! Here comes the ballet!

 A more ballet-educated human than I might point out that this dance could also fall into the "modern" category and they might have a very valid point. Twyla Tharp, the choreographer, is widely considered to have choreographed the first "crossover" ballet; a combo of ballet and modern.

 Her work spans ballet to modern and jazz and frequently isn't easy to label as one thing or another. Twyla Tharp's choreography is unlike anything else and is in high demand.

According to her website:

"Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines."

I could list all of her awards too, but we would be here all day. 
Literally. It is like, book-length list. 

Anyway,

When I think of groundbreaking choreographers, I think of Twyla Tharp. It is her unique blend of ballet and modern techniques with popular music that makes this piece so striking and beautiful. 

Baryshnikov Dances Tharp is a filmed version of a show that premiered at the Kennedy Center Operahouse in 1983 (positively modern by this blogs current standard). Sinatra Suite was Tharp's third piece set to Sinatra music and was based on one that she had choreographed for a full ballet ensemble. Mikhail Baryshnikov saw it and asked her to redo it for a smaller number of performers.
So, Tharp choreographed Sinatra Suites specifically for Mikhail Baryshnikov (who's nickname is apparently Misha) and Elaine Kudo.

Trivia: Tharp and Baryshnikov had done their own Sinatra duet dance years before which was received so horribly that they were actually booed during the performance. Needless to say, this one was quite different.

Tharp and Baryshnikov worked successfully on several projects including the dance Push Comes to Shove (which debuted a few years before Sinatra Suites) and the film White Nights (don't worry, there will be a post on that. Probably several.).

Here comes the Baryshnikov bit:

Mikhail Baryshnikov is amazing. Many people call him the greatest ballet dancer of all time. It is worth noting that Baryshnikov himself is not one of those people and finds it a somewhat silly title. He has several quotes on the subject, two of my favorites being:

I really reject that kind of comparison that says, Oh, he is the best. This is the second best. There is no such thing.

and

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.  

Small tangent: When I was little I watched the Baryshnikov & Kirkland version of The Nutcracker on repeat and was hopelessly in love with the Nutcracker himself. Years later I became a dance movie nerd and a total Baryshnikov fan... then I figured out he was the guy I had loved so much as a kid. I freaked.

ANYWAY

Short version of this story:

Baryshnikov was born in Russia but defected to Canada in 1974.

He joined the New York City Ballet to dance George Balanchine's style of choreography, then joined the American Ballet Theatre and became their artistic director (hence him asking Tharp to choreograph a piece for them).

He did several popular movies about dance and is one of the few ballet dancers to bring the style to a modern audience through that medium. He received an Academy Award nomination for one of his films because apparently along with being one of the best ballet dancers of the century he is also a great actor.

He also worked on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for the play Metamorphoses (based on the Kafka novella, you know, the one about the guy who turns into a giant cockroach?).

Anyway, he pushed the envelope of ballet a lot and ended up doing a lot of modern work and highly experimental stuff.

AND for those of you who may be new to dance nerddom, you still might know him as the Russian guy in Sex and the City. You are welcome.

Continuing on-

I cannot even fully express how much I love Elaine Kudo's performance in this piece. Even if we ignore her flawless technique for a second, her emotional commitment and stage presence are amazing by themselves. Twyla Tharp gives her so many weird contortions and angles and she makes everything light, effortless, and emotionally believable.

Elaine Kudo was born in Japan and studied at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, The American School of Ballet Theatre, and the American Ballet Theatre School before becoming a part of their company.

She has danced the choreography of Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and many others.

She retired from the stage and has worked as Ballet Mistress at several companies. She has staged a lot of Tharp's pieces. Now, she choreographs her own work. 

Shabby group of people involved in this dance, right?

Sinatra Suites tells the story of a relationship, from their first meeting on. Spoilers, it ain't a happy ending. I would love to include the entirety of Sinatra Suites on here but sadly cannot find a good quality version to link to.

So, here are two of my favorites:

That's Life- which is supposedly the turmoil in the relationship. People describe it in different ways, I personally think of it as "spousal abuse, the dance" but not everyone agrees with my perspective...
Anyway, the trust and timing required on this one are absolutely nuts to me. Elaine Kudo is a Goddess and I have no idea how she makes some of this stuff look so easy.
Also, Baryshnikov is chewing gum throughout this one... which... wow.

The second is One For My Baby - which is probably my favorite piece of the set. It is the final dance and is a solo for Baryshnikov. I really love the simplicity of it (especially the exit) and how the dance and lyrics interact...
There are several live performances of it including one danced with Sinatra singing live. They are both gorgeous but the overall film quality isn't quite as good.

Enjoy!