Baryshnikov triumps enacting Chevkov short stories Berkeley Rep January 30



 Berkeley Rep.  Anton  Chekov. a play adapted from two short stories by Anton Chekhov, “Man in a Case” and “About Love”...Adapted and directed by Paul Lazar and Annie Barson. Baryshnikov  definitely brings
the same genius to acting.  The program reminds me that he was a principle dancer of the Kirov when he defected and joined the ABT.  I saw him in NYC when he was all the rage in 1976  He had come in 1974 and worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.  In 1980 he became Artistic director of ABT.  From 1990-2002, he was director and dancer with the White Oak Dance Project which he founded with choreographer Mark Morris.  In 2005 he opened the Baryshikov Arts Center (BAC) a creative home for artists to develop their work.   

As far as his acting goes, Baryshnikov  won an Oscar nomination for “The Turning Point”, and starred in “White Nights”, as well as tv shows, including 3 Emmy award winners.  He appeared on Broadway in “Metamophosis, for which he received a Tony noimination and a drama Desk Award, and in "Forbidden Christmas" or "The Doctor and the Patient"(Lincon Center Festival (" Becketts Shorts" (NY Theatre Workshop) in Paris, the Berkeley Rep, the Board Stage, Lincoln Center Festival) and most recently in “The Old Woman directed by Robert Wilson.  He has had a Chubb Fellowship, the Commonwealth Award, the Jerome Robbins Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of Honor.  In 2010 he was named an officer of the French Legion of Honor .   Listened to his interview, he sees acting rather like dancing, but a different emphasis in expression.  He certainly has the body language, the gesture, the movement of the theater expressed through his genius in dancing.   His voice is resonant, and the ability to convey strong feeling and passion, a part of his Russian make up.  What a pleasure. Baryshnikov still has the power to move one emotionally, and is lovely to watch! I had a front row seat; lucky me!  My seating partners were a couple from Manhattan, originally; the man had been a chiropractor to Baryshnikov, and his wife a Russian from Smolensk; they live in Piedmont.  We enjoyed the production immensely! .

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