Misha: Photography his way

Merce My Way--the new book of photographs of Merce Cunningham's dancers in action by Mikhail Baryshnikov--has just come my way. To look at these 85 creatively-blurred shots is to be fed swirls, swoops and great bursts of color energy as these two brilliant masters of motion (physical and visual) come together. This volume of wind, ice and fire, platinum and hot gold, plunges us deep inside time in a way that is both spiritual and disorienting. Baryshnikov's homage to Cunningham is more than a record of dancing; he offers an experience of dance and its power to shake, entrance and exalt the viewer.

Two quotes from Baryshnikov's introduction:

"Merce's work lends itself beautifully to the lens. He uses space--his depth of field, so to speak--unlike any other choreographer in the world. He uses his dances as the perfect instrument of his vision."

"Sometimes Merce's work is interpreted as cold and withholding, but I completely disagree with that notion. I've always thought that his best pieces were highly emotional, and I've tried to capture that emotion in these photographs."

Yes, the "internal temperature," the "heat," that the photographer seeks is there. What a beauty of a book.

Hear Mikhail Baryshnikov in conversation with New Yorker dance critic Joan Acocella at Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Center (1972 Broadway at 66th Street, Lincoln Triangle) on Tuesday, March 10, 7:30pm, followed by a book-signing.

Mikhail Baryshnikov, a photographer most of his adult life, has turned his lens on dance, and here pays vibrant homage to the work of master choreographer Merce Cunningham. In his introduction to Merce My Way Baryshnikov writes, “Watching Cunningham's dances through the eye of a lens is a lesson in the extremes and restraints of a dancer's body... to a dancer, such nakedness is revelatory." This volume offers 85 of Baryshnikov's striking, never-before-published color images, in which he seizes the essence of Cunningham's choreography by anticipating the dancers' motions and capturing the streaming fluidity of the dance. His images are radiant and electric--blurring motion, past, present and future into a single frame. Featuring images of six recent Cunningham dances, the book is a revelation for all those who revere dance--and the work of these two masters.

Riga-born Mikhail Baryshnikov danced with the Kirov Ballet from 1968 to 1974, when he left Russia. He joined New York City Ballet as a principal dancer in 1979 and in 1980 became the artistic director of American Ballet Theater, a post he held until 1990. Thereafter, until 2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was director and dancer with The White Oak Dance Project, which he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris. He has also starred in several films and has worked in television and on Broadway, earning Oscar and Tony nominations. Mr. Baryshnikov began taking photographs as an avocation in the mid-80s, and since then, his photographs have been exhibited in a variety of museums and galleries all over the world. He is currently artistic director of New York City’s Baryshnikov Arts Center, which serves as a creative laboratory and meeting place for artists of all disciplines.

PUBLISHED BY: Baryshnikov Productions
FORMAT: Clth, 11 x 9.75 in. / 128 pgs / 177 color.
ISBN: 9780982172605 ISBN10: 0982172605
PUBLICATION DATE: 02/01/2009
$45.00