Word: baryshnikov
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Onstage, Misha and Gelsey were magic from the start. A trial-run pas de deux from Don Quixote dazzled audiences in Winnipeg and later in Washington. Offstage, a love affair flared up between them, along with much professional bickering. Against a common background of rigorous classical training, Baryshnikov relied on instinct, Gelsey on analysis. Rehearsals became long and exasperating. They argued about the meaning of different positions. He: "It's arabesque, it's position." She: "No, it can be different in every ballet." There was also some competitive brain-picking. Gelsey sought the secrets of the Kirov's impeccable style...
...tensions, Gelsey danced a succession of new roles in La Sylphide, La Fille Mal Gardée, Les Sylphides. Her first Giselle in May 1975 was a major triumph. Gelsey's peasant girl seemed halfway toward spirithood even before she falls in love with and is betrayed by Baryshnikov's charming, careless nobleman. Pure spirit in the second act, she had gossamer lightness, nearly unbearable youthful poignance. The part confirmed her arrival as a romantic ballerina...
...wine. "Richard has helped me more than anybody," says Gelsey. "He makes me laugh about certain things about myself. Just to see how he feels about me makes me feel good." In that frame of mind, Gelsey was primed last autumn to discover the joys of childhood in Baryshnikov's Nutcracker...
...class, he found he could not keep his balance; his father, a Vermont meat-packing company owner, suggested that he try ballet as a remedy. Even after achieving success in showpieces like Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, McKenzie is modest: "If I had to compare myself to Baryshnikov, I'd give up and take up carpentry." But not too modest. His aim? "To become the next Kevin McKenzie...
Leslie Browne, 20. Soloist, American Ballet Theater. More people have watched the auburn-haired Browne perform in The Turning Point than may ever see her in person. Her lucky casting in the film as an aspiring ballerina who rises to partnership with Baryshnikov not only made her a celebrity but also prompted her to take acting and singing lessons-though only for a while. She is not interested in an acting career and has refused several film offers. Dance remains her passion: "I love the physicality of it all." Like Emilia in The Turning Point, she is the daughter...