Baryshnikov shows what “ballon” means
It’s the illusion the dancer gives of pausing for a moment at the top of the jump and hovering in the air.
This is from a film, probably made some time in the 1980s:
The New Neo
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Thank you Neo. I enjoyed watching this.
Nope. Not seeing it.
Amazing ability! That jump/spin combination at ~33 degree angle is incomprehensible.
When I was 13 I spent many, many hours alone, at night, on a concrete slab about 7′ from a basketball hoop practicing the affect of pausing in mid-air with my jump shot after watching Julius Erving and Pete Maravich do it on television. I eventually figured out the trick is to start moving your arms up just as you hit the zenith of your jump. I notice Baryshnikov is doing the same thing. It took me weeks (months?) to figure out, but since there seemed to be a direct relationship between being able to do it and getting attention from teen-aged girls I was determined to figure it out!
Ditto Rufus. I love that canted aerial spin axis. Though the tilted camera exaggerates the cant a bit. I’ve seen it live a couple of times at the ABT/Lincoln Center, but it seems like eons ago now.
The movie was called White Nights, 1985, with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. I recall that I enjoyed it immensely.
neo, do you have any idea what Baryshnikov weighed here, or nominally at his prime? I see his height is given at 5’5″ or 6″, but don’t find his weight anywhere.
sdferr:
I once stood next to him when we were both in ballet shoes. I would estimate his height as 5’4″ or 5’5″. He was very muscular and wiry, no fat at all. I would guess maybe somewhere in the 140s but all muscle.
Thank you neo. I was guessing to myself and ending up at just a bit less, round 136ish. Still, clearly the active stuff: not a bit of fat on that man.
Actually, I think the movie has to be “Dancers”, not “White Nights”. I don’t remember any scene like this in “White Nights”. I haven’t seen “Dancers” but it would be in the right time period for how old Baryshnikov looks here.
I also thought it was White Nights, but probably because it was the only movie I saw him in, it was the ’80s, and I loved it. I must watch it again one of these days….
Looked at Imdb and can confirm “Dancers”. There’s a pic from this clip. 1987 release.
Your ballet videos always make me marvel at the sheer athleticism of the dancers. They have well developed sense of moving from their center, just like martial arts masters.
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I watched “White Nights” when it came out. It was worth watching, but was summed up nicely by a reviewer who wrote “the dancing is of a quality completely unrelated to the rest of the movie.” That was also true of “Tap”.
LoFan, I thought so too.
Neo, you gotta quit giving us these hoax videos. This one, like several others*, was obviously shot in the back lot at Culver’s, just like the moon landing.
I mean, do you expect us to seriously believe that a human person can do those moves?! 😆
*For instance the “clapping feet” video from Swan Lake that you posted a month or two back.
More seriously, thanks. (I’d swear I saw him do a leap from “The Corsair” once or twice.) Love your ballet videos. Favorites might the Tommy Rall ones and the Gwen Verdon from The Pajama Game.