BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Sometimes the germ of an artistic idea takes time to bloom. Take, for instance, the upcoming “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” collaboration.
Joseph Brodsky (US Poet Laureate, 1991–1992) and iconic dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov were very close friends — both men were born in the Soviet Union, and then came to the United States.
“Joseph Brodsky was a hugely influential artist in Misha’s life,” explained Georgiana Pickett, executive director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, in a phone interview (“Misha” is Baryshnikov’s nickname).
Pickett said the two men had discussed a project that would include Brodsky’s poetry and Baryshnikov as a performer. Due to Brodsky’s passing in 1996, that artistic endeavor didn’t happen, but the idea stayed with Baryshnikov, she said.
Enter Alvis Hermanis, the director of the New Riga Theatre in Riga, Latvia. Hermanis approached Baryshnikov about doing a project, Pickett said, and that seed sown long ago sprung to mind. Together, Hermanis and Baryshnikov created an original script built on Brodsky’s work.
“I think that’s very interesting — the idea of taking this huge body of work and trying to weave it together from a different perspective,” Pickett said. “But of course, the beauty and resonance of Joseph’s writing is very, very prevalent in the show.”
“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” premiered in Latvia in October, and had its second run in Tel Aviv. It will have its US premiere from March 9–19 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (450 W. 37th St.).
“It’s a hugely important show for us, because Misha doesn’t usually perform here at the Baryshnikov Arts Center,” she said. “He never wanted this place to be perceived as an organization that he built to support his own career, and so he’s been very, very careful not to perform here that much, because he made this center for other artists.”
Pickett added, “It’s good for us because he’s a remarkable artist, and it elevates our program when somebody of his caliber performs on our stages. We’re very happy that he’s decided to do the show here, and that to do it in his own home, I think, is very fitting for a work that’s so personally important to him.”
She noted that Baryshnikov is not reciting Brodsky’s poetry, and that the one-man show will be performed in Russian. There will be English surtitles, which are subtitles that are projected onto surfaces on the set.
Coincidentally, there is another solo show in the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s season: “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing,” running from April 20–30. Based on the acclaimed book of the same title by Irish author Eimear McBride, the show follows a woman — played by Aoife Duffin — who navigates her life after encountering some traumatic experiences when she was young, Pickett explained. The production marks the New York debut of The Corn Exchange, a well-regarded Irish independent theater company.
Both “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” and “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing” are “tough works, with strongly emotional content, but very commanding performances,” Pickett noted.
Pickett said “A Girl is a Half-formed Thing” is also an important project, as it marks the center’s fifth collaboration with the Irish Arts Center (553 W. 51st St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.).
“Collaboration is a very important part of our institutional philosophy,” said Pickett, who mentioned the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Lincoln Center and PS122 as other important cultural partners.
Founded in 2005 in Hell’s Kitchen, the Baryshnikov Arts Center has had a consistent mission, said Pickett, who has been its executive director for four and a half years.
“I think the growth hasn’t been around any change of the [Center’s] original intention, but just in the volume and the work that we’re able to do, and the depth of which we’re doing it,” she said. “But this place was always conceived of — by our founder Mikhail Baryshnikov — to be a place that supported working performing artists to make work, to perform, to develop new ideas, and to collaborate across disciplines.”
Pickett said the center, which has around 30 residencies a year, provides the tools and mechanisms — such as space and resources — to help artists develop and perform their work. There is also marketing and documentation support, writing about the artists’ work, and producing video pieces.
“There’s a great level of care and investment that goes on with every single resident artist that we have here,” she said. “We don’t just give them a key to a room and then disappear.”
The nonprofit is currently focused on building an endowment, said Pickett. The Baryshnikov Arts Center recently received its first one: a $3 million gift from the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation.
“We’re always striving to find ways to provide more support to empower artists, she said, “…to stabilize their lives, because there’s not enough support here in our city. We need to find more ways to continue to attract artists and to keep them here.”
“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” is performed Mar. 9–19 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (450 W. 37th St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves.). The run has already sold out, but a wait list will begin at the box office one hour prior to each performance. Tickets are $35–$45. “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing” is performed April 20–30. Tickets are $25. For reservations, visit bacnyc.org or call 866-811-4111.
