This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
John Welker, director of Atlanta’s Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, remains deeply inspired by Mikhail Baryshnikov, the ballet phenomenon who defected from the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s.
“He set the standard for what I aspired to,” Welker said. “The physicality, the technique, but also the magnetism. He had a certain gravitational pull on ballet lovers and the uninitiated alike. He was a presence, and he continues to inspire me.”
Welker will discuss the ballet great with John Heginbotham, artistic director of New York’s Dance Heginbotham, at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Breman Museum in Atlanta.
The event is one in a series of Sunday programs that explore the images in the Jewish heritage museum’s current art exhibit, “Icons: Selections from The Portrait Unbound, Photography by Robert Weingarten.” The event is free, but seating is limited and reservations are recommended.
Baryshnikov is one of 14 “visual biographies” in the exhibit, which runs through Oct. 1. The images are not traditional portraits but instead are mosaics of their subjects’ lives. The 14 subjects also include baseball legend Hank Aaron, composer Stephen Sondheim, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and statesman Colin Powell. The photographer is Jewish, but most of the exhibit’s subjects, including Baryshnikov, are not.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Welker and Heginbotham spoke in a recent Zoom interview about Baryshnikov, their choreographic craft and their friendship.
Baryshnikov, who defected in his 20s at the height of the Cold War, first wowed American audiences at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City.
He later joined New York City Ballet, became artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre and founded the White Oak Dance Project. In 2005, he launched Baryshnikov Arts, a multidisciplinary arts incubator.
Baryshnikov continues to inspire generations of dancers.
Welker has never met Baryshnikov, but Heginbotham has many times and refers to him by his nickname.
“Misha has been really important to me,” he said. “He supported my becoming a professional choreographer. That is part of Misha’s DNA that I’ve seen many times. He’s a generous supporter of the artists around him. There is lots of love ... for him.”
Heginbotham plans to talk Sunday about the highlights of Baryshnikov’s life and work, which are “dramatic and exciting. But I’m not a historian. It will be very anecdotal.”
Leslie Gordon, the Breman Museum’s executive director, said in a statement that the event “feels in perfect step with our mission to connect people to Jewish history, culture and arts.”
Sunday’s program, which includes a Q&A, will be followed by a reception and a chance to view the Baryshnikov image with Tony Casadonte, the exhibit’s curator.
Credit: Christina J. Massad
Credit: Christina J. Massad
Welker first met Heginbotham when the former was dancing with Atlanta Ballet and directing that company’s summer ensemble called Wabi Sabi. John McFall, who was Atlanta Ballet’s artistic director at the time, introduced the two and suggested Heginbotham create a dance for the ensemble.
“We instantly hit it off,” Welker said. Wabi Sabi premiered Heginbotham’s “Angel’s Share” in 2014, and the main company performed it on a mixed bill in the 2014-15 season.
As a photographer, Weingarten has a unique way of interacting with his portrait subjects. He asks them, “What makes you who you are?” He then uses their answers to craft a multilayered image. I asked Welker and Heginbotham the same question.
Welker, who is 46, talked about seeing his 10-year-old son develop through both nature and nurture. Welker feels the same way about his own life.
“I feel formed by my family and the community around me, but I’m still uniquely me,” he said. “John McFall was a huge part of my coming of age and becoming the artist I am today. I have to give him a huge hug.”
Credit: Amber Star Merkens
Credit: Amber Star Merkens
Welker also gives credit to one of his early ballet teachers, Violetta Boft. “She was the person who formed and shaped me as a dancer. I was a very temperamental child. Something about the physicality and mental discipline of ballet hones the whole person, and I am a more balanced human being as a result.”
Heginbotham, who is 52, grew up in Alaska, a formative landscape for a child, he said.
“It is very isolated. There’s a sense that everything is huge, and it feels a little dangerous at times. That’s part of me,” he said.
His parents introduced him and his younger sister to the arts at an early age. His initial dream was to perform on Broadway, but when he saw the Merce Cunningham Dance Company onstage in Anchorage, he fell in love with that, too.
“You couldn’t imagine two things more different. I loved them both.” He later joined the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York.
Baryshnikov, now 75, remains a creative force.
“He embodies the fact that when you’re done dancing, you don’t have to give it up,” Welker said. “You can still be part of the community and give back.”
EVENT PREVIEW
“Dance Talk: In Step with Baryshnikov”
2 p.m. Sunday, July 16. Free, but reservations recommended. Breman Museum, 1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta. 678-222-3700, thebreman.org.
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Gillian Anne Renault has been an ArtsATL contributor since 2012 and Senior Editor for Art+Design and Dance since 2021. She has covered dance for the Los Angeles Daily News, Herald Examiner and Ballet News and on radio stations such as KCRW, the NPR affiliate in Santa Monia, California. Many years ago, she was awarded an NEA Fellowship to attend American Dance Festival’s Dance Criticism program.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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