Last week, I was meeting in my office at BAC with a former New York City Ballet dancer who is now artistic director of the World Performance Project at Yale University. Her name is Emily Coates, and she is smart, kind, and supremely talented. We were discussing her upcoming residency at BAC with an African choreographer and dancer named Lacina Coulibaly. We covered all the usual territory: the nature of their creative time at the Center, logistics, and showings of the artists’ work in progress.
Then in walked Mikhail Baryshnikov, whom I will call Misha henceforth, since that is what we do, in fact, call him. He greeted Emily with a grin, a hug, and a little chitchat. Emily reminded Misha that she would be dancing at the Ringling International Arts Festival, as one of the members of OtherShore, the dance company that will be performing “The Snow Falls in Winter” by Annie-B Parson.
Misha’s smile grew even wider, and he said, “Oh, that’s right! I think you’re going to bring something really interesting to the work. It’s a great piece. And you’re great.” Misha went on to say how excited he was about the programming of the festival, which he played an important part in selecting. He and I digressed a bit with some other business, whereupon Emily commented, “I love it here.” Then Misha let us get back to our meeting by saying, “If you need me, I’ll be working upstairs in the studio.”
Stanford Makishi, as executive director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, oversees the Center’s planning, programming, and operations. He oversees all programming for the Ringling International Arts Festival and consults on RIAF strategic planning. www.bacnyc.org