Then-ABT David Moore was sitting by the Libermans’ pool in Litchfield County ca. 1981.
Baryshnikov also was poolside. David couldn’t help studying his boss’s feet up close.
He described them “like a little gecco, lizards that have sucking pads on the bottom of their toes so they can hold on to glass. His feet had that kind of prehensility. Part of his talent is that contact he has that enables him to hang in the air.”
Despite Misha’s pretty big arch, David thought there “wasn’t a real beauty in them” by virtue of his “short toes: he wouldn’t have done well on pointe.” Speaking visually, that is, because surely shorter, rather even toes are easier to stand up on. But optically–too short toes on pointe–not the most pleasing.
A prime factor in Baryshnikov’s utility was that his feet were “veiny: when you’ve got big, strong veins blood flows quickly.” More blood flowing = more oxygen = more energy. I’m all for it.
Darn clever, these ballet dancers: when you’re sitting next to that kind of kinetic phenomenon, you want to study how it works.