Baryshnikov Steps Modernly Tonight

When Mikhail Baryshnikov descends on the Music Center tonight and Tuesday night with his new ensemble, the White Oak Dance Project, there will probably be no empty seats and a mob scene might ensue at the box office.

So strong is his appeal that this event--a full evening of modern dance--has generated a scalpers’ market: $100 for Founders’ Circle tickets and $85 for orchestra. Christina Sterner, White Oak general manager, said that all 12 cities on the tour are sold out, “but as of Friday a few balcony seats” at the Pavilion remained.

Renowned as one of the greatest classical dancers of our time, Baryshnikov at age 43 has essentially said goodby to ballet. He has now attached his fortunes to the lower-tech demands of modern dance.

Last year the dancer, who has been developing his non-balletic interests for some time, joined choreographer/dancer Mark Morris, 35, the darling of the critical Establishment, to jointly found the White Oak Dance Project. There have been three previous tours, all exclusively featuring Morris’ choreography.

Now, according to Baryshnikov’s manager in New York, Edgar Vincent, the enterprise “is strictly Misha’s”--funded by the dancer’s paper-magnate friend Howard Gillman.

Sterner said Baryshnikov, who will perform both nights, is the producer of the tour and will select each evening’s programs and dancers.

From a historical perspective, the White Oak Dance Project’s two nights at the Music Center are momentous. In the 26-year history of the downtown arts complex, there has been a total of 10 all-modern-dance programs on its three stages--six by Twyla Tharp, three by Bella Lewitzky and one by Elle Johnson. Sterner said Baryshnikov is expected to perform in Martha Graham’s “El Penitente” during the Pavilion engagement. (He performed this work earlier this month with the Graham Company in New York.) Additionally, Baryshnikov will choose from the following works each night:

*”Waiting for the Sunrise,” a new work by Lar Lubovitch, set to music by Les Paul and Mary Ford and Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Gang.

*Duet from “Concerto Six Twenty-Two” by Lubovitch, set to the Mozart Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra.

*”A Lake” by Morris, set to Haydn’s Horn Concerto No. 2 in D.

*”Ten Suggestions” by Morris, set to music by Tcherepnin.

*”Nocturne” by Martha Clarke, set to a waltz from “Songs Without Words” by Mendelssohn.

*”Break,” by Meredith Monk.