Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov
(Russian: ?????? ?????????? ??????????) (born January 27, 1948) is a Soviet-born Russian American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in western dance. After freelancing with many companies, he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer to learn George Balanchine's style of movement. He then moved to dance and later became artistic director with the American Ballet Theatre, also in New York.
Baryshnikov has spearheaded many of his own artistic projects and has been associated in particular with promoting modern dance, premiering dozens of new works, including many of his own. His success as a dramatic actor on stage, cinema and television has helped him become probably the most widely recognized contemporary ballet dancer.
He played the part of Carrie's painter boyfriend, in the series "Sex and the City", during 9 episodes, starting in 2003.
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Biography
Born in
Riga, now in independent
Latvia, Baryshnikov began his ballet studies there in 1960. In 1964, he entered the
Vaganova School, in what was then
Leningrad (now again
St. Petersburg). Baryshnikov soon won the top prize in the junior division of the International Varna Competition. He joined the
Kirov Ballet and made his debut at the
Mariinsky Theater in 1967, dancing the “Peasant”
pas de deux in
Giselle
. Recognizing Baryshnikov's talent, in particular the strength of his stage presence and purity of his classical technique, several Soviet
choreographers, including Oleg Vinogradov, Konstantin Sergeyev, Igor Tchernichov, and Leonid Jakobson,
choreographed ballets for him. Baryshnikov made signature roles of Jakobson's 1969 virtuosic
Vestris
along with an intensely emotional Albrecht in
Giselle
.
[1] While still in the Soviet Union, he was called by
New York Times
critic
Clive Barnes "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen".
While on an excruciating tour in
Canada with the
Bolshoi Ballet in 1974, Baryshnikov
defected, requesting
political asylum in
Toronto. He also announced to the dance world he would not go back to the U.S.S.R.. He later stated that Christina Berlin, an
American friend of his, helped engineer his defection during his 1970 tour of London. His first performance after coming out of temporary seclusion in Canada was with the
National Ballet of Canada in a televised version of
La Sylphide
. He then went on to the United States.
[2]
From 1974 to 1978, he was principal dancer with the
American Ballet Theatre (ABT), where he partnered with
Gelsey Kirkland. He also worked with the
New York City Ballet, with
George Balanchine and as a regular guest artist with the
Royal Ballet. He also toured with ballet and
modern dance companies around the world for fifteen months. Several roles were created for him, including roles
Opus 19: The Dreamer
(1979), by
Jerome Robbins,
Rhapsody
(1980), by
Frederick Ashton, and
Other Dances
with
Natalia Makarova by Jerome Robbins. He returned to ABT in 1980 as dancer and artistic director, a position he held for a decade. On July 3, 1986, he became a
naturalized citizen of the United States. From 1990 to 2002, Baryshnikov was artistic director of the
White Oak Dance Project, a touring company he co-founded with
Mark Morris. In 2004 he launched the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.
Artistic career
Dance
Baryshnikov's talent was obvious from his youth, but the Soviet system in which he grew up was ill-suited for developing it. Shorter than most dancers, he could not tower over a ballerina
en pointe
and was therefore relegated to secondary parts. More frustrating to him, the Soviet dance world hewed closely to 19th-century traditions and deliberately shunned the creative choreographers of the West, whose work Baryshnikov glimpsed in occasional tours and films. His main goal in leaving the Soviet Union was to work with these innovators; in the first two years after his defection, he danced for no fewer than 13 different choreographers, including
Jerome Robbins,
Glen Tetley,
Alvin Ailey, and
Twyla Tharp. "It doesn't matter if every ballet is a success or not," he told
New York Times
dance critic Anna Kisselgoff in 1976, "The new experience gives me a lot." He cited his fascination with the ways Ailey mixed classical and modern technique and his initial discomfort when Tharp insisted he incorporate eccentric personal gestures in the dance.
In 1978, he abandoned his freelance career to spend 18 months as a principle of the
New York City Ballet, run by the legendary
George Balanchine. "Mr. B," as he was known, rarely welcomed guest artists and had refused to work with both
Nureyev and Makarova; Baryshnikov's decision to devote his full attentions to the New York company stunned the dance world. Balanchine never created a new work for Baryshnikov, though he did coach the young dancer in his distinctive style, and Baryshnikov triumphed in such signature roles as
Apollo,
Prodigal Son, and
Rubies. Robbins did, however, create
Opus 19: The Dreamer
for Baryshnikov and NYCB favorite Patricia McBride.
[3] [4] In 1980, he became Artistic Director of
American Ballet Theatre and his role changed from performer to director.
Nevertheless, his fascination with the new has stood him in good stead. While his technique has lost its flash, his mastery of gesture and stagecraft remains compelling. As he observed, "It doesn't matter how high you lift your leg. The technique is about transparency, simplicity and making an earnest attempt.”
[5] The White Oak Project was formed to create original work for older dancers. In a run ending just short of his 60th birthday in 2007, he appeared in a production of four short plays by
Samuel Beckett staged by avant-garde director
JoAnne Akalaitis. Joining discipline and charisma, he has fashioned an exceptionally long career and cast a long shadow over the contemporary dance world.
He has received three Honorary Degrees; on September 28, 2007 from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, on May 11, 2006, from New York University, and on May 23, 2008 from Montclair State University.
For the duration of the 2006 Summer, he went on tour with
Hell's Kitchen Dance, which was sponsored by the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Featuring works by Baryshnikov Arts Center residents Azsure Barton and Benjamin Millipied, the company toured the United States and Spain.
In late August 2007 Baryshnikov performed
Mats Ek's
Place
(original Swedish title,
Ställe
) with Ana Laguna at Dansens Hus in
Stockholm.
He has been quoted to say "dancing is living".
Film and television
Baryshnikov made his American television dancing debut in 1976, on the
PBS program
In Performance Live from Wolf Trap
. During the
Christmas season of 1977,
CBS brought his highly acclaimed American Ballet Theatre production of Tchaikovsky's classic ballet
The Nutcracker
to television, and it has remained to this day the most popular and most often shown television production of the work. In addition to Baryshnikov in the title role,
Gelsey Kirkland,
Alexander Minz and many members of the American Ballet Theatre also starred. The production was videotaped in
Canada. After being shown twice by CBS, it moved to PBS, where it was shown annually every Christmas season for many years, and still is by some PBS stations. It was first released on DVD by
MGM/UA.
[6] The remastered
DVD of the performance, issued by
Kultur Video in 2004,
[7] is a bestseller during the Christmas season. The DVD has now been released in the UK by
Digital Classics [8]
Although Tchaikovsky's ballet has been presented on TV many times, the Baryshnikov version is one of only two versions of "The Nutcracker" to be nominated for an
Emmy Award. The other dance nominated was
Mark Morris' "The Hard Nut," his intentionally exaggerated and satirical version of the ballet.
Baryshnikov also performed in two Emmy-winning television specials, one on
ABC and one on CBS, in which he danced to music from
Broadway and
Hollywood, respectively. During the 1970s and 80s, he appeared many times with American Ballet Theatre on
Live from Lincoln Center
and
Great Performances
. Over the years, he has also appeared on several telecasts of the
Kennedy Center Honors.
Baryshnikov performed in his first film role soon after arriving in New York. He portrayed the character Yuri Kopeikine, a famous Russian womanizing ballet dancer, in the
1977 film
The Turning Point
, for which he received an
Oscar nomination. Additionally, he co-starred with
Gregory Hines and
Isabella Rossellini in the
1985 film White Nights
, choreographed by
Twyla Tharp, and the 1987
film Dancers.
In the last season of
Sex and the City
, he played a Russian artist who had feelings for
Carrie Bradshaw,
Aleksandr Petrovsky, wooing her relentlessly and taking her to Paris. He co-starred in
Company Business
(1991) with
Gene Hackman.
On November 2, 2006, Baryshnikov and chef
Alice Waters were featured on an episode of the
Sundance Channel's original series
Iconoclasts.
The two have a lifelong friendship. They discussed their lifestyles, sources of inspiration, and social projects that make them unique. During the program, Alice Waters visited Baryshnikov's Arts Center in New York City. The Hell's Kitchen Dance tour brought him to
Berkeley to visit Alice Waters' restaurant
Chez Panisse.
On July 17, 2007, the PBS
News Hour with Jim Lehrer
featured a profile of Baryshnikov and his Arts Center.
Family
Baryshnikov has a daughter, Aleksandra Baryshnikova (born 1981), from his relationship with actress
Jessica Lange. When Baryshnikov and Lange met, he was able to speak very little English. They had to communicate in French instead.
Baryshnikov is in a long-term relationship with former ballerina
Lisa Rinehart. They have had three children together: Peter, Anna, and Sofia. In an interview with
Larry King, Baryshnikov said that he didn't believe in marriage because the commitment that people make to each other didn't have anything to do with a legal marriage. He stated that he wasn't religious, so standing in front of an altar would not mean anything to him.
[9]
See also
- List of Eastern Bloc defectors
References
- Biography of Mikhail Baryshnikov
- A Dance Autobiography
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet
- Repertory in Review: 40 Years of New York City Ballet
- Baryshnikov at Work
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_12_74/ai_67832275/pg_6?tag=artBody;col1
- http://www.amazon.com/Nutcracker-Baryshnikov-Kirkland-Charmoli/dp/B0002S6428/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dv
- http://www.digitalclassicsdvd.co.uk/product/160
- CNN Larry King Weekend: Interview with Mikhail Baryshnikov