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Mikhail Baryshnikov

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Mikhail Baryshnikov
File:Barys 16.jpg
Alexandra Danilova and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the Hamburg Opera House, 1976.
Born
Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov
Years active1968 - present
SpouseLisa Rinehart
For the Russian athlete, see Aleksandr Baryshnikov.

Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Барышников) (b January 27, 1948) is a Soviet-born Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor. Critic Clive Barnes once called him "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen".[1]

Biography

While on a tour in Canada with the Kirov Ballet in 1974, Baryshnikov defected, requesting political asylum in Toronto. 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 1979, 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. He also toured with ballet and modern dance companies around the world for fifteen months. Several roles were created for him, including roles in Opus (1971) and The Dreamer (1979), by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, Rhapsody (1980), by Balanchine and 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 Centre in New York.

Dancing style

Baryshnikov was a unique dancer in many ways. He is short and thus had to work hard to prove his suitability for roles such as Siegfried in Swan Lake where a taller, more noble bearing was expected. Although he once stated that "It doesn't matter how high you lift your leg. The technique is about transparency, simplicity and making an earnest attempt.” [3] His dancing was renowned for its textbook form, technical brilliance, and emotional detachment, as well as its use of "bravada," meaning masculine, daring dancing.

Family

He has a daughter, Aleksandra Baryshnikova (born 1981), from a previous relationship with actress Jessica Lange. When Baryshnikov and Lange met, he was able to speak very little English, and they had to communicate by using French instead. Baryshnikov is currently in a long term relationship with former ballerina Lisa Rinehart, and they have three children: Sofia, Anna, and Peter. In an interview with Larry King, Baryshnikov said that he didn't believe in marriage because the commitment that people make to each other doesn'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.[4]

Film and television

Throughout his acting career, Baryshnikov was noted in particular for his first film role in the 1977's The Turning Point where he received an Oscar nomination . Additionally, he starred in the 1985 film White Nights, choreographed by Twyla Tharp, and the 1987 film Dancers. He played Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) boyfriend, Aleksandr Petrovsky, in the last season of Sex and the City. He was also mentioned by the ballet teacher in the The Simpsons episode "Homer Vs. Patty & Selma." 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 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 the American Ballet Theatre also starred. The production was videotaped in Canada. After being shown twice by CBS, it moved to PBS, where it received annual television showings every Christmas season for many years. It is only one of two versions of "The Nutcracker" to be nominated for an Emmy Award, the other being "The Hard Nut," Mark Morris's intentionally exaggerated and satirical version of the ballet. Afterwards, Baryshnikov appeared in two Emmy-winning television specials, one on ABC-TV 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.

He has recently received two Honorary Degrees; on September 28, 2007 from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, and on May 11, 2006, from New York 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.

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 life-long friendship. They discuss their lifestyles, sources of inspiration, and social projects that make them unique. During the program, Alice Waters visit's Baryshnikov's Arts Center in New York City, then later the Hell's Kitchen Dance tour brings 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.

Notes

  1. ^ Kennedy Center - Biographical Information of Mikhail Baryshnikov
  2. ^ Natalia Makarova, A Dance Autobiography (Knopf 1979), p. 152.
  3. ^ Baryshnikov at Work: Mikhail Baryshnikov discusses his roles. Knopf, New York, 1976.
  4. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/05/lklw.00.html

References

  • Cambridge Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990.


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