Mikhail Baryshnikov

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Mikhail Baryshnikov
Image:Barys 16.jpg
Birth name Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov
Born January 28 1948 (1948-01-28) (age 61)
Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR
Years active 1968 - present
Spouse(s) Lisa Rinehart
For the Russian athlete, see Aleksandr Baryshnikov.

Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Барышников) (b 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 and went on to become a principal dancer and artistic director with the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet in New York City. He 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 dancer.

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[edit] 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, soon winning 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 created ballets for him. Jakobson's 1969 virtuosic Vestris along with an intensely emotional Albrecht in Giselle, became his signature roles.[1] While still in the Soviet Union, he was called by critic Clive Barnes "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen".[2]

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.[3]

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 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 Centre in New York.

[edit] Dancing style

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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 Russia 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." [4] 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 free-lance career to spend 18 months as a principal 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 on 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 [5] 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.” [6] The White Oak Project was formed to create original work for older dancers. In 2007, he appeared in a production of four short plays by Samuel Beckett staged by avant-garde director JoAnne Akalaitis. Noting that the run ended just short of his 60th birthday, one fan noted, "He wants to put the 'sex' in 'sexagenarian.'"[7]. Joining discipline and charisma, he has fashioned an exceptionally long career and cast a long shadow over the contemporary dance world.

[edit] 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.[8]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kennedy Center - Biographical Information of Mikhail Baryshnikov
  2. ^ Kennedy Center - Biographical Information of Mikhail Baryshnikov
  3. ^ Natalia Makarova, A Dance Autobiography (Knopf 1979), p. 152.
  4. ^ New York Times, June 20, 1976
  5. ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet, Oxford University Press, New York, 1987; Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet, Dial Press, New York, 1977
  6. ^ Baryshnikov at Work: Mikhail Baryshnikov discusses his roles. Knopf, New York, 1976.
  7. ^ this would be me; I can personally attest to other details
  8. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/05/lklw.00.html

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Baryshnikov, Mikhail Nikolaevitch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Russian Ballet Dancer
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga, Soviet Union
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
bn:মিখাইল বারিশ্‌নিকভ

de:Mikhail Baryshnikov es:Mikhail Baryshnikov fr:Mikhaïl Barychnikov it:Mikhail Nikolaevič Baryšnikov he:מיכאיל ברישניקוב hu:Mihail Barishnikov ja:ミハイル・バリシニコフ no:Mikhail Barysjnikov pl:Michaił Barysznikow pt:Mikhail Baryshnikov ru:Барышников, Михаил Николаевич sr:Михаил Баришњиков fi:Mihail Baryšnikov sv:Michail Barysjnikov uk:Баришніков Михайло

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