Mikhail Baryshnikov

This article is about the ballet dancer. For the Russian athlete, see Aleksandr Baryshnikov.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Nikolayevich and the family name is Baryshnikov.

Mikhail Baryshnikov
Михаил Барышников
Baryshnikov in 2017
Born
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov

(1948-01-27) January 27, 1948 (age 76)
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship
  • Soviet Union (1948–1986)
  • United States (1986–present)
  • Latvia (2017–present)
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • choreographer
  • actor
Years active1968–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2006)​
PartnerJessica Lange (1976–82)
Children4, including Shura and Anna

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Барышников, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf]; Latvian: Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 27, 1948)[1] is a Latvian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor.[2] He was the preeminent male classical ballet dancer of the 1970s and 1980s. He subsequently became a noted dance director.[3]

Born in Riga, Latvian SSR, into a Russian family, Baryshnikov had a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad before defecting to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in Western dance. After dancing with the American Ballet Theatre, he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer for one season to learn about George Balanchine's neoclassical Russian style of movement. He then returned to the American Ballet Theatre, where he later became artistic director. 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.[citation needed] His success as a dramatic actor on stage, cinema, and television, has helped him become probably the most widely recognized contemporary ballet dancer. After his 1974 defection, Baryshnikov never returned to the USSR. Since 1986, he has been a naturalized citizen of the United States.[4] After Latvia declared independence on 4 May 1990, he often returned there; in 2017, the Republic of Latvia granted Baryshnikov citizenship for extraordinary merit.

In 1977, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Yuri Kopeikine in the film The Turning Point. He starred in the movie White Nights with Gregory Hines, Helen Mirren, and Isabella Rossellini, and had a recurring role in the last season of the television series Sex and the City.

  1. ^ Mikhail-Baryshnikov. Encyclopedia Britannica. June 21, 2023.
  2. ^ Mikhail Baryshnikov Archived February 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. ^ Mikhail Baryshnikov (Russian-American dancer) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia Britannica.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haaretz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).