Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov, nicknamed "Misha", is a Latvian-born Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor born in the Soviet Union, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers in history. 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDancer
Date of Birth27 January 1948
CityRiga, Latvia
CountryUnited States of America
I was kind of amused, and shocked. At first I was watching it with my children. Then I said 'Children, OUT!
I can see one guy doing what we call an 'air flare' ... and I'll see 30 other individuals do the same move in a competition. Not one of those b-boys did anything to try to twist it and make it their own.
I know when I am on stage and I'm kind of on the right track - hopefully most of the time. But a lot of time I'm not.
I was always interested in photography and other forms of art.
I spend at least a couple hours a day in the studio, every day, whether I'm dancing or not.
Choreographers use me as the old guy who still dances. Not that I put on white tights.
I'm a product of Russian culture, but I never felt it was my country.
I miss horribly those couple of hours before the performance when you get into the theater and you see people.
In any art form, in Hollywood or in music, there is a handful of people who really, you know, move the envelope.
I cannot draw to save my life, and I'm not a big art scholar, but I worked with many designers throughout my career - in theater, in dance, costume designers, set designers, and I have a lot of artist friends and I do photography, and I think it's kind of in my life.
I am not the first straight dancer or the last.
I don't drink milk, and I don't eat bread, pasta or rice. But I eat a lot of meat, chicken, fish and salads.
When I'm alone, I work sometimes with music, sometimes without and sometimes just listening to NPR.
Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.