Mikhail Baryshnikov

Latvian-American dancer, choreographer and actor

AI overview

Mikhail Baryshnikov is a Latvian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor who became one of the most celebrated performers of his era. He is significant because of his extraordinary talent and contributions to dance, as well as his prominent role in bringing ballet and performing arts to wider international audiences.

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Person · Open Library

Born: 1948
Works: 8

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Riga, Latvia

Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov (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…

Known for

The White Helicopter — Pope Benedict XVI2024
猟銃2023
The Hip Hop Nutcracker — Self - Cameo2022
Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story — Self2021
Studio 54 — Self (archive footage)2018
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit — Minister Sorokin (Uncredited)2014
Doll & Em — Mikhail2014
A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy — Self2011
Top Model po-russki — Special guest2011

Article

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov (born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male classical ballet dancer of the 1970s and 1980s. He subsequently became a noted dance director.

Born into a Russian family in Riga, 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. 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. After Latvia declared independence on 4 May 1990, he often returned there. In 2017, the Republic of Latvia granted Baryshnikov citizenship for extraordinary merit.