Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Mikhail Baryshnikov is one of the best representatives of the Soviet ballet school, who was able to achieve success as a dramatic actor as well. This article is devoted to his life in the USSR and in the West.

Parents

The dancer was born at the end of January 1948 in Riga, in the family of an officer of the Soviet Army Nikolai Petrovich Baryshnikov and his wife Alexandra Vasilievna Grigorieva. The couple ended up in Latvia immediately after the war, where the father of the future dancer was sent for further service.

Early years

Misha's father - a man with a stern character - was absolutely indifferent to art and was not particularly interested in raising his son. All worries about the boy were entrusted to Alexandra Vasilievna. She instilled in her son a love for the theater and classical music, and when he grew up a little, she sent him to a ballet studio.

After graduation, Mikhail Baryshnikov entered the Riga Choreographic School, where he was taught by N. Leontieva and Y. Kapralis. There, his classmate was the future famous dancer and film actor Alexander Godunov, who later also emigrated to the United States.

Sasha and Misha stood out from their peers with their talent,therefore, Juris Kapralis tried to devote more time to them and staged original concert numbers for teenagers.

Tragedy

When Mikhail Baryshnikov was twelve years old, his mother took him on vacation in the Volga region, to his mother. Returning to Riga, she committed suicide. Why the young woman committed this act, no one has found out. Upon returning home, Misha found out about what had happened and for a long time was very upset by the loss of his mother. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Baryshnikov Sr. very soon entered into a second marriage, and the boy could not find a common language with his stepmother.

Study in the city on the Neva

In 1964, the Latvian National Opera came to the northern capital on tour. Misha Baryshnikov was busy in some performances along with classmates. One of the artists of the Kirov Theater took the boy to the Leningrad Choreographic School and showed him to the famous teacher A. Pushkin. He examined the young talent and invited Misha to enter the school.

Baryshnikov informed his beloved mentor about this, and Kapralis, although he did not want to part with one of his best students, advised him not to lose such a chance. The guy went to Leningrad and completely moved away from his father and his new family.

During the years of study in the city on the Neva, he took part in the International Ballet Competition, held in Varna, and won the first prize.

Career start

After completing his studies in 1967, Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov became a soloist in the KirovTheater of Opera and Ballet of Leningrad.

The star of the young dancer rose instantly, as specialists and spectators could not but discern the undoubted talent of the artist. He possessed unique professional abilities, had perfect coordination of movements, was unusually musical and had rare acting skills.

Experiments

In the early years of Baryshnikov's work at the Kirov Theater, an era of stagnation began there. She was associated with the policy of the new artistic director Konstantin Sergeyev, who adhered to conservative views on ballet and prevented the retreat from established dogmas.

With his arrival, the creative life at the Kirov Theater practically died. Baryshnikov, being a creative and free-thinking person, was looking for ways out of the impasse that had arisen. He sought to bring novelty to the classical repertoire. In addition, his work on the ballets Creation of the World and Vestris was of great importance for his work.

Creative evening

By 1973, the actor became the best artist of the troupe of the Theater. Kirov, which allowed him to get the right to organize a creative evening and independently choose his repertoire for this concert. Then Baryshnikov invited 2 modern choreographers - M.-E. Murdmaa and G. Aleksidze - and asked them to stage one-act ballets especially for this event. The leadership of the Kirov Theater had to give in, especially since the new artistic director of the troupe supported his best soloist.

Baryshnikov's creative evening on the stage of the Kirov Theater became the pinnacle of hiscreativity in the USSR. The concert program included "Divertissement" by Aleksidze, as well as "Prodigal Son" and "Daphnis and Chloe" by Murdmaa. Baryshnikov's creative evening made even more obvious his significance for Soviet art and culture.

In 1973, the dancer was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. He starred in several ballet films: "The City and the Song", "The Tale of the Serf Nikishka", etc.

Besides, Sergei Yursky invited him to his teleplay "Fiesta", entrusting the ballet dancer with the dramatic role of Don Pedro.

Escape from the USSR

Over time, Baryshnikov began to feel more and more that he was creatively cramped in the Soviet Union. Any attempt to do something new was met with hostility. The last straw in Mikhail's patience was the refusal of the leadership of the Kirov Theater to Roland Petit's offer to stage a free ballet performance on his stage especially for Baryshnikov.

In 1974, during a tour of artists from different theaters of the USSR in Canada, ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov decided not to return to his homeland. The decisive factor was that his old acquaintance, dancer Alexander Mints, who emigrated to the United States in 1972, offered the Soviet star to join the troupe of the American Ballet Theatre.

Canada granted Baryshnikov political asylum, but his escape to the West meant a complete break with everyone who was dear to him in his homeland. In particular, with this act of his, Baryshnikov betrayed his common-law wife Tatyana Koltsova, who was one of the soloists of the Kirovtheater. The dancer was very upset by the rupture of all ties with friends and relatives, but he understood that this was the price he would have to pay for creative freedom. He was "mourned" by the audience, for whom the favorite artist was someone like Mozart in the dance world.

As part of the American Ballet Theater Company

For the first time, Mikhail Baryshnikov appeared before the American public in the summer of 1974. Together with the same “defector” Natalya Makarova, he danced the ballet “Giselle”. The American Ballet Theater Company performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The audience adored the dancer. They gave him a standing ovation and raised the curtain dozens of times to the exclamations of “Misha! Misha! In 1974, Baryshnikov became the troupe's premier and performed as a soloist in many classical ballets and musical productions by modern choreographers. In addition, he staged P. I. Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. The recording of this performance was filmed on videotape, and its circulation was quickly sold out by lovers of classical dance. In America, Baryshnikov also managed to work with Roland Petit, which he dreamed about when he danced at the Kirov Theater.

NYCB

In 1978, the founder of neoclassical ballet George Balanchine invited Mikhail Baryshnikov, whose biography you already know, to join his New York City Ballet troupe. He treated the former soloist of the Kirov Theater like a son, but the great choreographer was already 74 years old and had he alth problems. Balanchine was unable to stage a new ballet for Mikhail, but Baryshnikovdanced the main roles in the ballets "Apollo" and "Prodigal Son" by George Balanchine. These works of the world ballet star became an event in the field of dance art, and he himself was named the best performer of the performances of the great choreographer.

Later at the NYCB, he was able to work with another famous ballet creator, Jerome Robbins. The latter staged Opus 19. The Dreamer for Baryshnikov.

Return to American Ballet Theatre

In 1988, the dancer took charge of the American Ballet Theater (ABT), which was once his first place of work in the United States. Baryshnikov led his troupe for 9 years. Before he joined AVT as an artistic director, performances were staged for stars, often invited from other countries. Baryshnikov created a permanent troupe. In addition, he acted as a choreographer for the ballet "Cinderella" by S. Prokofiev and created a new version of "Swan Lake" by M. I. Petipa.

This happy creative period of Baryshnikov ended in 1989, when the great dancer left AVT. One of the main reasons for his departure was the unwillingness to constantly coordinate his creative plans with the board of directors.

In recent years

In 1990, Baryshnikov and Mark Morris created the White Oak Dance Project troupe. The project lasted 12 years. Then Mikhail set about creating an arts center, which opened in 2005.

Mikhail Baryshnikov: films

In the US, Baryshnikov starred in several feature and musical films. Among them:

• "Rotaryitem.”
• "The Nutcracker".
• Don Quixote.
• White Nights.
• "Dancers".
• "Dr. Ramirez's office".
• "Carmen".
• "The case of the firm."
• "Sex and the City (Season 6)".
• "My dad Baryshnikov".
• Jack Ryan: Chaos Theory.

Of these, the most famous was the film "Turning Point", which received many nominations for "Oscar". The picture "White Nights" had a great box office success. In addition, the actor played in the Broadway play Metamorphoses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.

Mikhail Baryshnikov's family

Shortly after arriving in the US, the dancer met two-time Oscar winner actress Jessica Lange. Although the marriage between the stars was not concluded, in 1981 they had a daughter, Alexandra Baryshnikova. The girl followed in the footsteps of her father and became a ballet dancer. A year later, Michael and Jessica broke up.

After that, a lot of time passed before Mikhail Baryshnikov's personal life finally got better. In the late 80s, the dancer married former ballerina Lisa Rinehart. The children of Mikhail Baryshnikov from this union are Peter, Anna and Sofia. The marriage of like-minded people turned out to be happy and has been going on for almost three decades.

Now you know interesting details from the biography of Mikhail Baryshnikov. The artist's family has recently been in the spotlight of the press, as his children have grown up and are trying to prove that they deserve to bear the name of their famous father.