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Mikhail Baryshnikov is a Actor and Choreographer American born on 27 january 1948 at Riga (Lettonie)

Mikhail Baryshnikov

Mikhail Baryshnikov
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Birth name Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov
Nationality USA
Birth 27 january 1948 (76 years) at Riga (Lettonie)
Awards Emmy Award, National Medal of Arts

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Бары́шников; born January 27, 1948), nicknamed "Misha" (Russian diminutive of the name "Mikhail"), is a 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. He then danced with 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. In 1977, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for his work as "Yuri Kopeikine" in the film The Turning Point. He also had a significant role in the last season of the television series Sex and the City.

Biography

Born to Russian parents in Riga, Latvia, then occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union, Baryshnikov began his ballet studies there in 1960. In 1964, he entered the Vaganova School, in what was then Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). His parents were Alexandra (a dressmaker; maiden name, Kisselova) and Nicholai Baryshnikov (an engineer). Baryshnikov soon won the top prize in the junior division of the Varna International Ballet Competition. He joined the Kirov Ballet and 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, choreographed ballets for him. Baryshnikov made signature roles of Jakobson's 1969 virtuosic Vestris along with an intensely emotional Albrecht in Giselle. While still in the Soviet Union, he was called by New York Times critic Clive Barnes "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen."

On June 29, 1974, while on tour in Canada with the Kirov Ballet, Baryshnikov defected, requesting political asylum in Toronto, and joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He also announced to the dance world he would not go back to the U.S.S.R. He later stated that Christina Berlin, an American friend of his, helped engineer his defection during his 1970 tour of London. His first televised performance after coming out of temporary seclusion in Canada was with the National Ballet of Canada in La Sylphide. He then went on to the United States.

From 1974 to 1978, 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 and as a regular guest artist with the Royal Ballet. 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 2003, he won the Prix Benois de la Danse for lifetime achievement. In 2005 he launched the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.

Best films

White Nights (1985)
(Actor)

Usually with

Nancy Dowd
Nancy Dowd
(1 films)
Shane Rimmer
Shane Rimmer
(2 films)
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross
(2 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Mikhail Baryshnikov (7 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, 1h45
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Spy
Themes Spy films, Films about terrorism, Gangster films
Actors Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, David Paymer, Nonso Anozie
Roles Minister Sorokin (Uncredited)
Rating61% 3.099123.099123.099123.099123.09912
After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Jack Ryan (Pine), studying at the London School of Economics, becomes a U.S. Marine second lieutenant fighting in Afghanistan, where his spine is critically injured when his helicopter is shot down. During a lengthy recovery, he attracts the attention of Cathy Muller (Knightley), the medical student helping him learn to walk again, and Thomas Harper (Costner), an official with the CIA who recruits him.
Rehearsing a Dream, 39minutes
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Actors Vanessa Williams, Mikhail Baryshnikov
Roles Self
Rating68% 3.4255453.4255453.4255453.4255453.425545
Company Business, 1h39
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action
Themes Political films
Actors Gene Hackman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kurtwood Smith, Terry O'Quinn, Daniel von Bargen, Géraldine Danon
Roles Pyotr Ivanovich Grushenko
Rating56% 2.847032.847032.847032.847032.84703
The film follows the exploits of Sam Boyd (Gene Hackman), a former operative for the CIA who is reactivated to escort Pyotr Ivanovich Grushenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a captured KGB mole, to a prisoner exchange in recently reunited Berlin. The exchange is actually a cover for a CIA plot to use drug cartel money to buy back Benjamin Sobel (Bob Sherman), a U-2 pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union during the 1960s. The exchange goes wrong after Boyd recognizes the supposedly imprisoned Sobel as a man he saw two days before at Dulles Airport, and is subsequently told by Grushenko that it really is Sobel, who is now a KGB agent.
White Nights, 2h16
Directed by Taylor Hackford
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller
Themes Dance films, Political films
Actors Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page, Isabella Rossellini
Roles Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko
Rating66% 3.349293.349293.349293.349293.34929
Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) is a Soviet ballet dancer who had defected from the Soviet Union. The plane carrying him to a next performance in Tokyo has engine trouble and crashes in Siberia. He is hurt and is soon recognized by KGB officer Colonel Chaiko (Jerzy Skolimowski). Chaiko then contacts African-American tap dancer, Raymond Greenwood (Hines), who has defected to the Soviet Union, and gets them both to Leningrad. Chaiko wants Rodchenko to dance at the season's opening night at the Kirov, and Greenwood to babysit Rodchenko. To convince Rodchenko, Chaiko uses Galina Ivanova (Mirren), a former ballerina who never left the Soviet Union and is an old flame of Rodchenko. After an initial period of racial and artistic friction, the two dancers (and defectors in opposite directions) become strong friends. When Raymond finds that his wife Darya Greenwood (Rossellini) is pregnant, he decides he doesn't want his son to grow up in the Soviet Union, and together with Rodchenko they plan an escape, with the help from Galina, who still has feelings for Rodchenko. While the escape plan is going on, Raymond chooses to stay behind to delay Chaiko, gaining time for Nikolai and Darya to get to the American Consulate at Leningrad. Even though Raymond is incarcerated when the whole plan is revealed, he is finally traded by the Soviets for a political prisoner from America, and reunites with his wife and Nikolai.
The Turning Point, 1h59
Directed by Herbert Ross
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Dance films, Children's films
Actors Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft, Tom Skerritt, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Leslie Browne, Martha Scott
Roles Yuri
Rating67% 3.39753.39753.39753.39753.3975
DeeDee (Shirley MacLaine) left the ballet company after becoming pregnant by Wayne (Tom Skerritt), another dancer in the company. They marry and later move to Oklahoma City to run a dance studio. Emma (Anne Bancroft) stays with the company and eventually becomes a prima ballerina and well-known figure in the ballet community.

Team

White Nights, 2h16
Directed by Taylor Hackford
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller
Themes Dance films, Political films
Actors Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page, Isabella Rossellini
Roles Choreographer
Rating66% 3.349293.349293.349293.349293.34929
Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) is a Soviet ballet dancer who had defected from the Soviet Union. The plane carrying him to a next performance in Tokyo has engine trouble and crashes in Siberia. He is hurt and is soon recognized by KGB officer Colonel Chaiko (Jerzy Skolimowski). Chaiko then contacts African-American tap dancer, Raymond Greenwood (Hines), who has defected to the Soviet Union, and gets them both to Leningrad. Chaiko wants Rodchenko to dance at the season's opening night at the Kirov, and Greenwood to babysit Rodchenko. To convince Rodchenko, Chaiko uses Galina Ivanova (Mirren), a former ballerina who never left the Soviet Union and is an old flame of Rodchenko. After an initial period of racial and artistic friction, the two dancers (and defectors in opposite directions) become strong friends. When Raymond finds that his wife Darya Greenwood (Rossellini) is pregnant, he decides he doesn't want his son to grow up in the Soviet Union, and together with Rodchenko they plan an escape, with the help from Galina, who still has feelings for Rodchenko. While the escape plan is going on, Raymond chooses to stay behind to delay Chaiko, gaining time for Nikolai and Darya to get to the American Consulate at Leningrad. Even though Raymond is incarcerated when the whole plan is revealed, he is finally traded by the Soviets for a political prisoner from America, and reunites with his wife and Nikolai.