It is well known that dancing is a great hobby to release stress and benefit your body by increasing muscle strength and flexibility, as well as getting an overall sense of our body and learning to control our movements. But for some people, this sport is more than just a hobby or a way to spend their free time. It is their way of self-expression and their dream occupation. These professional dancers give everything to their job, and with success comes not only fame and glory but also many days of hourlong training, self-sacrifice, and mental and physical exertion. One of these people who pursued their dream of becoming a professional dancer is Makhail Baryshnikov. He is one of the best-known classical dancers in history and has an impressive resume. He influenced the art of dancing and is a role model for many young dancers all around the world.
Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was born January 28, 1948 (75 years old) in Riga, Latvia, was the son of a Russian couple. In his young years, he always had some issues with his father, who was a military man. When he was 12 years old, he enrolled at the opera ballet school in Riga. There, he discovered his talent for dancing and how gifted he was. These impressions influenced him to expand his special abilities, and so he got accepted to the Vaganova ballet school at age 16. His teacher was the famous ballet master, Aleksandr Pushkin.
Furthermore, when he got accepted for the Kirov Ballet, he was able to skip the usual next step of dancing in a corps de ballet because of his unique talents and get a solo role. He was the “dansieur noble” (a term for a very talented male ballet dancer who was graceful but also theatrical) of the Kirov Ballet. Baryshnikov danced the main acts in the performances of Gorianka in 1968 and Vestris in 1969. They were specially created for him.
Other than that, because of the very strict restrictions that he had to follow as a dancer in the Soviet Union, he defected and came to Canada in 1974. That is when he realized that he was not only very popular with the Soviet audience but also with the North American one. He was able to combine gracefulness with strength in a way that only a few dancers were able to; that was his way to capture the audience and gain many admirers.
Moreover, Baryshnikov danced with the company of the American Ballet Theatre for four years after he joined it in 1974. They choreographed the classical ballets of “Don Quixote” and “The Nutcracker” in a new way. From 1978 to 1979, he danced with the New York City Ballet under its founder, George Balanchine, but after that, he came back to the American Ballet Theatre and became the artistic director.
Furthermore, in 1990, Baryshnikov founded the White Oat Dance Project, a company that consisted of a small number of professional dancers that were touring around. Until 2002, he was its director.
In 2005, he founded the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. This center encourages many young, talented people to let their creativity flow. They have different spaces to live out their art.
Furthermore, Baryshnikov received many awards during his successful career, for example, the “Praemium Imperale” for theater and film and a Kennedy Center Honor. This is because he was not only a dancer but also took on some acting roles.
To conclude, Mikhail Baryshnikov has an impressive way of life and has influenced many people over multiple decades. He will always be a role model for dancers all around the world and is for sure one of the best dancers the world has seen.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Baryshnikov
https://omahaschoolofmusicanddance.com/our-blog/15-interesting-facts-about-the-great-dancer-mikhail-baryshnikov/#:~:text=Mikhail%20Baryshnikov%20was%20born%20on,didn’t%20get%20along%20with.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danseur_noble
