Today, January 27th, we wish Mikhail Baryshnikov a very happy birthday! Mikhail Baryshnikov, a native of Riga, Latvia, began studying ballet at the age of nine. As a teenager, he entered the Vaganova Academy in Leningrad, graduating from student to principal dancer of the Kirov Ballet in 1969. In 1974, he left the Soviet Union to dance with major ballet companies around the world including New York City Ballet, where he worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Robbins choreographed such ballets as “Other Dances” (1976), “Opus 19/The Dreamer” (1979), “The Four Seasons” (1979) and “A Suite of Dances” (1994) for him. In 1980 Mr. Baryshnikov began a 10-year tenure as Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre, nurturing a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990 to 2002, he was director and dancer with the White Oak Dance Project, which he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris. White Oak was born of Baryshnikov’s desire “to be a driving force in the production of art,” and, indeed, it expanded the repertoire and visibility of American modern dance. In 2005, he opened the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), a creative home for local and international artists to develop and present work. Since its founding, the Center has hosted numerous artists and productions from the United States and abroad. Among Mr. Baryshnikov’s many awards are the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Honor, the Commonwealth Award, the Chubb Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins Award, the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation’s Ambassador for the Arts Award, and the 2012 Vilcek Award. In 2010 he was given the rank of Officer of the French Legion of Honor.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 08:20:11 +0000
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