Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov, nicknamed "Misha", is a Latvian-born 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDancer
Date of Birth27 January 1948
CityRiga, Latvia
CountryUnited States of America
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.
The body cannot lie. You cannot be somebody else onstage, no matter how good of an actor or dancer or singer you are. When you open your arms, move your finger, the audience knows who you are, you know.
You cannot dance physically certain things. But look at tango dancers or flamenco or Japanese classical theater. You can, if you're smart enough and you collaborate with the right choreographers, you could really dance your age.
I never liked dance photography; it's very flat, and dance photography in the studio looks very contrived.
Every ballet, whether or not successful artistically or with the public, has given me something important.
I like the most provocative and most surprising partnerships on stage. Intensity and surprise.
I would like to go and dance in Palestine one day, with great pleasure, great pleasure.
I don't try to dance better than anybody but myself.
Now there is in a way a renaissance of modern dance - suddenly, it is more respected and discovered.
Obviously, the young dancers lack a certain air of maturity.
I have been very lucky to work in so many new ballets, but that is what a dancer's work is.
Nothing is ever too expensive if it furthers the repertoire and artistic standards of a dance company.
It's weird when you see pieces of choreography that were done for you 15 or 20 years ago and now they are being done by another dance company.
You can be totally involved, you could admire just the shape of or you could be totally emotionally mushed up into the dance.