Artists

A native of Riga, Latvia, Mikhail Baryshnikov became principal dancer of the Kirov Ballet in 1969. In 1974, he left the former 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. In 1980 he began a 10-year tenure as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre, nurturing a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990 to 2002, Baryshnikov was director and principal dancer with the White Oak Dance Project, which he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris, and which was born of his desire to expand the repertoire and visibility of American modern dance.

Baryshnikov has performed widely on and off-Broadway as well as in television and film, receiving a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for Metamorphosis and an Academy Award nomination for The Turning Point. In 2005, he opened the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in New York, a creative home for local, national, and international artists. Baryshnikov’s many awards include the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Honor, the Commonwealth Award, the Chubb Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins Award, and the 2012 Vilcek Prize. In 2010 he was named Officier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres by the French government.