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n– 1974
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nHenis one of the greatest ballet dancers of all times.
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nHenis also an accomplished choreographer and actor, familiar to many fornhis roles in movies like The Turning Point (1977) and WhitenNights (1985), and for his appearances in the popular TV show Sexnand the City (last season). n
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nAndnon this date in 1974, he became a traitor to his country!
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nWell,nthat is how some people may have described what happened. Mostnof us would say that he escaped a repressive nation and became free.
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Younsee, Baryshnikov was born in Russia, which was part of the SovietnUnion (or the USSR). This was a nation that limited and controllednmany things about its citizens’ lives, including what sort of worknthey did and their movements in and out of the USSR. Baryshnikov’sntalent as a dancer was recognized, and he was able to achieve a lotnthere in his country—but who knows if he would have been allowed tonchoreograph, act, or travel as he wished? Still, the USSR loved tonpromote its dancers (and athletes and musicians) as the best in thenworld, and part of doing that involved letting those amazing dancersn(and athletes and musicians) travel and perform elsewhere.
Younsee, Baryshnikov was born in Russia, which was part of the SovietnUnion (or the USSR). This was a nation that limited and controllednmany things about its citizens’ lives, including what sort of worknthey did and their movements in and out of the USSR. Baryshnikov’sntalent as a dancer was recognized, and he was able to achieve a lotnthere in his country—but who knows if he would have been allowed tonchoreograph, act, or travel as he wished? Still, the USSR loved tonpromote its dancers (and athletes and musicians) as the best in thenworld, and part of doing that involved letting those amazing dancersn(and athletes and musicians) travel and perform elsewhere.n
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nOnnone of those tours, while in Canada with the Bolshoi Ballet, MikhailnBaryshnikov requested political asylum and announced to the dancenworld that he would not go back to the USSR. This defection was anblow to the USSR—it was a permanent removal of Baryshnikov’snallegiance to his former country.
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nBaryshnikovnjoined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada, but he soon went to thenUnited States and joined the American Ballet Theater. He also workednwith the New York City Ballet and England’s Royal Ballet. EventuallynBaryshnikov became a U.S. citizen.
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nSovietnRussia and East Germany and other Communist nations lost a steadyntrickle of their most elite artists and athletes to the U.S. or othernWestern nations. Baryshnikov was part of that trickle-to-freedom. n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nDoctor William Mayo’s birthday
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nAnniversary of the discovery of an oxymoron
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