Mikhail Baryshnikov was born in Latvia in 1948. Baryshnikov was a very talented and respected ballet dancer of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century, Baryshnikov was loved by many in the USSR. Unfortunately, he couldn't share those same feelings. He left the Soviet Union for Canada in 1974 before settling in the United States in hopes of a better opportunity to express himself creatively in a free country. His technique transcended any cultural barriers he encountered during his immigration, as Americans loved his technical excellence and grace as a ballet dancer, as did the Soviets. Baryshnikov worked with American Ballet Theater until 1978 before becoming its artistic director in the 1980s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov was born on January 27, 1948 in Riga, Latvia, to Russian parents Nikolay Baryshnikov, an engineer, and Alexandra, a seamstress. At that time, Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, at the dawn of the Cold War. He had a difficult childhood as he and his father never got along, and when he was a teenager his mother committed suicide. However, later, as he grew up, he began to take inspiration from his father's military discipline, manners and habits. At the age of 9, he began taking ballet lessons. In 1964, he joined a classical ballet school named the Vaganova School in Leningrad. He had the opportunity to learn from the very famous choreographer Alexander Pushkin. In 1967, Baryshnikov made his stage debut with the Kirov Ballet in Giselle. Baryshnikov earned his first major honor in 1966, winning a gold medal at the dance competition in Varna, Bulgaria, and won another gold medal at the first international ballet competition in Moscow in 1969. Baryshnikov's fame began to grow; amazed the audience with his technical mastery and physical expressiveness. By the late 1960s, he was one of the Soviet Union's most famous ballet dancers. In 1967, Mikhail Baryshnikov joined the Kirov Ballet as a soloist. His performance and excellent technique were put to good use and so he did not have to go through the routine learning that many others did. He makes his first performance on stage with Giselle. Taking note of his versatility and technical perfection, several choreographers have choreographed ballet performances just for him. He worked similarly with great artists such as: Igor Tchernichov, Oleg Vinogradov, Leonid Jakobson and Konstantin Sergeyev. He later became the first noble dancer of the Kirov Ballet playing the lead roles in Gorianka in 1968 and Vestris in 1969. The roles he portrayed in these performances were exclusively choreographed to allow him to show off his technical skills and became his signature. pieces. He was well known to Soviet audiences, but he began to feel uncomfortable with several restrictions placed on him, such as a ban on performing contemporary foreign ballets. In 1974, following a Bolshoi Ballet performance in Toronto with the Kirov Ballet, he sought refuge in Toronto in search of greater personal and creative freedom, declaring that he would not return to the USSR. He later explained to the New Statesman his departure from his native country, saying: "I'm an individualist and that's a crime." He therefore joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. After two years of living in Canada, he had the opportunity to work with several creative choreographers and explore the..