Mikhail Baryshnikov - A Balletomane's Dream

Liza Minnelli and Mikhail Baryshnikov at Studio 54 1977

The '70's were an amazingly visual decade - full of vibrancy and a sense of decadence on an international scale, showing me, the last of the baby boomers, a world that existed beyond her perfect little California cocoon. 

If you were a balletomane, you knew of Mikhail Baryshnikov long before his talented toes touched down in Studio 54. He had been hailed by New York Times critic Clive Barnes as the most perfect dancer he had ever seen. 


Raised on the San Francisco Ballet and having taken lessons since I was four, I completely besotted with the ballet world. I checked out the same books over and over on Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn and Maria Tallchief at the library. I worshipped Gelsey Kirkland's etheral quality as well as her endurance; her Giselle was legendary.


Along came Baryshnikov on the ballet scene. Athletic, flawless technical skills and devastatingly handsome coupled with a Russian soul. So what he was only 5'7"? 


Technical perfection with a creative sensibility, he is known as one the most gifted danseuses of the 20th century. His spectacular defection from Russia made international headlines for months.

The Russian Tea Room, Manhattan

While the majority of people know him as Alexsandr Petrovsky from 'Sex in the City', Baryshnikov had found his way round the Big Apple long before Carrie Bradshaw found him.

He danced for the American Ballet Theater from 1974 to 1978 as a principal dancer and was consistently paired with Gelsey Kirkland, a partnership that the public could not get enough of. 

Partnering Gelsey Kirkland, on and off, the stage

Later, he danced for Balanchine at the New York City ballet and eventually became its director. He fathered a child with Jessica Lange. He didn't speak English and she didn't speak Russian so they spoke in French. 

Baryshnikov and choreographer, Twayla Tharp

He loved life and lived it with gusto. He danced with everything he had to give, constantly pushing the boundaries of classic ballet, combing it with modern dance. He danced all night at Studio 54 with Liza Minnelli, Halston, and Brooke Shields. 

Baryshnikov with Judith Jamison of the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe