Before he became a global dance icon, Mikhail Baryshnikov was a rising star trapped behind the Iron Curtain. His gravity-defying leaps and emotional artistry stunned audiences — but it was one real-life leap that changed everything.
In this episode of The Rest of the Story, I take you through Baryshnikov’s extraordinary journey: from early loss and Soviet acclaim to a high-stakes defection and a career that would transform ballet forever. We’ll cover his time with American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet, and his collaborations with legends like Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, and George Balanchine.
From revolutionary performances to an Oscar-nominated film debut, discover how Baryshnikov reshaped the world of dance — and what it cost him to do it.
Conceived, starring, written, and researched by: Miller Daurey
Watch the ep on YouTube for full effect!
Check out my Return to Dance docuseries!
Check out my Instagram — where I post daily dance inspo, insights and fun! @backtogreat
P.S. This episode is re-scripted from an earlier version — as I'm currently redoing my first initial episodes from The Rest of the Story series because they originally didn't have video / photos of the subjects (for YouTube / Spotify). But I have to keep the episode numbers aligned via all platforms. Regardless, the script is better and worthy of a listen, even if you've heard it the first time!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode of the rest of the story on Haydanser, we begin not with a young prodigy
(00:07):
born into opportunity, but in a place where expression was "policed", creativity was
limited, and the state determined your destiny.
This story stands apart.
He would become one of the most celebrated dancers in the world, but not just because he
had a gift, because he refused to be confined.
(00:29):
But before I get into it, I'm your host, Miller Daurey, and make sure you're following
or subscribed wherever you're watching or listening, so you don't miss future episodes,
especially if you love stories, true stories about dance legends who changed dance and even
changed history.
Like, today's guy.
(00:50):
Alright, let's get into it.
He was born into a world of rules.
His father, a strict military man and devoted communist, enforced discipline above all.
His mother, a gentler soul, introduced him to theater, opera, and ballet.
She nurtured his imagination.
They lived in a communal apartment with five other families, sharing one kitchen.
(01:14):
He began ballet at 11.
A year later, his mother died by suicide.
Him sticking with ballet wasn't a coincidence.
It became a way to process, to escape, to survive.
His raw talent was undeniable.
He was accepted into the Vaganova Academy, Russia's most prestigious ballet school.
(01:36):
There he stunned both teachers and students.
His jumps seemed to defy gravity.
His turns were precise, strong, clean, and fast, but more than anything, it was his emotional
range, the way he danced as if telling a story with his body.
That set him apart, especially at such a young age.
(01:58):
At just 19, he joined the Kirov ballet in Leningrad as a principal dancer.
In Ballets like Jezel, he brought tenderness and depth.
In Vestress, he displayed explosive virtuosity.
His performance in the 1969 Moscow International Ballet Competition earned him the gold medal.
And international attention.
(02:20):
The New York Times, Clive Barnes, called him "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen."
He was hailed as a prodigy, but not even prodigies could escape Soviet limitations.
He was five foot six, short for a male ballet dancer.
That meant in the eyes of Soviet tradition he would always be supporting cast, not the star.
(02:43):
He was expected to stick to 19th century classics to avoid Western influence, to conform, but
he had seen the West through touring companies and smuggled films.
He'd glimpsed choreographers like Balenshin and Cunningham, and he wanted more.
In 1974, at age 26, while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto.
(03:07):
After a ballet performance, he made the most daring move of his life.
After the watchful eyes of officials from his homeland, he defected, seeking political asylum
in Canada.
See with the help of local contacts, he escaped from the control of his country's delegation
and broke free, leaving behind his home, his past, and his identity as a celebrated artist
(03:31):
was terrifying, but he knew it was the only way to pursue his full potential.
The decision was dangerous.
Earlier could have meant imprisonment or worse, but it opened a new chapter in his life.
One full of artistic freedom.
The world was watching.
The Cold War was tense, and one of the USSR's greatest cultural exports had just defected.
(03:57):
He later said, "I am individualist, and there it is a crime."
From that moment, his career soared.
He joined American Ballet Theatre, where he partnered with Kelsey Kirkland and quickly
became a sensation.
Audiences turned out in droves to see him.
He brought power and grace to the classics, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bia Dere.
(04:22):
Then in a move that stunned the dance world, he left freelancing to join New York City Ballet
under George Ballenshin.
Ballenshin, known for rarely welcoming outside stars, coached him personally in roles
like Apollo, the prodigal son, and Ruby's, and Jerome Robbins created Opus 19, the dreamer,
(04:44):
just for him and Patricia McBride.
It was here that he began to champion the new, pushing Ballet into modern territory,
and expanding the emotional and stylistic range expected of male ballet dancers.
The world's greatest choreographers continued to seek him out.
He collaborated with Martha Graham, Twyla Thorpe, and Mark Morris.
(05:07):
With Thorpe, he created the iconic push comes to shove, merging Ballet with contemporary
dance in ways no one had done before.
In 1977, he made his film debut in the Turning Point, earning an Oscar nomination for best
supporting actor, a rare feat for anyone with no prior acting fame, much less someone
(05:29):
really only known for Ballet.
He returned to American Ballet Theatre as artistic director in 1980, leading the company
for nearly a decade and shaping the careers of countless young dancers.
He went on to win three Emmys for his televised dance specials, bringing Ballet into homes
across America, making it not just elite, but accessible.
(05:52):
He starred opposite Gregory Hines in White Knights.
There's this one unforgettable scene where there are many, but where Hines challenges
him to perform 11 consecutive pirouettes to win 11 rubles, I think, and he does it effortlessly.
It's amazing.
And later appeared on Sex in the City, where a new generation discovered him not as a dancer,
(06:16):
but as a different kind of cultural icon.
In 2005, he opened his own arts center in New York, a space dedicated to fostering new work
across dance, theater, music, and visual art.
He received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and perhaps more than
anything, the reverence of artists around the world.
(06:39):
Yet his artistry wasn't always about being in front of an audience or camera.
Away from the spotlight, he quietly pursued a passion for photography.
Just as he once captured the world's attention through movement, he quietly captured its hidden
moments through a camera lens, showing that even in stillness, he was a bit more than
(07:00):
he could tell a story.
So who is this man who defied gravity and defied a nation?
His friends call him Misha, but the world would come to call him "Mecayl Barishnikov."
And now you know the rest of the story.
Alright, dance fan, we made it to the outro.
Thank you for sticking around if you enjoyed the episode, if you are a Barishnikov fan,
(07:23):
and you gotta be.
Please make sure you like this video, share it, comment down below, follow, subscribe, all
the things it goes a long way.
Now let's talk about a few more things.
Well one, I do wanna say that if this story sounds at all familiar, I did do a prior episode
on Barishnikov, and here's the background.
(07:46):
The first 5 or 6th, the rest of the story episodes I did, was just me as a talking head on
YouTube or Spotify.
I didn't throw in the visuals of the dancer, which to be honest broke my heart, I wanted
to, but that said, I didn't have the bandwidth to do all the things.
But now I do, I'm making it happen because I know how much more impactful it is for the
(08:09):
dancer's story to actually show their life, you know, in still frames or visuals.
You know, you gotta see them dancing, it's so much more impactful.
So I feel like my earlier episodes were given a disservice because, you know, they deserve
it too.
I mean Barishnikov is one of the greatest legends of all time in dance.
You should see him dancing.
(08:31):
So I did take down those older episodes and I'm redoing them here and there because I
want their stories to live online in the best capacity possible.
I'm also rewriting those older scripts because I know what works now that they've actually
been living online a little bit versus what doesn't work.
I think that Barishnikov is such a special case of legend.
(08:55):
He's one of those names I feel like you just know your whole life.
Do you agree with me on this?
Even if you're not a dancer, I'll give you an example.
My partner knows nothing about dance.
It's kind of funny.
He knows no names whenever I tell him, you know, my newest subject for the rest of the story.
He has no idea who I'm talking about.
Would you believe me if I told you he had never even heard of Fred Astaire who I had mentioned
(09:20):
a couple of times?
That is how much he doesn't know about this world.
Anyway, Barishnikov, he knew.
He knew that name.
I feel like it's analogous to Babe Ruth.
You may know nothing about baseball at all ever, but you know Babe Ruth.
And I think Barishnikov just kind of has that lore, that name, that legend, right?
Anyway, thanks again for being here.
(09:41):
Until next time.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
In this episode of the rest of the story on Haydanser, we begin not with a young prodigy
(00:07):
born into opportunity, but in a place where expression was "policed", creativity was
limited, and the state determined your destiny.
This story stands apart.
He would become one of the most celebrated dancers in the world, but not just because he
had a gift, because he refused to be confined.
(00:29):
But before I get into it, I'm your host, Miller Daurey, and make sure you're following
or subscribed wherever you're watching or listening, so you don't miss future episodes,
especially if you love stories, true stories about dance legends who changed dance and even
changed history.
Like, today's guy.
(00:50):
Alright, let's get into it.
He was born into a world of rules.
His father, a strict military man and devoted communist, enforced discipline above all.
His mother, a gentler soul, introduced him to theater, opera, and ballet.
She nurtured his imagination.
They lived in a communal apartment with five other families, sharing one kitchen.
(01:14):
He began ballet at 11.
A year later, his mother died by suicide.
Him sticking with ballet wasn't a coincidence.
It became a way to process, to escape, to survive.
His raw talent was undeniable.
He was accepted into the Vaganova Academy, Russia's most prestigious ballet school.
(01:36):
There he stunned both teachers and students.
His jumps seemed to defy gravity.
His turns were precise, strong, clean, and fast, but more than anything, it was his emotional
range, the way he danced as if telling a story with his body.
That set him apart, especially at such a young age.
(01:58):
At just 19, he joined the Kirov ballet in Leningrad as a principal dancer.
In Ballets like Jezel, he brought tenderness and depth.
In Vestress, he displayed explosive virtuosity.
His performance in the 1969 Moscow International Ballet Competition earned him the gold medal.
And international attention.
(02:20):
The New York Times, Clive Barnes, called him "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen."
He was hailed as a prodigy, but not even prodigies could escape Soviet limitations.
He was five foot six, short for a male ballet dancer.
That meant in the eyes of Soviet tradition he would always be supporting cast, not the star.
(02:43):
He was expected to stick to 19th century classics to avoid Western influence, to conform, but
he had seen the West through touring companies and smuggled films.
He'd glimpsed choreographers like Balenshin and Cunningham, and he wanted more.
In 1974, at age 26, while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto.
(03:07):
After a ballet performance, he made the most daring move of his life.
After the watchful eyes of officials from his homeland, he defected, seeking political asylum
in Canada.
See with the help of local contacts, he escaped from the control of his country's delegation
and broke free, leaving behind his home, his past, and his identity as a celebrated artist
(03:31):
was terrifying, but he knew it was the only way to pursue his full potential.
The decision was dangerous.
Earlier could have meant imprisonment or worse, but it opened a new chapter in his life.
One full of artistic freedom.
The world was watching.
The Cold War was tense, and one of the USSR's greatest cultural exports had just defected.
(03:57):
He later said, "I am individualist, and there it is a crime."
From that moment, his career soared.
He joined American Ballet Theatre, where he partnered with Kelsey Kirkland and quickly
became a sensation.
Audiences turned out in droves to see him.
He brought power and grace to the classics, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bia Dere.
(04:22):
Then in a move that stunned the dance world, he left freelancing to join New York City Ballet
under George Ballenshin.
Ballenshin, known for rarely welcoming outside stars, coached him personally in roles
like Apollo, the prodigal son, and Ruby's, and Jerome Robbins created Opus 19, the dreamer,
(04:44):
just for him and Patricia McBride.
It was here that he began to champion the new, pushing Ballet into modern territory,
and expanding the emotional and stylistic range expected of male ballet dancers.
The world's greatest choreographers continued to seek him out.
He collaborated with Martha Graham, Twyla Thorpe, and Mark Morris.
(05:07):
With Thorpe, he created the iconic push comes to shove, merging Ballet with contemporary
dance in ways no one had done before.
In 1977, he made his film debut in the Turning Point, earning an Oscar nomination for best
supporting actor, a rare feat for anyone with no prior acting fame, much less someone
(05:29):
really only known for Ballet.
He returned to American Ballet Theatre as artistic director in 1980, leading the company
for nearly a decade and shaping the careers of countless young dancers.
He went on to win three Emmys for his televised dance specials, bringing Ballet into homes
across America, making it not just elite, but accessible.
(05:52):
He starred opposite Gregory Hines in White Knights.
There's this one unforgettable scene where there are many, but where Hines challenges
him to perform 11 consecutive pirouettes to win 11 rubles, I think, and he does it effortlessly.
It's amazing.
And later appeared on Sex in the City, where a new generation discovered him not as a dancer,
(06:16):
but as a different kind of cultural icon.
In 2005, he opened his own arts center in New York, a space dedicated to fostering new work
across dance, theater, music, and visual art.
He received the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and perhaps more than
anything, the reverence of artists around the world.
(06:39):
Yet his artistry wasn't always about being in front of an audience or camera.
Away from the spotlight, he quietly pursued a passion for photography.
Just as he once captured the world's attention through movement, he quietly captured its hidden
moments through a camera lens, showing that even in stillness, he was a bit more than
(07:00):
he could tell a story.
So who is this man who defied gravity and defied a nation?
His friends call him Misha, but the world would come to call him "Mecayl Barishnikov."
And now you know the rest of the story.
Alright, dance fan, we made it to the outro.
Thank you for sticking around if you enjoyed the episode, if you are a Barishnikov fan,
(07:23):
and you gotta be.
Please make sure you like this video, share it, comment down below, follow, subscribe, all
the things it goes a long way.
Now let's talk about a few more things.
Well one, I do wanna say that if this story sounds at all familiar, I did do a prior episode
on Barishnikov, and here's the background.
(07:46):
The first 5 or 6th, the rest of the story episodes I did, was just me as a talking head on
YouTube or Spotify.
I didn't throw in the visuals of the dancer, which to be honest broke my heart, I wanted
to, but that said, I didn't have the bandwidth to do all the things.
But now I do, I'm making it happen because I know how much more impactful it is for the
(08:09):
dancer's story to actually show their life, you know, in still frames or visuals.
You know, you gotta see them dancing, it's so much more impactful.
So I feel like my earlier episodes were given a disservice because, you know, they deserve
it too.
I mean Barishnikov is one of the greatest legends of all time in dance.
You should see him dancing.
(08:31):
So I did take down those older episodes and I'm redoing them here and there because I
want their stories to live online in the best capacity possible.
I'm also rewriting those older scripts because I know what works now that they've actually
been living online a little bit versus what doesn't work.
I think that Barishnikov is such a special case of legend.
(08:55):
He's one of those names I feel like you just know your whole life.
Do you agree with me on this?
Even if you're not a dancer, I'll give you an example.
My partner knows nothing about dance.
It's kind of funny.
He knows no names whenever I tell him, you know, my newest subject for the rest of the story.
He has no idea who I'm talking about.
Would you believe me if I told you he had never even heard of Fred Astaire who I had mentioned
(09:20):
a couple of times?
That is how much he doesn't know about this world.
Anyway, Barishnikov, he knew.
He knew that name.
I feel like it's analogous to Babe Ruth.
You may know nothing about baseball at all ever, but you know Babe Ruth.
And I think Barishnikov just kind of has that lore, that name, that legend, right?
Anyway, thanks again for being here.
(09:41):
Until next time.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
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