What citizenship did Mikhail Baryshnikov hold from 1948 to Jun 1974?
Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( ; ; born January 27 , 1948 ) is a Soviet Latvian-born Russian-American dancer , choreographer , and actor . He was the preeminent male classical dancer of the 1970s and 1980s . He subsequently became a noted dance director . Born in Riga , Latvian SSR , Baryshnikov had a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad before defecting to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in Western dance . After dancing with American Ballet Theatre , he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer for one season to learn George Balanchines neoclassical Russian style of movement . He then returned with the American Ballet Theatre , where he later became artistic director . Baryshnikov has spearheaded many of his own artistic projects and has been associated in particular with promoting modern dance , premiering dozens of new works , including many of his own . His success as a dramatic actor on stage , cinema and television has helped him become probably the most widely recognized contemporary ballet dancer . Baryshnikov has never returned to Russia since his 1974 defection and has been a naturalized citizen of the United States since 1986 . In 2017 , the Republic of Latvia granted Baryshnikov citizenship for extraordinary merits . In 1977 , he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Yuri Kopeikine in the film The Turning Point . He starred in the movie White Nights with Gregory Hines , Helen Mirren , and Isabella Rossellini , and had a recurring role in the last season of the television series Sex and the City . Early life . Mikhail Baryshnikov was born in Riga , then Latvian SSR , Soviet Union , now Latvia . His parents were Russians : Alexandra ( a dressmaker ; née Kiselyova ) and Nikolay Baryshnikov ( an engineer ) . According to Baryshnikov , his father was a strict , nationalist military man , and his mother introduced him to the theater , opera and ballet . She died by suicide when he was 12 . Dancing career . 1960–1974 : Early years . Baryshnikov began his ballet studies in Riga in 1960 , at the age of 12 . In 1964 , he entered the Vaganova School , in what was then Leningrad ( now St . Petersburg ) . Baryshnikov soon won the top prize in the junior division of the Varna International Ballet Competition . He joined the Mariinsky Ballet , then called the Kirov Ballet , in 1967 , dancing the Peasant pas de deux in Giselle . Recognizing Baryshnikovs talent , in particular his stage presence and purity of technique , several Soviet choreographers , including Oleg Vinogradov , Konstantin Sergeyev , Igor Tchernichov , and Leonid Jakobson , choreographed ballets for him . Baryshnikov made signature roles of Jakobsons 1969 virtuosic Vestris along with an intensely emotional Albrecht in Giselle . While he was still in the Soviet Union , New York Times critic Clive Barnes called him the most perfect dancer I have ever seen . 1974 : Defection to Canada . Baryshnikovs talent was obvious from his youth , but being 5 5 ( 165 cm ) or 5 6 ( 168 cm ) tall—shorter than most dancers—he could not tower over a ballerina en pointe and was therefore relegated to secondary parts . More frustrating to him , the Soviet dance world hewed closely to 19th-century traditions and deliberately shunned Western choreographers , whose work Baryshnikov glimpsed in occasional tours and films . His main reason for leaving the Soviet Union was to work with these innovators . On June 29 , 1974 , while on tour in Canada with the Bolshoi , Baryshnikov defected , requesting political asylum in Toronto , and joined the National Ballet of Canada for a brief time in a guest role . He also announced that he would not return to the USSR . He later said that Christina Berlin , an American friend , helped engineer his defection during his 1970 tour of London . His first televised performance after coming out of temporary seclusion in Canada was with the National Ballet of Canada in La Sylphide . He then went to the United States . In December 1975 , he and his dance partner Natalia Makarova featured prominently in an episode of the BBC television series Arena . In the first two years after his defection , he danced for no fewer than 13 different choreographers , including Jerome Robbins , Glen Tetley , Alvin Ailey , and Twyla Tharp . It doesnt matter if every ballet is a success or not , he told New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff in 1976 . The new experience gives me a lot . He cited his fascination with the ways Ailey mixed classical and modern technique and his initial discomfort when Tharp insisted he incorporate eccentric personal gestures in dance . 1974–1978 : Principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre . From 1974 to 1978 , Baryshnikov was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre ( ABT ) , where he partnered with Gelsey Kirkland . 1978–1979 : Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet . In 1978 , Baryshnikov abandoned his freelance career to spend 18 months as a principal of the New York City Ballet , run by George Balanchine . Mr . B , as Balanchine was known , rarely welcomed guest artists and had refused to work with both Nureyev and Makarova . Baryshnikovs decision to devote his full attentions to the New York company stunned the dance world . Balanchine never created a new work for Baryshnikov , but he did coach him in his distinctive style , and Baryshnikov triumphed in such signature roles as Apollo , The Prodigal Son , and Rubies . Jerome Robbins created Opus 19/The Dreamer for Baryshnikov and NYCB favorite Patricia McBride . Baryshnikov performed with the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer for 15 months from 1978 to 1979 . On July 8 , 1978 , he made his debut with George Balanchines and Lincoln Kirsteins company at Saratoga Springs , appearing as Franz in Coppélia . On October 12 , 1979 , Baryshnikov danced the role of the Poet in Balanchines ballet La Sonnambula with the City Ballet at the Kennedy Center . This was his last performance with New York City Ballet due to tendinitis and other injuries . His tenure there coincided with a period of ill health for Balanchine that followed an earlier heart attack and culminated in successful heart surgery in June 1979 . Baryshnikov left the company to become ABTs artistic director in September 1980 , and take time off for his injuries . 1980–2002 : Artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre and White Oak Dance Project . Baryshnikov returned to the American Ballet Theatre in September 1980 as an artistic director , a position he held until 1989 . He also performed as a dancer with ABT . Baryshnikov has remained fascinated with the new . As he observed , It doesnt matter how high you lift your leg . The technique is about transparency , simplicity and making an earnest attempt . Baryshnikov also toured with ballet and modern dance companies around the world for 15 months . Several roles were created for him , including in Robbinss Opus 19 : The Dreamer ( 1979 ) , Frederick Ashtons Rhapsody ( 1980 ) , and Robbinss Other Dances , with Natalia Makarova . From 1990 to 2002 , Baryshnikov was artistic director of the White Oak Dance Project , a touring company he co-founded with Mark Morris . The White Oak Project was formed to create original work for older dancers . In a run ending just short of his 60th birthday in 2007 , he appeared in a production of four short plays by Samuel Beckett directed by JoAnne Akalaitis . Baryshnikov was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999 . In 2000 , he was awarded the National Medal of Arts . 2002–present : Baryshnikov Arts Center and awards . In 2003 , Baryshnikov won the Prix Benois de la Danse for lifetime achievement . In 2005 , he launched the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York . For the duration of the 2006 summer , Baryshnikov went on tour with Hells Kitchen Dance , which was sponsored by the Baryshnikov Arts Center . Featuring works by Baryshnikov Arts Center residents Azsure Barton and Benjamin Millepied , the company toured the United States and Brazil . He has received three honorary degrees : on May 11 , 2006 , from New York University ; on September 28 , 2007 , from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University ; and on May 23 , 2008 , from Montclair State University . In late August 2007 , Baryshnikov performed Mats Eks Place ( Ställe ) with Ana Laguna at Dansens Hus in Stockholm . In 2012 , he received the Vilcek Prize in Dance . Baryshnikov has performed in Israel three times : in 1996 , with the White Oak Dance Project at the Roman theater in Caesarea ; in 2010 , with Ana Laguna ; and in 2011 , starring in nine performances of In Paris , a show after a short story by Ivan Bunin , at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv . In a 2011 Haaretz interview , he expressed opposition to artistic boycotts of Israel and called the enthusiasm for contemporary dance in Israel astounding . Repertoire . Baryshnikov worked with George Balanchine and as a regular guest artist with the Royal Ballet . - Franz in Coppélia - Albrecht in Giselle Film , television and theater . Baryshnikov made his American television dancing debut in 1976 , on the PBS program In Performance Live from Wolf Trap . The program is distributed on DVD by Kultur Video . During the Christmas season of 1977 , CBS brought Baryshnikovs ABT production of Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker to television , with Baryshnikov in the title role , accompanied by ABT performers including Gelsey Kirkland and Alexander Minz . The Nutcracker has been presented on TV many times in many different versions , but Baryshnikovs version is one of only two to be nominated for an Emmy Award . Baryshnikov also performed in two Emmy-winning television specials , one on ABC and one on CBS , in which he danced to music from Broadway and Hollywood , respectively . During the 1970s and 1980s , he appeared many times with the ABT on Live from Lincoln Center and Great Performances . He has also appeared on several telecasts of the Kennedy Center Honors . Baryshnikov performed in his first film role soon after arriving in New York . He portrayed the character Yuri Kopeikine , a famous , womanizing Russian ballet dancer , in the 1977 film The Turning Point , for which he received an Oscar nomination . He co-starred with Gregory Hines and Isabella Rossellini in the 1985 film White Nights , choreographed by Twyla Tharp , and was featured in the 1987 film Dancers . On television , in the last season of Sex and the City , he played a Russian artist , Aleksandr Petrovsky , who woos Carrie Bradshaw relentlessly and takes her to Paris . He co-starred in Company Business ( 1991 ) with Gene Hackman . An animated TV series , Mikhail Baryshnikovs Stories from My Childhood , appeared on American PBS networks from 1996 to 1998 . The cartoons were produced by the Russian animation house Soyuzmultfilm , and redubbed by American actors , including Jim Belushi , Laura San Giacomo , Harvey Fierstein and Kirsten Dunst . Baryshnikov hosted the show , presenting his favorite folktales , including Beauty and the Beast : A Tale of the Crimson Flower , The Snow Queen , The Last Petal and The Golden Rooster . The episodes were also released on home video . On November 2 , 2006 , Baryshnikov and chef Alice Waters were featured on an episode of the Sundance Channels original series Iconoclasts . The two have a long friendship . They discussed their lifestyles , sources of inspiration , and social projects . During the program , Waters visited Baryshnikovs Arts Center in New York City . The Hells Kitchen Dance tour brought him to Berkeley to visit her restaurant Chez Panisse . On July 17 , 2007 , the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer featured a profile of Baryshnikov and his Arts Center . He appears , uncredited , in the 2014 film as Interior Minister Sorokin . In a continuation of his interest in modern dance , Baryshnikov appeared in a 2015 commercial for the clothing designer Rag & Bone with street dance artist Lil Buck . On stage as an actor . Baryshnikov is a performer in avant-garde theater . His breakthrough performance in Broadway was in 1989 , when he played Gregor Samsa in Metamorphosis , an adaption of Franz Kafkas novel . It earned him a Tony nomination . In 2004 , Baryshnikov appeared in Forbidden Christmas or The Doctor And The Patient at New York Citys Lincoln Center , and in 2007 in Beckett Shorts at New York Theatre Workshop . On April 11–21 , 2012 , he starred in In Paris , a new play directed by Dmitry Krymov . It was presented on the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Centers Broad Stage and co-starred Anna Sinyakina . Baryshnikov then appeared in the stage adaptation of Anton Chekhovs Man in a Case . Of the production , he said : On April 21 , 2015 , The New York Times reported that Baryshnikov was scheduled to perform a reading of poet Joseph Brodskys work in Riga in 2015 . The performance was called Brodsky/Baryshnikov , was in the original Russian , and premiered on October 15 , 2015 . Its international tour began in Tel Aviv in January 2016 and it was staged in New York City in March 2016 . ( Baryshnikov met Brodsky in 1974 , soon after Soviet authorities had forced Brodsky to leave his home country and he moved to the United States . They remained friends until Brodskys death in 1996. ) Personal life . Baryshnikov has a daughter , Aleksandra Shura Baryshnikova , from his relationship with actress Jessica Lange . When Baryshnikov and Lange met , he spoke very little English ; they communicated in French instead . He eventually learned English by watching television . From 1982 to 1983 he dated Tuesday Weld , Langes best friend . Baryshnikov has had a long-term relationship with former ballerina Lisa Rinehart . They had three children together : Peter , Anna , and Sofia . He told Larry King in 2002 that he did not believe in marriage in the conventional way , but he and Rinehart married in 2006 . Baryshnikov endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 . Citizenship . On July 3 , 1986 , Baryshnikov became a naturalized citizen of the United States . Asked whether he felt like an American , he said , I like to think like Im a man of the world . I feel totally Parisian in Paris . Totally Parisian . I have my place here , a lot of close friends and collaborators here , whom I can really feel like I can talk serious business with them . Human business , not business business . Paris was always the dream of my childhood . We grew up on French art , like all Russians . America , United States , North America—its a new country . Of course , if somebody would ask me to choose either Paris or New York , I would choose New York . But spiritually , somehow , I love Europe . On April 27 , 2017 , the Republic of Latvia granted Baryshnikov citizenship for extraordinary merits . The application to the Latvian parliament along with a letter from Baryshnikov in which he expressed his wish to become a Latvian citizen was submitted on December 21 , 2016 . He wrote that the decision was based on memories of his first 16 years living in Latvia , which provided the basis for the rest of his life . It was there that my exposure to the arts led me to discover my future destiny as a performer . Riga still serves as a place where I find artistic inspiration , Baryshnikov wrote in the letter to the Latvian parliament . At the time there were tensions in Latvia with ethnic Russians like Baryshnikov , whose father worked for the USSR military . Awards . - 1966 Varna International Ballet Competition ( gold medal , junior division ) - 1969 Moscow International Ballet Competition ( gold medal ) - 1969 Nijinsky Prize , Paris Academy of Dance , for performance in Vestris . - 1977 Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor , Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for The Turning Point . - 1977 Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor , Academy of Foreign Film Press for The Turning Point . - 1978 Award from Dance magazine . - 1979 D.F.A . from Yale University . - 1987 Man of the Year from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals , USA - 2000 Kennedy Center Honor . - 2004 Jerome Robbins Prize . - 2005 National Arts Award . - 2006 George and Judy Marcus Prize for Lifetime Achievement . - 2006 Honorary degree from New York University . - 2007 Honorary degree from Shenandoah University Conservatory . - 2008 Honorary degree from Montclair State University . - 2019 Honorary degree from University of Southern California . Filmography . Television appearances . Specials Also appeared in Prodigal Son , The Steadfast Tin Soldier , Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux , and Other Dances , all Dance in America , PBS ; Baryshnikov : The Dancer and the Dance , PBS ; and Carmen , on French television . Sex and the City : Aleksandr Petrovsky , HBO Series - The Magic of Dance , 1982 - Host , Stories from My Childhood ( also known as Mikhail Baryshnikovs Stories from My Childhood ) , 1997 Television work Series - Producer , Stories from My Childhood ( also known as Mikhail Baryshnikovs Stories from My Childhood ) , 1997 Television artistic director Specials - Baryshnikov by Tharp with the American Ballet Theatre , Dance in America , PBS , 1984 Television choreographer Specials - The Nutcracker , CBS , 1977 - Celebrating Gershwin , Great Performances , PBS , 1987