Misha!: The Mikhail Baryshnikov Story
Treading listlessly over old ground, freelance writer Aria offers a biography of the "Russian superstar Casanova." "Dancing, he has always been the greatest," even though fellow members of Leningrad's Kirov Ballet, the author observes, called the teenaged Baryshnikovshort, stocky and quick"hockey puck." Few new facts emerge, but it is interesting to note that the dancer's film appearances began in 1971 with his debut in the Soviet-made Fiesta , in which he played a "handsome young matador . . . ready to meet his lonely fate." A "genius he was" at the barre, and although financial and artistic turmoil have rocked the American Ballet Theater periodically since Baryshnikov became artistic director in 1980, "Misha has learned about himself. He admits that he's moody and that when he's down he's intolerable, but he says he's working on it." This remains a celebrity portrait, never bursting the bubble of fame to find the man inside it. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.