Varna International Ballet Competition
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 Baryshnikov's 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 Jakobson's 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."