“I think I got disappointed over the years about New York, about the States. You know, sometimes you go and visit Europe and see good old socialism in its good part! You see public concern about art, and young people's participation and young faces in the audience.”

Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor

Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was born in 1948 and became the preeminent male classical ballet dancer of the 1970s and 1980s. He later worked as a dance director and is also known for his work as a choreographer and actor. His public reputation rests on a long career in classical ballet and on the broader range of performance work that followed.