Mikhail Baryshnikov

First, Mikhail Baryshnikov is a hero because he made more ballet popular for men. He made ballet more popular for men because before people said ballet is just for girls and not for boys. Mikhail still did ballet even when people said that ballet was for girls. He is also a hero because he made his own ballet studio. He made his ballet studio so he could teach ballet to people who want to go there. He is also a hero because even when his mom died and his dad got remarried and his step mom and dad didn’t like but ballet, he still did ballet. His mom died because of his dad. His dad didn’t like ballet but his mom did so his mom and dad kept arguing. He was also on TV. His was in the Nutcracker. The Nutcracker was on the TV. He was also in Sex and City.

Second, Mikhail Baryshnikov had a lot of hardships in his life. I will also tell you a you about his early life family and his education. He was born in Riga, U.S.S.R., in January 28 1948. He was named Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov. Mikhail started his ballet studies in 1960. He was 12 when he started. He entered the Vaganova Academy in what was Leningrad (that is now again St. Petersburg). He won the top prize in the junior division of the International Varna Competition. He also joined the Kirov Ballet. He did a play and it was called “Peasant”. Peasant pas de deux in Giselle. This is a really a sad hardship for him. I already said it but I will say it again. His mom committed suicide. Here’s another reason he was told that his mom had died. He was born when Joseph Stalin was in power of the U.S.S.R. That is a hardship because when Stalin had power over the U.S.S.R. he made a lot of people in the U.S.S.R. starve to death.

Third, Mikhail Baryshnikov had a lot of Challenges and Problems. One is that his mom died. I already said that his mom died but I think that this is good for this because it is a really good challenge for this. Also he wanted to leave the U.S.S.R. because in the time of Stalin the killer of the U.S.S.R. was in power and probably no one wanted to live there because Stalin would kill everyone that would try to leave the U.S.S.R. and he had starved a lot of people to death. Leaving the U.S.S.R. is a bad idea because if you get caught by the secret police of the U.S.S.R. you could be put to death or be starving to death. Stalin killed about 20 million including 14.5 million starved to death because of Stalin.

Fourth, are contributions- is what he did for us. Mikhail made ballet more popular for men. Ballet was made by men and then people started to say that ballet was only for girls not for men. Mikhail Baryshnikov proved them wrong. He kept going to ballet class. He inspired more men go to ballet. He made me go to ballet too. He made his own ballet studio for us to take ballet at. I think he made his own ballet studio because he probably wanted to teach ballet. His ballet studio is called Baryshnikov Arts Center. It is 14,000 square feet of space. When I grow up I want to go to Mikhail Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Fifth, this is about Mikhail Baryshnikov Awards and Honors. The first one is that he was nominated the Oscar Award in 1978. In 1979, he won the Special David. In 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1988 and 1989 he was nominated four times for the Emmy Award and he won the Emmy Award three times. In 1978, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award. In 1987, we don’t know how he got this but he got the Man of the Year Award.

Last, I will talk about his character traits. The first one is that he is brave. He is brave because he left the U.S.S.R. and if you leave the U.S.S.R. you can be put to death. He also was brave because he did ballet even when his mom died and he got a new mother and his new mother didn’t like ballet, nor did his dad. The second trait is that he is nice. He is nice because he made his own ballet studio so we can go to. He also teaches ballet and that is also nice because he is not one of those people who hide themselves from other people. The last trait is that he is cool. He is cool because he is famous. That makes him cool because he lets people see him. Another one is that he teaches ballet. It also makes him cool because he is famous and he is wants to show people how good he is even when he is 61 years old.

I am giving credit to Mikhail Baryshnikov and to Wikipedia. Thank you for the use of your stuff. It was so fun looking at the stuff that is in the book and on the website. See you next time!