Celebrate the Anniversary of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s ABT Debut With Rarely-Seen Archival Photos

On July 27, 1974, Mikhail Baryshnikov made his American Ballet Theatre debut, dancing opposite fellow expatriate Natalia Makarova in Giselle mere weeks after his defection from the Soviet Union. The then-26-year-old caused a sensation, with Dance Magazine contributor Olga Maynard observing in her review, “If Baryshnikov exerts his good influences on ballet in the West we shall owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Makarova and Baryshnikov in Act II of Giselle, during his 1974 ABT debut

Baryshnikov and Russian ballet legend Maya Plisetskaya taking class in Moscow

A very young Baryshnikov performs La source, 1969.

Rehearsing in Hamburg, 1975

In Balanchine’s Apollo

With Leslie Browne in The Turning Point (1977)

Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines between takes during the filming of White Nights (1985)

With Gelsey Kirkland in Giselle, 1975

With Bernadette Peters in Baryshnikov in Hollywood (1982)

In Balanchine’s Prodigal Son

Baryshnikov and Hines in White Nights (1985)

“Company class” in the film The Turning Point (1977)

In the studio with Alexandra Danilova

With Antoinette Sibley in The Turning Point (1977)

This image appeared on shopping bags at Saks Fifth Avenue in the ’90s, to promote the fragrance Baryshnikov Pour Homme.