Born in Riga into a family of a Soviet Army officer. When Baryshnikov was 12 years old, his mother hanged herself. The reasons are unknown. He lived for about two years with the family of his classmate Andris Vitinsh. He received his secondary education at Riga Secondary School No. 22.

He began studying ballet at the

Riga Choreographic School under teachers Juris Kapralis and Valentin Blinov. He studied in the same class as Alexander Godunov. He continued his education at the Leningrad Choreographic School in the class of Alexander Pushkin (who had previously taught Rudolf Nureyev). When Baryshnikov was accepted into the Vaganova Academy, the first person he informed was Kapralis. The decision to move from Riga to Leningrad meant parting with his first teacher, which upset Mikhail to tears. But Kapralis gave his blessing for the transfer and even insisted on it, although it was difficult for him to let go of such a talented student.

In later interviews, Kapralis said that this moment was also a kind of exam for him: after all, his three years of work with the young dancer would now be evaluated by Mikhail’s future mentor at the Vaganova Academy, Pushkin, and Alexander Ivanovich was pleased with the preparation of his new protégé. He even suggested that Kapralis continue sending talented students to him for further refinement. Baryshnikov studied under Kapralis from third to fifth grade. Kapralis choreographed their first dance numbers for him and Godunov, including joint performances, laying the foundation of his technical base. Baryshnikov maintained good relations with Kapralis throughout his life, and in 1988 he managed to invite him to New York, where Kapralis lived for a whole month and “had a wonderful time attending Broadway shows” and other attractions of the cultural capital of the world.

From 1967 to 1974, he was the principal soloist at the Kirov Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. He performed the roles of Basil in Ludwig Minkus’s ballet "Don Quixote," Desiré in Tchaikovsky’s "Sleeping Beauty," the role of Hamlet in the ballet of the same name by Nikolai Chirvinsky, and the role of Adam in the ballet "The Creation of the World" (staged by N. Kasatkina and V. Vasiliev).

In 1974, during a tour with the Bolshoi Theatre troupe in Canada, having received an invitation from his longtime acquaintance Alexander Mintz to join the "American Ballet Theatre" troupe, he defected.

From 1974 to 1978, he was the principal dancer of the "American Ballet Theatre" (New York), and from 1980 to 1989 he was also its director; he had a significant influence on American and world choreography.

In 1978, he made his film debut, playing the role of a ballet star in the film "The Turning Point"; he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (the film was nominated in eleven categories but did not win any).

Promotional photo of Baryshnikov and Liza Minnelli for the musical Baryshnikov on Broadway, 1980

In 1985, he played the role of a dancer fleeing Soviet authorities in the box office hit "White Nights." In 1989, he debuted on Broadway, performing in the dramatic play "The Metamorphosis" based on Franz Kafka’s novella.

In 1990, together with dancer and choreographer Mark Morris, he organized the "White Oak" project (Florida), which focused on productions and research in the field of contemporary dance. He led it until 2002, when the project was closed to concentrate on organizing and building the Baryshnikov Arts Center [English]. After the Center opened in 2005 on 37th Street in New York (450 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018), near the Theater District, he has been its artistic director. In the early 2000s, he appeared in the popular TV series "Sex and the City," playing the role of Carrie Bradshaw’s latest boyfriend, artist Alexander Petrovsky, in the final episodes of the last season.

He is engaged in photography and art collecting. Exhibitions of his photographic works and collections have been held by various museums, including the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

In 2015, he returned to his homeland, responding to an invitation from Latvian director Alvis Hermanis to stage a one-man show based on Brodsky’s poetry, which became a sensation of the theater season far beyond Latvia.

On December 21, 2016, he addressed a letter to the Latvian parliament requesting to become a citizen of Latvia. In April 2017, the Latvian Saeima unanimously voted to grant the artist Latvian citizenship.

Baryshnikov has had and still has only one wife – ballerina Lisa Reinhardt, who gave up her career for her beloved husband and bore him three children one after another: son Peter and daughters Anna and Sofia.

The whole family lives in a large mansion near New York, sometimes in Paris, where they also have a small house. They also have a dream house in the Dominican Republic, where the family not only rests but also recharges their life energy. Nearby is the estate of Julio Iglesias. Baryshnikov is considered a very generous and magnanimous person, and there are even legends about this. He is involved in charity, paying for friends’ medical treatments. 

And for Patrick Swayze, with whom he never got the chance to dance together, he paid for a lavish funeral. Mikhail Nikolaevich is now 71 years old. He is in excellent physical shape and is not planning to say goodbye to the stage yet. He still has many unrealized projects, but he does not want to be just the director and choreographer of his theater. He was and remains the most beloved and recognizable Russian artist in America.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baryshnikov,_Mikhail_Nikolaevich