Mikhail Baryshnikov's move to the West began in Canada
'This is not a political act I have done, but an artistic one'
Mikhail Baryshnikov's life in the West began with a late-night car ride in Toronto.
On the evening of June 29, 1974, the famed ballet dancer made a hurried exit from the O'Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall) to catch up with a car parked a few blocks away.
As would soon be revealed, this was the moment Baryshnikov moved to defect.
Baryshnikov, then 26, had come to Canada to perform with other dancers from the Soviet Union, as part of a tour that wrapped up that night.
Initially, he did not speak to the media about his defection — other than giving an interview to a Globe and Mail dance critic days later, in which he explained his reasons for leaving his old life behind.
"This is not a political act I have done, but an artistic one," Baryshnikov told the paper through a translator.
As explained in the clip below, there were compelling reasons for Baryshnikov to be careful about what he did after his defection.
Baryshnikov would settle in the United States and continue to perform as a dancer. Today, he serves as the artistic director of an arts centre in New York City that carries his name.
