Baryshnikov (whose title is every now and again transliterated as Baryshinikov or Barishinikov) was natural around Riga, Latvia ( then-capital of the Latvian SSR) of Russian parents. His father was an engineer & his mother the needlewoman.

He number 1 entered a Vaganova Ballet Academy at the age of xv. Due to his talent, he joined Leningrad's Kirov Ballet in 1966. In the period of Kirov's tour across Canada in 1974, Baryshnikov disappeared for several days, reappearing in the United States, where he applied for political asylum.

From either 1974 to 1979, he was chief dancer by using a American Ballet Theatre (ABT), though he also danced by having ballet & modern dance companies around the world. He so joined a New York City Ballet for fifteen months, working by owning choreographer George Balanchine. He returned to ABT inside 1980 when dancer & artistic director, the position he held for the decade. In July 3, 1986, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. From either 1990 to 2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was artistic director of the White Oak Dance Project, a itinerant company he co-founded by owning Mark Morris.

He was the recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 2000. As of 2004, he is actively involved around the establishment of the Baryshnikov Arts Center inside the newly performing arts complex in New York City.

He has the girl, Alexandra Baryshnikov, by having Actress Jessica Lange

Film and television
He received an Oscar nomination for his first film role, in 1977's The Turning Point. He starred in the 1985 film White Nights.

He played the revenant role in the final year of Sex and the City, opposite Sarah Jessica Parker. It was the reunion of sorts, since in the 1970s, Baryshnikov had starred within an ABT production of La Sylphide in which Parker had danced the role as a student.