Throwback Thursday and Alexander Godunov
Boris Alexander Godunov was born on Sakhalin Island. His
mother enrolled him in ballet classes to prevent him from “becoming a hooligan”
and he started training at the Riga State Ballet School. Upon graduation, he
joined Igor Moiseyev's Young Ballet and toured with them.
But he had his sights set higher, and appealed to Yuri
Gigorovich, the director of the Bolshoi, to let him join the company. Soon after
he was hired, he performed the leading role of Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Other leading roles followed,
and in 1973 he won a gold medal at the Moscow International Competition.
Flamboyant and outspoken, Godunov was suspected to be a potential
defector, and after a 1974 tour he was not allowed to leave the Soviet Union. During
that period he performed little. But in 1979 he was permitted to leave, and while
on tour in New York, he did defect – making front page news around the world.
After his defection Godunov joined American Ballet Theater, and performed with them until 1982. In
1985 he appeared in the movie Witness
and New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby described him as the film’s “most riveting presence,” and “Mr. Godunov displays a kind of quiet, amused
self-assurance that effectively steals every scene he's in." His other films (Money Pit and North) were
not as successful.
In May of 1995 Alexander Godunov was found dead inside his
Hollywood, California home, apparently of natural causes. He was 45 years old.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #112s:
“Alexander
Godunov was a famous Russian dancer whose defection made front page news.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“People
tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated
enough.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón
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