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In-Depth Information
company that initially served as the vehicle for
Morris's works, but which later performed the
works of prominent American and German
choreographers. His engaging stage personality
also served him well in cinema, where he reached
broader audiences in films such as
The Turning
Point
(1978) and
White Nights
(1985), in which
he appeared with the American dancer Gregory
Hines, and television (
Sex and the City
).
Basil the Blessed, Saint
(unknown-1550)
priest and saint
One of the most famous and beloved of Russian
saints, Saint Basil the Blessed is best known for
the impressive cathedral on Moscow's
RED
SQUARE
that bears his name. The details of his life
are sketchy, although much has been handed
down through sayings and legends. Saint Basil is
said to have begun his religious life as a nomad,
believing that through wandering he could
become one with God. He is also said to have
marched into Moscow and punished dishonest
merchants, much in the way that Christ de-
nounced the moneylenders in the Jerusalem
Temple. Basil's life is often contrasted to that of
Ivan the Terrible, who reigned during the last
decades of his life. Although Basil died in 1550,
before the worst excesses of Ivan's reign took
place, Basil gained a reputation for openly
reproaching Ivan's penchant for cruelty. Eventu-
ally he was buried in the recently built church of
Our Lady of Kazan, which Ivan built to celebrate
his victory over the khanate of
KAZAN
. In the
17th century, however, it was renamed Saint
Basil's Cathedral, by which name it is still known.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
(Hulton/Archive)
he expanded his repertoire to include newly
choreographed ballets such as
Hamlet
(1970) and
The Creation of the World
(1971). In 1974, while
touring Canada with the Bolshoi Ballet, Barysh-
nikov defected to the West. He settled in New
York City, dancing mostly with the American
Ballet Theater and the New York City Ballet.
From 1980 to 1989 he served as artistic director
of the American Ballet Theater. Working with
leading choreographers such as George
BALAN
-
CHINE
(then in the twilight of his career), Twyla
Tharp, and Jerome Robbins, Baryshnikov con-
tinued his broad range of performances, from
classical ballets to modern dance. In 1990 he
joined the choreographer Mark Morris to found
the White Oak Dance Project, a modern dance
“Basmachi”
A popular anticommunist resistance movement
in the region of Turkestan (Russian Central
Asia), at its strongest the Basmachi fought the
Red Army from 1918 until 1923. The term “bas-
machi” originally referred to bandits or brigands,
but by 1918 groups of fighters began to organize
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