November 28
Born Today:
Alexander Godunov
Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov (1949-1995) began his career at the Bolshoi Ballet as a peer of Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-), before defecting to the United States in 1979. He also starred in movies Witness (1985) and Die Hard (1988).
Also Born Today: Composer and dancer Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) who worked in the court of King Louis XIV (1638-1715), the French monarch who helped support the development of ballet as a performing art.
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Dance Premiere: The first performance in 1836 of Bournonville’s revival of La Sylphide, originally choreographed by Filipo Taglioni (1777-1871) in 1832. The surviving Bournonville version is one of the oldest ballets.