Alexander Godunov
Alexander Borisovich Godunov ( born November 28, 1949 at Sakhalin; † 18 May 1995 Los Angeles, California, USA ) was a Russian- American ballet dancer and actor.
Life and achievements
Godunov excelled particularly in the traditional roles of the ballet by one, for his height (1.91 m), Amazing Grace, a refined technique and his bounce. He began his training at the Ballet School of Riga, before joining the school of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. Since 1971 engaged as a soloist at the Bolshoi, he participated in several tours in part by the United States, of which the last he did not return in 1979 again in the Soviet Union. In 1975 he took on his second U.S. tour touch with his childhood friend, the 1974 Canada after a tour emigrated dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who had just made its debut as a choreographer and was now become the artistic director at the American Ballet Theatre in New York. Here Godunov gave this an engagement as first soloist. His wife, who also danced for the Bolshoi Ballet, decided to return to the USSR. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982.
Assuming the roles of Don José and the Othello Godunov caused enthusiasm. 1982 ended the collaboration with Baryshnikov in the dispute. As of 1983, Godunov adopted international guest engagements, as in Berlin ( German Opera, Ballet of the 20th century ), Japan and Israel. Godunov founded his own ballet company.
After he had already appeared in the USSR in several films, in 1985 he gave his Hollywood debut in The only witness on the side of Harrison Ford
On 18 May 1995 he was found dead in his apartment.