Mikhail Baryshnikov and Queen Camilla.Photo: Paul Grover/AP/Shutterstock
Queen Camillameets “the Russian.”
As Camilla, who wore a ballerina brooch on her teal coat, greeted her guests, she told Baryshnikov, “It’s a great honor to be able to give you the award. Nobody deserves it more.”
“It is a stupendous experience,” Baryshnikov tells PEOPLE. “For years I have looked at this from afar and suddenly I am inside for this poignant moment at this important time for a new administration of King Charles. It is an honor to meet Her Majesty.”
“She is a fellow dancer, I understand,” he added of Camilla, who previously revealed that she wastaking ballet classes.
Mikhail Baryshnikov and Queen Camilla.Paul Grover/AP/Shutterstock
In his acceptance speech, Baryshnikov said, “From very early years, dance has been my mentor, my teacher and my best friend. It has never felt like a burden and has never disappointed. It has been an unspoken conversation with the world, and I felt lucky to have found it.”
Baryshnikov tells PEOPLE that he is “still a big fan” ofQueen Elizabeth.
“She was an extraordinary example to hundreds of millions of people she was serving,” he says.
The first recipient of the honor was Dame Ninette de Valois. Since then, it has been awarded to some of the greatest names in dance, including Rudolf Nureyev, Carlos Acosta CBE and Sir Matthew Bourne.
Queen Camilla.Paul Grover/AP/Shutterstock
The reception began when Queen Camilla was introduced to the chief executive of the Royal Academy of Dance, Tim Arthur, and the president of the organization, former dancer and current RAD President Dame Darcey Bussell, in the White Drawing Room.
Camilla has a longstanding relationship with the Royal Academy of Dance and as vice patron, opened their global headquarters in March. In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Camilla hosted a virtual meeting talking about theSilver Swans initiative.
Among the small, 30-guest reception was 15-year-old Jacob Wheway, who received the Phyllis Bedells scholarship. He said that Baryshnikov was an inspiration, adding that he got slightly “starstruck” when they met.
“He’s got this charisma. He really set the bar for male dancing, or any dancing really, so high,” Wheway tells PEOPLE. “For him being so humble and nice and touching through that speech was so incredible to watch. It showed to me that not everybody who’s at the top are going to be full of themselves because he is so nice.”
Wheway added that Queen Camilla was “the sweetest person ever.”
“I spoke about my journey in dancing, and she was saying how hard an art form it is,” he says. “I am sure she is still an amazing dancer!”
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Royal Academy of Dance is one of the most influential dance education and training organizations in the world and has a global membership in 85 countries.
There are currently over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time teacher training programs with the Royal Academy of Dance, and each year the examination syllabus is taught to thousands of young people worldwide, with around a quarter of a million pupils per year going on to take RAD exams.
Baryshnikov, 74, is considered one of the greatest dancers of modern times.
He was born in Riga, Latvia and made his name with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, Russia. In 1974, he came to the west and four years later joined the New York City Ballet.
A career in dance and in entertainment brought him to Broadway, where he received a Tony award nomination forMetamorphosis. He was also nominated for an Academy Award forThe Turning Point.
From 1990 to 2002, Baryshnikov was director and dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, which he and choreographer Mark Morris co-founded to expand the repertoire and visibility of American modern dance.
In 2005, he launched Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in New York City, a creative space designed to support multidisciplinary artists from around the globe. He has also won a Kennedy Center Honor, the National Medal of Arts, the Commonwealth Award, the Chubb Fellowship, the Jerome Robbins Award and the Vilcek Award.
He is currently working with director Igor Golyak and the Arlekin Players Theatre on a new adaptation of Chekhov’s masterpieceThe Cherry Orchard, which premiered off-Broadway in June 2022.
source: people.com
