Netflix Movies Starring Alexander Godunov

He was born on Sakhalin Island at the far eastern end of the former Soviet Union and began studying dance at age 9 in the Riga State Ballet School. He later said his mother put him there to prevent his becoming "a hooligan". One of his classmates and friends at the school was Mikhail Baryshnikov. After graduating he toured with the Moscow Classical Ballet. He joined the Bolshoi in 1971; there he received rave reviews for the lead in "Swan Lake", "Giselle" and other classical and contemporary works. In 1973 he won a gold medal at the Moscow International Competition. The same year he received more praise when the Bolshoi toured the United States. He was then marked as a potential defector and not allowed to tour for five years. In August 1979 he did defect. The story grew in importance when his ballerina wife returned to the USSR a few days later. Read more on iMDB