Iconoclasts - Season2 - Mikhail Baryshnikov + Alice Waters

Mikhail Baryshnikov

Dancer

Mikhail Baryshnikov, a native of Riga, Latvia, began studying ballet at age nine; as a teenager, he entered the school of the Kirov Ballet, graduating from student to principal dancer in 1969. In 1974, he left Russia to pursue a career with ballet and modern companies around the world, settling in NYC in 1979 as a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and from 1979 to 1980, with New York City Ballet. In 1980 he returned to ABT as Artistic Director, nurturing a new generation of dancers and choreographers. In his illustrious career, he has danced more than one hundred different works on the world's greatest stages. Most of the world's foremost choreographers have created works especially for him. Mr. Baryshnikov has proved himself a capable actor, starring in five films and earning an Oscar-nomination for his performance in THE TURNING POINT. He has appeared numerous times on television, including three Emmy award-winning specials. More recently, Mr. Baryshnikov played Aleksandr Petrovsky, a celebrated artist and love interest to Sarah Jessica Parker on the television series "Sex and the City." In 1989, he appeared on Broadway in Metamorphosis, earning a Tony nomination and a Drama Critics Award. From 1990-2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was co-director and dancer with White Oak Dance Project (WODP), which he co-founded with choreographer, Mark Morris. Through WODP, he has expanded the repertoire of American modern dance. Mr. Baryshnikov is currently devoting his time and energy to the Baryshnikov Arts Center, which is in its inaugural year. Among his most recent awards are the Kennedy Center Honors, The National Medal of Arts, the Commonwealth Award, The Chubb Fellowship, and the Jerome Robbins Award.

Alice Waters

Chef

In an era of the ubiquitous celebrity chef, countless product tie-ins, television shows and name-brand eateries, Alice Waters embodies a culinary philosophy focused on substance over style. Her passion for organic, seasonal ingredients has inspired menus around the world, blossoming into an unprecedented educational movement toward a more healthful, more mindful approach to food. Forget the small screen. Alice Waters is all about the big picture. More than thirty-five years ago, Waters embarked on a revolutionary culinary path with the opening of her restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkley, California. Its fixed-price menu, which changes daily, is unparalleled in its design, featuring the very finest local, organic ingredients selected at their peak of flavor. Her commitment to exquisite ingredients led her down some unconventional paths, such as growing her own baby lettuces and demanding higher quality breads from bakers. Her persistence paid off with the formation of a local network of farmers and ranchers dedicated to sustainable agriculture, ensuring a consistent stream of fresh ingredients for Chez Panisse. In opening her restaurant, Waters cultivated a chain of supply dedicated to her vision--a feat very few have come close to achieving in all the years since. The public response to both her methods and menus was astonishing. Reservations booked up months in advance and the birth of California cuisine was celebrated across the country. Three decades and countless awards later, including being named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine in 2001, Chez Panisse now boasts an upstairs cafe with an a la carte menu. Waters' dedication to education and the promotion of sustainable agriculture continues to flourish with the Chez Panisse Foundation and The Edible Schoolyard. A one-acre garden and kitchen classroom at Berkley's Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School, The Edible Schoolyard turns pop culture upside-down: It teaches children how to be caretakers of the planet as well as teaching the joys of the table, the pleasures of real work, and the meaning of community. A model public education program and nationally recognized for its efforts to integrate gardening, cooking and the sharing of a daily school lunch into the academic curriculum, The Edible Schoolyard has sparked a national movement. Its success led to the School Lunch Initiative, a landmark agreement between the Chez Panisse Foundation and The Berkeley Unified School District to integrate a nutritious daily lunch into the core curriculum of all students. Waters is currently working on an Edible Schoolyard project in a storm-damaged public school in New Orleans. Her tireless efforts have earned Alice Waters many prestigious awards, including Bon Appetit magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award (2000) and the James Beard Humanitarian Award (1997). She was also named Best Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation (1992) and awarded the Force For Nature Award by the Natural Resources Defense Council (2004). Waters is Vice President of Slow Food International, a non-profit organization that promotes and celebrates local, artisanal food traditions with members in over 100 countries. Alice is the author of eight books, the latest of which, Chez Panisse Fruit, was published by Harper Collins in 2002.

Photos from this episode:

Image from the Mikhail Baryshnikov + Alice Waters episode of Iconoclasts Season 2

Image from the Mikhail Baryshnikov + Alice Waters episode of Iconoclasts Season 2

Image from the Mikhail Baryshnikov + Alice Waters episode of Iconoclasts Season 2

Image from the Mikhail Baryshnikov + Alice Waters episode of Iconoclasts Season 2