A tram
(also tramcar; and in North America streetcar, trolley, trolley car, or cable
car) is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets, and also
sometimes on a segregated right of way. The lines or networks operated by
tramcars are called tramways. Tramways powered by electricity, the most common
type, were once called electric street railways (mainly in the United States)
due to their being widely used in urban areas before the universal adoption of
electrification. In the United States, the term tram has sometimes been used
for rubber-tired trackless trains, which are not related to the other vehicles
covered in this article.
Tram
vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than conventional trains and rapid
transit trains. Today, most trams use electrical power, usually fed by an
overheadpantograph; in some cases, by a sliding shoe on a third rail, trolley
pole or bow collector. If necessary, they may have dual power
systems—electricity in city streets, and diesel in more rural environments.
Trams are now commonly included in the wider term "light rail", which
also includes grade-separated systems.
Tram
lines may also run between cities and towns (for example, interurbans,
tram-train) or even countries (Basel, Strasbourg), or be partially
grade-separated even in the cities (light rail). Very occasionally, trams also
carry freight. Some trams (for instance tram-trains) may also run on ordinary
railway tracks, a tramway may be upgraded to a light rail or a rapid transit
line, two urban tramways may be connected to an interurban, etc. For all these
reasons, the differences between the various modes of rail transportation are
often indistinct.
One of
the advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of
metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the animals to haul a greater load for a
given effort. Problems included the fact that any given animal could only work
so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day
in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar
company was charged with disposing of. Electric trams largely replaced animal
power in the late 19th and early 20th century. Improvements in other forms of
road transport such as buses led to decline of trams in mid-20th century. Trams
have seen resurgence in recent years.
Mikhail
Nikolayevich Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Бары́шников, Latvian:
Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 27, 1948), nicknamed "Misha"
(Russian diminutive of the name "Mikhail"), is a Soviet and American
dancer, choreographer, and actor.
He is
often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev and Vladimir Vasiliev as
one of the greatest ballet dancers in history.
After a
promising start in the Mariinsky Ballet in Leningrad, Mikhail Baryshnikov
defected to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in western dance. After
freelancing with many companies, he joined the New York City Ballet as a
principal dancer to learn George Balanchine's style of movement. He then danced
with the American Ballet Theatre, where he later became artistic director.
Mikhail
Baryshnikov has spearheaded many of his own artistic projects and has been
associated in particular with promoting modern dance, premiering dozens of new
works, including many of his own. His success as a dramatic actor on stage,
cinema and television has helped him become probably the most widely recognized
contemporary ballet dancer.
In 1977,
he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a
Golden Globe nomination for his work as "Yuri Kopeikine" in the film
The Turning Point. He also had a significant role in the last season of the
television series Sex and the City and starred in the movie White Nights with
Gregory Hines.
Early
life
Mikhail
Baryshnikov was born in Riga, then Latvian SSR, Soviet Union, now Latvia. His
parents were Russians: Alexandra (a dressmaker; née Kiselyova) and Nikolay
Baryshnikov (an engineer).
His mother committed suicide, when he was in his
early teens.
He began
his ballet studies in Riga in 1960, at the age of 11. In 1964, he entered the
Vaganova School, in what was then in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
Baryshnikov soon won the top prize in the junior division of the Varna
International Ballet Competition. He joined the Mariinsky Ballet, which was
then called the Kirov Ballet, in 1967, dancing the "Peasant" pas de
deux in Giselle.
Recognizing
Mikhail Baryshnikov's talent, in particular the strength of his stage presence
and purity of his classical technique, several Soviet choreographers, including
Oleg Vinogradov, Konstantin Sergeyev, Igor Tchernichov, and Leonid Jakobson,
choreographed ballets for him. Baryshnikov made signature roles of Jakobson's
1969 virtuosic Vestris along with an intensely emotional Albrecht in Giselle.
While still in the Soviet Union, he was called by New York Times critic Clive
Barnes "the most perfect dancer I have ever seen."
Reputation
as a dancer
Baryshnikov's
talent was obvious from his youth, but being 5 ft 5in (165 cm) tall, maybe 5 ft
6in (168 cm), thus, shorter than most dancers, he could not tower over a
ballerina en pointe and was therefore relegated to secondary parts. More
frustrating to him, the Soviet dance world hewed closely to 19th-century
traditions and deliberately shunned the creative choreographers of the West,
whose work Baryshnikov glimpsed in occasional tours and films. Mikhail
Baryshnikov's main goal in leaving the Soviet Union was to work with these
innovators.
In the
first two years after his defection, he danced for no fewer than 13 different
choreographers, including Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, Alvin Ailey, and Twyla
Tharp.
"It
doesn't matter if every ballet is a success or not," he told New York
Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff in 1976, "The new experience gives me a
lot." He cited his fascination with the ways Ailey mixed classical and
modern technique and his initial discomfort when Tharp insisted he incorporate
eccentric personal gestures in the dance.
In 1978,
he abandoned his freelance career to spend 18 months as a principal of the New
York City Ballet, run by the legendary George Balanchine.
"Mr.
B," as he was known, rarely welcomed guest artists and had refused to work
with both Nureyev and Makarova. Baryshnikov's decision to devote his full
attentions to the New York company stunned the dance world. Balanchine never
created a new work for Baryshnikov, though he did coach the young dancer in his
distinctive style, and Baryshnikov triumphed in such signature roles as Apollo,
The Prodigal Son, and Rubies.
Jerome
Robbins did, however, create Opus 19/The Dreamer for Baryshnikov and NYCB
favorite Patricia McBride.
In 1980,
he became Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre and his role changed
from performer to director. However, in 1989, he left when the company went
behind his back and fired his second-in-command Charles France.
Nevertheless,
Mikhail Baryshnikov's fascination with the new has stood him in good stead. As
he observed, "It doesn't matter how high you lift your leg. The technique
is about transparency, simplicity and making an earnest attempt.”
The
White Oak Project was formed to create original work for older dancers. In a
run ending just short of his 60th birthday in 2007, he appeared in a production
of four short plays by Samuel Beckett staged by avant-garde director JoAnne
Akalaitis.
Mikhail
Baryshnikov was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1999. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
He has
received three Honorary Degrees: on May 11, 2006, from New York University; on
September 28, 2007, from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University; and
on May 23, 2008, from Montclair State University.
For the
duration of the 2006 Summer, Mikhail Baryshnikov went on tour with Hell's
Kitchen Dance, which was sponsored by the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Featuring
works by Baryshnikov Arts Center residents Azsure Barton and Benjamin
Millepied, the company toured the United States and Brazil.
In late
August 2007, Baryshnikov performed Mats Ek's Place (original Swedish title,
Ställe) with Ana Laguna at Dansens Hus in Stockholm.
Mikhail
Baryshnikov has performed in Israel three times: in 1996, when he appeared with
the White Oak Dance Project at the Roman amphitheater in Caesarea; in 2010,
when he performed with Ana Laguna; and in 2011, when he starred in nine
performances of "In Paris" at the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv.
In an interview to Haaretz newspaper in 2011, he expressed his opposition to
artistic boycotts of Israel and described the enthusiasm of Israeli
contemporary dance as astounding.
A tram
(also tramcar; and in North America streetcar, trolley, trolley car, or cable
car) is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets, and also
sometimes on a segregated right of way. The lines or networks operated by
tramcars are called tramways. Tramways powered by electricity, the most common
type, were once called electric street railways (mainly in the United States)
due to their being widely used in urban areas before the universal adoption of
electrification. In the United States, the term tram has sometimes been used
for rubber-tired trackless trains, which are not related to the other vehicles
covered in this article.
Tram
lines may also run between cities and towns (for example, interurbans,
tram-train) or even countries (Basel, Strasbourg), or be partially
grade-separated even in the cities (light rail). Very occasionally, trams also
carry freight. Some trams (for instance tram-trains) may also run on ordinary
railway tracks, a tramway may be upgraded to a light rail or a rapid transit
line, two urban tramways may be connected to an interurban, etc. For all these
reasons, the differences between the various modes of rail transportation are
often indistinct.
