KNEE SURGERY FOR BARYSHNIKOV

Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov will undergo arthroscopic surgery for damaged cartilage in his right knee next week and will not perform for several months, a spokesman for American Ballet Theatre said Wednesday.

The 38-year-old artistic director of ABT hurt his knee during a class last week in Cleveland, flew to New York on Aug. 1 for diagnosis and was advised that he could continue dancing, said the spokesman, Robert Pontarelli. But the knee, which had required surgery two years ago, worsened and Baryshnikov will be operated on Tuesday in New York by Dr. William Hamilton, the spokesman said.

“We will be watching his recovery very carefully and hope he’ll be able to rejoin the ABT on tour by January,” Pontarelli said. “He will continue, however, as artistic director the whole time.”