Baronova, Irina 1919–

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Baronova, Irina 1919–

PERSONAL:

Born March 13, 1919, in Petrograd, Russia; married German Sevastianov, 1936 (divorced); married Cecil G. Tennant, 1946 (died, 1967); remarried German Sevastianov; children: three.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Byron Bay, Australia.

CAREER:

Dancer and writer. Paris Opéra, Paris, France, made debut at the age of eleven, soloist, 1930; Théâtre Mogador, Paris, soloist, 1931; engaged by George Balanchine (at age thirteen) as ballerina, Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, 1932, remaining with company (various Ballets Russes companies under the direction of de Basil), until 1939; ballerina, Original Ballet Russe, 1940-41, and Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre), New York, NY, 1941-42; also performed with Roxy Theater, New York, NY, 1943, and Massine's Ballet Russe Highlights, 1945; guest artist, Original Ballet Russe, touring Cuba and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1946; also appeared in several films, including Florian, 1940, and Yolanda, 1943, Train of Events, 1949, and Toast of Love, 1951; appeared in plays and musicals, including as Anna Viskinova in the musical Follow the Girls, London, 1945; as ballerina in Bullet in the Ballet British tour, 1946; and as Tania Karpova in Dark Eyes, U.S., 1947, and London, England, 1948; Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England, member of Technical Committee and occasional teacher.

WRITINGS:

Irina: Ballet, Life and Love, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her memoir, Irina: Ballet, Life and Love, Irina Baronova tells her story of being a young Russian immigrant and ballet prodigy who made her debut at the Paris Opéra when she was approximately eleven years old. After being spotted by George Balanchine, a world-renowned choreographer, she became one of his three famous "baby ballerinas." During her time at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she worked with ballet greats such as Léonide Massine and Bronislawa Nijinska and with artists such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. In the memoir, the author also recounts her work in Hollywood films and the American Ballet Theatre, as well as her personal life, including divorces and family problems. "She has concentrated on the first forty-eight years of her life, preferring to deal with the era of her development, her career as a ballet artist, and her halcyon years in Great Britain as the wife of Cecil Tennant and mother of three brilliant children," noted Leland Windreich on the Ballet-Dance Magazine Web site. Although some reviewers thought that Baranova provided too much detail in her memoir, most had high praise for Irina. David Jays, writing in the Moscow Times, noted: "It isn't retrospection but recall that makes this autobiography a delight. The detail is fabulous." A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author's "prose is a testament to the woman she is: passionate, vivacious and overwhelmingly optimistic."