Baronova, Irina (1919–)

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Baronova, Irina (1919–)

Russian ballerina. Born Mar 13, 1919, in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), Russia; studied at College Victor-Hugo, Paris; studied ballet with Olga Preobrazhenska in Paris; m. German Sevastianov, 1940 (div.); m. Cecil G. Tennant, 1949 (died 1967); children: (2nd m.) 3.

Discovered by George Balanchine while attending Preobrazhenska School in Paris; at 13, with Tatiana Riabouchinska and Tamara Toumanova, was one of the "baby ballerinas" of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1932); created roles of princess in The Hundred Kisses, Passion in Les Présages, Josephina in Choreartium, Scuola di Ballo, Boulotte in Bluebeard, Helen in Helen of Troy and First Hand in Le Beau Danube; also danced Aurora's Wedding, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Coq d'Or, Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée, Petrouchka, Le Spectre de la Rose and Jeux d'Enfants; danced in films Florian (MGM, 1939) and Yolanda (Mexico, 1942), in musical Follow the Girls (1944), with Léonide Massine's Ballet Russe Highlights (1945), and in musical Bullet in the Ballet and comedy Black Eyes (both England, 1946); retired from stage (1946).

See also Women in World History.

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