Baronova, Irina

Irina Baronova Photos

Irina Baronova Biography

Notable: 1919 – 2008; Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo 

Irina Baronova was born in St. Petersburg in 1919. She studied with Olga Preobrajenska in Paris, after her parents had emigrated from Russia. In 1932, at the age of 13, she was hired by Balanchine as one of the three baby ballerinas for Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. The two others were Tamara Toumanova and Tatiana Riabouchinska. She created roles in Massine’s Les Présages, Jeux d’enfants, Beau Danube (1933), and Nijinska’s Les Cent Baisers (1935). In 1939 she went to America and appeared in Hollywood film. She joined the American Ballet Theatre as prima ballerina (1941-42). Then she performed with various companies in the US and retired in 1946.

Irina Baronova wrote a wonderful autobiography called Irina: Ballet, Life and Love.

She appears in the film Ballet Russes available on DVD.