Irina Baronova: Legendary Baby Ballerina
Irina Baronova died on June 28th at her home in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia at the age of 89. She came to prominence with the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo at age 13 when she was discovered in Paris by George Balanchine and was teamed with Tamara Toumanova and Tatiana Riabouchinska. They were known throughout the dance world as the “baby ballerinas.” Toumanova died in 1996 and Riabouchinska in 2000.
Born in Russia, the family immigrated to Paris, and it was there that Baronova began her ballet training with Olga Preobrajenska. She appeared at age 12 in Balanchine’s staging of a ballet segment of Offenbach’s operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” at the Paris Opera. The French critic Andre Levinson wrote, “The sensation of the evening was the tiny child Baronova, who went through the final gallop like a whirlwind.”
She danced one-act versions of 19th century classics: Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty” and the role of Odette in “Swan Lake” at age 14 partnered by Anton Dolin. She created roles in Balanchine’s “Cotillion;” Fokine’s “Bluebeard;” Massine’s “Le Beau Danube,” “Jeux d’Enfants” and “Les Presages;” Lichine’s “Helen of Troy” and Bronislava Nijinska’s “Les Cent Baisers” and “Les Noces.”
Baronova toured throughout Europe, America, Australia and Latin America with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. She married Gerry Sevastianova when she was 17. He was then associate manager of Ballets Russes. In 1941, when he became manager of Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre), she went with him and became one of its leading ballerinas. The marriage lasted three years and ended in divorce.
Frederick Franklin first saw her dance in London at the Alhambra Theatre when she was 14 years old. He later danced with her in South America. “She was a beautiful lady and beautiful dancer,” Franklin says. Sevastianova had suggested that Baronova and Franklin should team up to have a small company, but this never materialized.
Baronova also appeared in two films, “Florian” (1940) and “Yolanda” (1943) before her retirement from the stage in 1946 at the age of 26 after having danced professionally for 15 years. She married the theatrical agent Cecil Tennant, who did not want her to continue her dancing career. Tennant died in a car crash in 1967, and Baronova moved to Switzerland where she resumed her relationship with her first husband. Later returning to the United Kingdom, she once again became a part of the dance world as a teacher and coach.
She was vice president of the Royal Academy of Dancing and a patron of the Australian Ballet School. She leaves two daughters, one of which is the actress Victoria Tennant, a son, six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Baronova received an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Her autobiography Irina: Ballet, Life and Love was published in 2005. That same year she appeared in the film Ballets Russes available on DVD. The bio and DVD are both available at www.amazon.com.