Famous Dancers Part III

Famous Ballerina Irina Baranova

Irina Baranova was born in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in the Russian Empire on March 13, 1919. Irina was interested in ballet since she was very young. Irina left Russia when she when she was a little girl and moved to Romania where her mother taught her simple ballet exercises. By the time she was 9 her family had moved to Paris so she could study ballet professionally. She made her debut at the Paris Opera when she was 11.When she was only 12 years old she was discovered by the famous choreographer George Balanchine. At age 14 she danced as Odette, the lead ballerina in Swan Lake. She moved from Paris to Australia when she was 17 where she lived until she died. She retired from dance when she was only 27. She was married twice and had three children. She died in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia on June 28, 2008 at age 89.