Irina: Ballet, Life and Love

by Irina Baronova, Peg Mccoll (Editor)

Choreographer George Balanchine discovered her. Yul Brynner romanced her.
Genius artists designed sets and costumes for her. She danced for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Adolf Hitler and Josef Goebbels—who introduced themselves backstage. This memoir by the elegant octogenarian Irina Baranova celebrates a remarkable life in the arts.
    Born to privilege in 1919, Irina fled with her family from the Bolsheviks to an impoverished life in Bucharest, Romania. Despite their circumstances, Irina’s mother managed ballet lessons for her daughter and the family moved to Paris, where Irina debuted with the Paris Opera at age 12. Spotted by the legendary choreographer George Balanchine, she was selected for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo at age 13 and toured more than 100 cities around the world.
    Her husband, London theatrical agent Cecil Tennant, introduced her to a “who’s who” of the stage and screen, and her circle of friends and associates included Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso, Salvadore Dali, and Marc Chagall as well as ballet legends such as Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Margot Fonteyn. Her funny and moving memoir is not merely the story of a starry life but also about her remarkable instinct for surviving wars, heartbreak, and loss and her fulfillment as a wife and mother of three.
    Featuring beautiful photos and memorabilia from the world of dance, stage, and screen as well as a foreword by leading British dance critic Clement Crisp, this book will appeal to readers with a passion for the arts and life.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irina Baronova's lived quite a life. Her family escaped from Russia during the fall of the Tsars and she trained first in Romania and then in Paris to become a ballerina. Baronova was one of the three baby ballerinas of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. Later she married talent agent Cecil Tennant and fraternized with Viviene Leigh and Laurence Olivier. What impressed me most was her positive attitude and joy as she bounced from one adventure to another--and not all of her experiences were pleasant. I was most interested to learn that Folkine had lived into the 40s--for some reason I thought he occupied an earlier era. I was also kind of amazed to see how she transitioned so utterly from ballerina to housewife (she said that was actually listed on her passport). A great yarn and a quick read.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a crazy book. The idea that one person could cram so much into one life is astonishing, and then you remember 90% of the book take place before her 3oth birthday! The parade of famous friends and incredible experiences just keeps coming as the book progresses. This book is no carefully accurate biography, it's a memoir in the truest sense of the word. Irina Baronova recounts the events of her remarkable life from her point of view, with any biases very much in tact. Her personality comes through very strongly in her writing, and even though I was left with the impression that she may have been a bit difficult to get along with at times what a privilege it must have been for those who got to spend a couple of hours with her hearing about her fascinating life before she died.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating life she led in the ballet world as it established itself in the US, England and elsewhere. She also knew or met a lot of people who are pretty famous historically. To have worked directly with Fokine and Balanchine!?! Amazing. And very cool to read how she remembers many ballet greats.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scandal, romance, and rigorous professionalism as recounted by Irina Baranova, one of Diaghilev's so-called baby ballerinas. I'm glad I read it and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the ballet world of the 1920s and 30s.

[Lola Montgomery Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Irina is warm and gracious and brings to vivid life the day-to-day of life in the legendary Ballet Russe. I read this while travelling a long-haul flight and left it behind at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. I hope someone else loved it, and Irina, as much as I did.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this story fascinating.

[Katharine Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's led quite the life. I enjoyed her writing style.