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Mia SlavenskaCroatian-American prima ballerina
Date of Birth: 20.02.1916
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Mia Slavenska: Croatian-American Prima Ballerina
- Rise to Prominence
- International Acclaim
- American Success
- Later Career and Legacy
- Personal Life and Death
Mia Slavenska: Croatian-American Prima Ballerina
Early Life and TrainingMia Slavenska was born Mia Korak on February 20, 1916, in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. She began ballet lessons at the age of four and studied in Zagreb, Croatia, under Josephine Weiss. In 1924, she debuted in Baranovic's ballet "Licitarsko srce" at the Croatian National Theatre.
Rise to Prominence
By the age of 17, Slavenska had become the prima ballerina of the Zagreb Opera. In 1936, she won awards for choreography and dance at the Olympic Games. She left Zagreb for Vienna, where she studied with renowned masters such as Léonide Massine, Gustav Kraus, and Lotti von Western. She also trained in Paris under Lubov Egorova and Olga Preobrajenska.
International Acclaim
For many years, Slavenska was a leading ballerina with the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, which relocated to the United States at the start of World War II. She appeared in several French films, including "La Mort du Cygne" (1938) and "Nuits de feu" (1937). In Hollywood, she established her own company, Ballet Variante, in 1944.
American Success
Slavenska became an American citizen in 1947. She performed notable roles with the Slavenska Franklin Ballet Company, founded in 1950 with ballet dancer Frederic Franklin. Her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in Valerie Bettis's modern dance interpretation of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1952 earned critical acclaim.
Later Career and Legacy
In 1954, Slavenska became the prima ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. She retired from dancing in 1955 but continued to teach and coach ballet. She established her own ballet studio in New York in 1960. From 1969 to 1983, she taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and from 1970 to 1983 at the California Institute of the Arts.
Personal Life and Death
Slavenska married Austrian actor Kurt Neumann in 1946. They had one daughter, Maria. She passed away on October 5, 2002, at a retirement home in Los Angeles, California.
