Slavenska, Mia (b. 1916)

Yugoslavian-born ballerina, choreographer, and teacher. Name variations: Mia Corak. Born Mia Slavenski-Brod in Yugoslavia in 1916 (one source cites 1914); studied for seven years at the Royal Academy of Music, Zagreb; had dance training in Zagreb, Vienna, Paris (under Bronislava Nijinska), and New York (under Vincenzo Celli); also studied modern dance with Harald Kreutzberg and Mary Wigmore; married Kurt Neumann, in 1946; children: at least one daughter, Maria.

A child prodigy, Mia Slavenska debuted at the Zagreb National Opera House at age five, in 1921, and stayed on to become a soloist in 1931 and prima ballerina in 1933. That year she joined Bronislava Nijinska 's short-lived Théâtre de la Danse in Paris, receiving wild acclaim from Parisian audiences during her season there. In 1936, Slavenska appeared in the movie La Mort du Cygne (released in America as Ballerina), considered one of the few classic movies about dance. Two years later, she became a lead dancer with the legendary Ballets Russes, and from July to September 1938 dazzled London audiences both with her artistry and her beauty (Slavenska was known for her red-gold hair and pale skin). Among the ballets the company performed in that season were Les Sylphides, Gaite Parisienne, Les Elfes, Carnevale and Giselle, in which Slavenska danced the title role.

Shortly before the start of World War II, the Ballets Russes visited America, where Slavenska chose to remain. Forming her own Slavenska Ballet Variante in Hollywood, she toured the U.S., South America, and Canada from 1944 to 1952. During these years, she also married Kurt Neumann and became an American citizen. While continuing to tour with her own troupe, in the immediate postwar years Slavenska made guest appearances with the London Festival Ballet, the Ballets Russes, and Ballet Theatre. In 1952, with English dancer Frederic Franklin, she formed the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet, which the following year toured throughout America and Canada. They also performed in Japan, the first foreign ballet group to do so since Anna Pavlova 's. The company's best-known production was an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, choreographed by Valerie Bettis , in which Slavenska danced the role of Blanche to high praise. From 1955 to 1956, she was prima ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, while also working with regional companies and at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Slavenska retired from dancing at the close of the 1950s, and began a long teaching career both in New York City and in California, where she lived with her husband near Los Angeles. Along with Frederic Franklin, Irina Baronova, Raven Wilkinson, Nini Theilade , Marc Platt and Moscelyne Larkin , among others, in June 2000 she attended a celebration and reunion of the Ballets Russes in New Orleans.