Slavenska was born in Yugoslavia and was a child
prodigy, making her stage debut at the Zagreb National Opera
House in 1921. She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte as a ballerina
in 1938, already having made a name for herself by touring
Europe as a soloist, winning the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin
Dance Olympics and starring in the film La Mort du Cygne.
Slavenska stayed with the Ballet Russe for four seasons and
then continued to dance with the company on and off as a guest
artist through the 1950s. In 1952, she co-founded the Slavenska-Franklin
Ballet (along with Frederic Franklin) and became famous in
the role of Blanche in that company’s production of
A Streetcar Named Desire (choreographed by Valerie Bettis
and based on the play by Tennessee Williams). Slavenska was
on the dance faculty at UCLA from 1969 to 1983, and also taught
at California Institute for the Arts.
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