Slavenska, Miya

Mia was born in Austria-Hungary, in the city of Brod-on-Sava, in the family of the pharmacist Milan Chorak and his wife, the housewife Gedwigi Chorak. When the daughter turned one year old, the family moved to Zagreb . There Mia studied ballet under Josephine Weiss ( Josefine Weiss ) and the Russian emigrant, the ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater and the " Russian Seasons " of Diaghilev Margarita Froman . Entering the stage from the age of five, at the age of sixteen she became the prima ballerina Belgrade Opera . For some time she studied in Vienna with Leo Dubois.

After moving to Paris in 1937, I took the “Russian” pseudonym Slavenska — probably formed from the “Yugoslavian” one, as it was from Yugoslavia ^[1] , or by the name of my native city, renamed Slavonski Brod in 1934. In the same year she starred in two films - with Marcel L'Erbier in " " and with and in "The ".

She studied with Bronislava Nizhinsky and other Russian teachers. In 1938 she entered the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo . Together with Markova , Danilova and Tumanova was the leading ballerina of the troupe.

In 1944, she organized her own troupe Ballet Variante in Hollywood, which lasted for some time. In the early 1950s (1952 ^[1] ), when the Monte Carlo Ballet ceased operations, together with organized the troupe Slavenska Franklin Ballet Company , which lasted three years and closed for economic reasons. Their most significant production was the ballet Tram Desire, based on the play of the same name by Tennessee Williams ( 1952 , choreographer , , Montreal), in which Mia performed the role of Blanche Dubois.

After Franklin, at the request of the impresario Serge Denem , reassembled the Russian Ballets troupe, she danced there for some time until Denem began to promote Nina Novak intensively. In the second half of the 1950s, she danced at the with Anton Dolina and Alicia Markova .

Among the partners were Oleg Tupin , and , with whom she made up the famous ballet pair of the time.

Teaching activities

In 1938, during a tour of the Russian Ballet Monte Carlo in California, she opened her own ballet studio in Los Angeles. There, among her students, were sisters Maria and . After the war (since 1960 ^{[ specify ]} ) had a small studio in New York, where Lucinda Childs was among her students. The latter called Slavensk “a wonderful teacher of the Russian school”, who “was serious with us, was strict and demanded that we follow her instructions exactly” ^[1] . After moving to Los Angeles, she taught at the University of California (1969-1983) and at the private (1970-1983).

She also led the Texas Fort Worth Civic Ballet for three years.

Personal life

In 1946, she married actor Kurt Neumann (d. 1983), the couple had a daughter, Maria ^[2] . In 1947, she received American citizenship.

Russian ballet Monte Carlo

• Giselle , " Giselle " by Adolf Adan
• 1938 - Princess Anastasiyushka , “ Heroes ” by Leonid Myasin to the music of Alexander Borodin ( Alyosha Popovich - Frederick Franklin)
• ? - “ Elves ” by Mikhail Fokin to the music of Felix Mendelssohn

Slavenska Franklin Ballet Company

• 1952 - Blanche Dubois , Tram Desire, choreography by , Montreal

• 1937 - Ballerina , " ," directed by Marcel L'Erbier .
• 1937 - Natalie Karen , The Ballerina], directed by and , choreography by Serge Lifar