Mia Slavenska

Actress

Date of birth : 02/20/1916

Date of death : 10/05/2002

City of birth : Slavonski brod, Croatia

American ballerina of Yugoslavian extraction who appeared rarely on film. A dancer since the age of five, she became the prima ballerina with the Zagreb Opera. After appearing in Jean Benoit-Levy's film Ballerina (1937) and promoting it in the U.S., she remained there as a teacher and dancer. She formed the Slavenksa Ballette Variante and, later, the Theatre Ballette. In 1954, she became the prima ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.