That’s what they called them, the three young Russian ballerinas who starred in the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in the 1930s. Tamara Toumanova, Irina Baronova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska. They were 13, 14 years old, on the run from the Russian Revolution with their parents, living in exile in Paris, gravitating towards other Russian emigres, and studying with the grand ballet teachers who had set up schools in Paris – these teachers who had performed in Tsarist Russia in the good old days before the Revolution. These three young girls are of the many profiled in the wonderful and moving documentary Ballets Russes, and the three of them are still alive, still perky and gorgeous, well into their 80s, all of them, all of them running studios, still taking classes every day … but back then in the 20s and 30s, they were tiny little pre-pubescent girls, so young that when the ballet company went on tour, their Russian mothers had to come along. Children. Children. But artists. Dedicated, serious, and it was so wonderful to hear them reminiscing about what it was that made each one different. “She had a friskiness to her, she was very fresh …” “She was very dramatic …” “She was the best technician” – all of them talking about EACH OTHER … so incredible, to see the details of their memories, as well as their understanding of the different gifts of each one. I loved them all.
Baby Ballerinas of Ballets Russes. Here they are. 13 years old.
I love these dancers, and the great documentary about them. However, all three have actually sadly passed away; Irina was the last survivor and died in 2008. Tamara died in 2004, and Tatiana in 2000.
Thank you so much for the update and correction! Yes, beautiful documentary about all of them – I love them all!!