Irina Borowska RIP

[James]

The Argentinian newspaper La Nacion has reported the death, in Vienna, of the Argentine-born ballerina Irina Borowska on 25^th Februray. I am sure this name will be familiar to any members of this forum who followed London’s Festival Ballet in the early 60s.

 

Irina Borowska danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo before joining LFB in about 1960. She left, I think, in 1966 when she married the Austrian dancer Karl Musil, who had been a regular guest with the company.

 

I saw her as Odette in Act II of Swan Lake in 1962 – my very first visit to the ballet as a 9 year old. It is hard to imagine that there has ever been a more glamorous ballerina.