School of Dance

Mia, A Dancer’s Journey to be screened at The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater at CalArts on May 3 at 1:30 pm.

Documents and photographs charting Slavenska’s extraordinary career will be on display in the CalArts library.

Valencia, CA, April 15, 2016—The California Institute of the Arts’(CalArts) Library and The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance are proud to screen the Emmy-winning documentary, Mia, A Dancer’s Journey. The film celebrates the life and career of world renowned ballerina and former faculty member Mia Slavenska. The screening is free and open to the public. An exhibition of rare photographs and documents relating to Slavenska, from the CalArts Special Collectionsand Institute Archives, is on display in the CalArts’ Library through August 31.
 
For many years, Slavenska was the leading ballerina of the storied Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo with whom she relocated to U.S. in the outset of the World War II. During the 1970s, this celebrated ballerina taught at CalArts in the early years of the Institute.  Today, Slavenska’s legacy lives on. Glen Eddy, faculty member in the Institute’s Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, studied with Slavenska at CalArts in the 1970s and continues the tradition of mentorship to today’s ballet students.
 
Mia, A Dancer’s Journey will screen on May 3, 2016 at 1:30 pm in The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater on the CalArts campus. It will be followed by a question and answer session with the film’s producers—Slavenska’s daughter, Maria Ramas, and Kate Johnson.  From 3:30-5:00 pm, a reception with the filmmakers will be held in the CalArts Library where the exhibition is on view. For event details, see the calendar listing below.  
 
In Mia, A Dancer’s Journey, Maria retraces her mother’s experiences as one of a small group of famous emigre dancers who came to America to escape political upheaval in their countries of origin, unearthing, what the film’s program notes describe as, the “fascinating story of a maverick ballerina and a lost time of dance.”
 
The exhibition of rare photographs and documents relating to Slavenska will continue through August 2016.  Held in the CalArts Library from the CalArts Special Collection and Institute Archives, these documents are primarily from the Viola Swisher collection. Swisher was Dance magazine’s West Coast editor in the 1960s and 1970s.  Among the works on display are photographs of Slavenska at her birthday party at CalArts in March 1980, as well as promotional photographs taken of her in character for ballets: Arabian Nights and Don Quixote, and posters for iconic performances.  The archive also includes the 1971-1972 CalArts Bulletin which lists Slavenska as ballet faculty in the School of Theater and Dance.
 
One of the most influential ballerinas of her time, Slavenska helped transform American ballet, introducing it as an art form to the American public.  Remembered as the most beautiful and versatile of all her contemporaries and as the greatest technician of her era, Slavenska was one of the few ballet dancers to form her own company and commission original works.  In 1952, she convinced Tennessee Williams to let the Slavenska Franklin Ballet company produce a ballet version of A Streetcar Named Desire in which she danced the leading role of Blanche DuBois.  A photograph of Slavenska as Blanche, along with advertising flyers for the production, are among the highlights of the exhibition.
 
Mia, a Dancer’s Journey was co-produced for public broadcasting by Slavenska Dance Preservation, Inc., and PBS SoCaL. 
 
Calendar editors please note:
 
What: Screening of Mia: A Dancer's Journey
Where: The Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater at CalArts
When: May 3, 2016 at 1:30pm
 
The screening is open to the public and admission is FREE
 
What: Mia Slavenska exhibition
Where: The CalArts Library
When: Monday-Thursday: 8:45 am-12:00 am
             Friday-Sunday: closed
 
Click here for directions
 
For information call: 661.253.7889