Tamara Tchinarova

Tamara Tchinarova (1919–2017), dancer, was one of the original 'baby ballerinas' of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. She began training with the great Russian teacher Olga Preobrajenska, formerly of the Imperial Russian Ballet, at age ten after her family emigrated to Paris from Bessarabia, Romania. Noticed by choreographer George Balachine, at seventeen she joined the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. Tchinarova came to Australia on the first and second tours of the Russian ballets in 1936 and 1938, and chose to remain in Sydney after the second tour. In 1943 she married the actor Peter Finch, who had recently made his film debut in Dad and Dave Come to Town. During the 1940s she danced with three Australian dance companies, the Kirsova Ballet, the Polish-Australian Ballet and the Borovansky Ballet. In 1948, Finch and Tchinarova moved to London before divorcing in 1959. She then began working as a Russian/English interpreter for touring ballet companies, including the Australian Ballet, and as a dance writer. Tchinarova came back to Australia for the last time in 1994 as a guest of The Australian Ballet, delivering a series of lectures. Her autobiography, Dancing into the Unknown: My Life in the Ballets Russes and Beyond, was published in 2007. She died ten years later in Marbella, Spain at the age of 98.