Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Irina Kosmovska Collection
- Dates:
- 1919-1983
- Creators:
- Kosmovska, Irina and Golden Legend, Inc.
- Abstract:
- Irina Kosmovska was born in Moscow, circa 1914. During the Russian Revolution Kosmovska was smuggled out of Russia as an infant and spent her early childhood in Berlin and Paris. It was there that she began her early ballet training with Victor Gsovsky. That foundation would lead her to continue learning and dancing with many of the great dancers and teachers of the time including the Maryinsky ballerinas Olga Preobrazhenska and Lubov Egorova. Kosmovska was sponsored to come to the U.S. in 1951, as part of a Congressional bill that permitted certain European artists special entry to the United States. Upon arriving in Los Angeles she began teaching in various ballet schools and choreographing. In 1959, she founded the Los Angeles Junior Ballet, which existed through 1985, and became the official school of John Clifford's Los Angeles Ballet. Additionally, in the early 1960s, Kosmovska taught for George Balanchine's School of the American Ballet in New York, and with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) students in Los Angeles and in Saratoga in the summers. She was recognized as "a revered expert on instruction in the pirouette." The collection consists of photographs, correspondence, manuscripts, programs, scrapbooks, press coverage and programs documenting the life and work of Irina Kosmovska as a dancer and later as the founder of the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company. The collection also documents the personal life of Kosmovska including personal notes and extensive family photographs. Correspondence documents internal operations of the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company, individual student participation, and financial components. Press coverage spans Kosmovska's career as a ballerina to her success in choreography and leading the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company.
- Extent:
- 7.7 linear feet (2 letter boxes and 2 flat boxes)
- Language:
- English Russian Spanish; Castilian
- Preferred citation:
-
Irina Kosmovska Collection (Collection 2358). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of photographs, correspondence, manuscripts, programs, scrapbooks, press coverage and programs documenting the life and work of Irina Kosmovska as a dancer and later as the founder of the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company. The collection also documents the personal life of Kosmovska including personal notes and extensive family photographs.
Correspondence documents internal operations of the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company, individual student participation, and financial components. Press coverage spans Kosmovska's career as a ballerina to her success in choreography and leading the Los Angeles Junior Ballet Company.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Irina Kosmovska was born in Moscow, circa 1914. During the Russian Revolution Kosmovska was smuggled out of Russia as an infant and spent her early childhood in Berlin and Paris. It was there that she began her early ballet training with Victor Gsovsky. That foundation would lead her to continue learning and dancing with many of the great dancers and teachers of the time including the Maryinsky ballerinas Olga Preobrazhenska and Lubov Egorova.
She debuted in 1936 with Col. de Basil's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, then partnered with Paul Goube in Barcelona, where she also began to teach and choreograph ballet works. The Second World War broke her connection with that company. Kosmovska was sponsored by impresario Sol Hurok to come to the U.S. in 1951, as part of a Congressional bill that permitted certain European artists special entry to the United States. Upon arriving in Los Angeles she taught for Marge and Gower Champion and spent twelve consecutive summers teaching at the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet.
In 1959, she founded the Los Angeles Junior Ballet, which existed through 1985, and became the official school of John Clifford's Los Angeles Ballet. Additionally, in the early 1960s, Kosmovska taught for George Balanchine's School of the American Ballet in New York, and with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) students in Los Angeles and in Saratoga in the summers. She was recognized as "a revered expert on instruction in the pirouette."
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Golden Legend, Inc., 2017.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Sage Scanlon-Perez under the supervision of Emily Wittenberg, 2026
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: General Records (1964-1983)
- Series 2: Irina Kosmovska Records (1958-1993)
- Series 3: Los Angeles Junior Ballet Records (1956-1991)
- Series 4: Photographs (1919-1983)
- Series 5: School of American Ballet Records (1934-1979)
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Physical description:
- Materials are in good condition.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-05-29 11:03:24 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
Irina Kosmovska Collection (Collection 2358). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988