Irina Baronova as Prima Ballerina Trina in the Ballet Sequence from ‘Florian’ (1940)

This is the major ballet sequence in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Hollywood film ‘Florian’ (1940), starring Irina Baronova. The film was directed by Edwin L. Marin and stars Robert Young and Helen Gilbert, with Baronova as the petulant, grasping and beautiful second love interest, the prima ballerina Trina. Music for the sequence is the beginning of Act 3 of ’Sylvia’ by Delibes. YouTubeer TheStockwell tells that: “The AFI (American Film Institute) gives the choreographer’s name as Ernst Matray. Hungarian born, Matray was an actor/director/choreographer. He founded a film company with Ernst Lubitsch in 1915, emigrated to the US in 1933, and found his skills as a choreographer were useful in getting assignments in Hollywood. Essentially, if a film needed someone to stage a number or two, he’d be called in. He was born in 1891 and died in 1978” Enjoy!