Acclaimed ballerina IRINA BARONOVA has died at her home in Australia. She was 89.

The dancer became one of revered choreographer George Balanchine's 'baby ballerinas' after making her debut in Paris, France at the age of 12.

She quickly became an internationally renowned ballet figure, starring in Ballets Russes productions including Bluebeard, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake all over the world.

She also appeared in films like Florian and Yolanda in the early 1940s before she was forced to give up her ballet career when she wed British theatrical agent Cecil Tennant in 1946.

Baronova penned her autobiography, Irina: Ballet, Life + Love in 2005.