Iris Barbura


Iris Barbura was a Romanian-German-American dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher.

Life and Work

Barbura began her dance studies 1931 in Bucharest at the National University of Music Bucharest. In 1935 she met pianist Sergiu Celibidache. They had a multi-year romantic and artistic partnership. Celebidache accompanied Barbura on the piano, and also composed music that she used in her performances. From 1936 to 1938, Barbura spent summers studying dance in Vienna Dresden, at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Harald Kreutzberg, and in Berlin.
From 1938 to 1942 Barbura worked in Bucharest as a choreographer and performed solo programs. She practiced modern dance and was the first choreographer at the National Theatre. In 1942 she embarked on an international performance tour to Germany. From 1945 to 1951, she lived with Celebidache in Berlin and gave solo dance recitals. Vergiu Cornea was a sometime dance partner. She and Celibidache separated in 1951, and she emigrated to the US, where she lived in Ithaca, New York. There she opened her own dance studio at 420 Eddy St. In June 1969, she leapt to her death from a bridge over Triphammer Falls.
In 2016, her most famous student Beth Soll performed a solo work in her honor.
In 2017, she was the subject of the biography Iris Barbura: Don't Think — Dance, Dance, Dance! by Alexandru Musat.

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