Biography

Tatiana Riabouchinska was born on May 23, 1916 in Moscow, Russia. She was an actress, known for Make Mine Music (1946), Two Silhouettes (1946) and Les Sylphides (1938). She was married to David Lichine. She died on August 24, 2000 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

She and her husband David Lichine were among the ballet dancers who served as models for the Disney animators of Fantasia (1940).

Hyacinth the Hippo was based on Tatiana, and her partner in the pas de deux, Ben Ali Gator, on her husband David Lichine.

With Tamara Toumanova, 13, and Irina Baronova, 13, one of the "baby ballerinas". This was a nickname given to the trio in 1933, during their first season in London, by the ballet writer Arnold Haskell.