After training in Belgrade, he moved to Paris in 1946 and studied ballet there.
He danced for several ballet companies in his career, as a member or a guest artist. In 1956, he formed his own company, Les Ballets 1956, with dance critic Irène Lidova.
After visiting Yugoslavia in 1966, he returned there often to stage and choreograph ballets. He taught in the US in the 1970s. In 1980, he was named an artistic adviser to UNESCO. He was president of its international dance council from 1988 to 1994.