"[2] Rassine was born Alec Raysman (originally Reisman) in Kaunas, Lithuania, to Jewish Russian parents Israel, an engraver and silversmith at the Fabergé workshop, and Sara.
Initially, he spoke Russian with his parents and brothers but, in 1929, when he was 10, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where he learned to speak English and gained a new nationality.
Arriving there penniless but talented, at a time when male dancers were in short supply, he found teachers willing to give him free tuition, going to Stanislas Idzikowski in the mornings and to Igor Schwezoff in the evenings.
He was soon promoted to premier danseur and was cast as partner to ballerinas Nadia Nerina, Pauline Clayden, and Pamela May in Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, and other classic works.
[9] He danced leading roles in many audience favorites: Harlequin in Fokine's Carnaval, Vestris in de Valois's The Prospect before Us, the Snob in Léonide Massine's La Boutique fantasque, and the Blue Boy in Frederick Ashton's Les Patineurs.
As a solo dancer, he was admired for his smooth, lithe movement, and he was valued by ballerinas such as Margot Fonteyn, Beryl Grey, and Violetta Elvin as an exceptionally able partner.
He subsequently formed an important partnership with his close friend Nadia Nerina, a South African dancer who had become prima ballerina at the Sadler's Wells Ballet.
After the war in Europe ended in 1945, Rassine faced competition for roles in the Sadler's Wells repertory with the return of such excellent dancers as Michael Somes, Harold Turner, and John Field, but he managed to hold his own until the early 1950s.
Early in his career in England, Rassine formed a deep friendship with John Lehmann, poet and man of letters, recognized today as one of the foremost literary editors of the twentieth century.