[2] She was born Jeanne Louise Beaudon on 9 June 1868 in Belleville, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris[3][4] (though her biographer, Jose Shercliff—whose account of the dancer's life is highly romanticised—employed the surname “Richepin” in her publication).

[5] Living in poverty and abused by her alcoholic mother, she ran away from home as a teenager,[a] and was eventually admitted to the Salpêtrière Hospital in December 1882,[9] with the movement disorder known as "St Vitus' Dance", with symptoms that included nervous tics, thrashing of limbs, and rhythmic swaying.

[8][10] Under the care of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot, the expert on "female hysteria", she received various kinds of treatment, and claimed in her biography that, when she discovered dance at a social ball for employees and patients at the hospital celebrating Mardi Gras, she was cured, although a modern biography of her argues that this story is unlikely, as she was discharged in June 1884, months before any Mardi Gras celebration would take place.

[12] Using the stage name Jane Avril, suggested by an English lover,[13] she built a reputation that eventually allowed her to make a living as a full-time dancer.

[13] In 1895, Louise Weber, known by her stage name La Goulue ("The Glutton") and the most famous dancer in Paris, left the Moulin Rouge, and Avril was chosen to replace her.

[17] From another liaison, she bore a son,[3] and beginning in 1901, appeared in theatre, taking roles in Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, as well as a stage adaptation of Claudine at School by Colette.