Born Jeanne Louise Beaudon on June 9, 1868, her mother Leontine Clarisse Beaudon, aka La Belle Elise, was a prostitute, her father Luigi de Font, an Italian aristocrat. Her parents were separated by the time she was 2 years old. She was raised primarily by her grandparents, until her mother took her back with the intention of having her follow in the footsteps of her mother's career. She would eventually run away from her mother, ending up in hospital with Sydenham's chorea, an autoimmune a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet.
She discovered that she could incorporate these movements into dance, which saved her life as she had contemplated suicide. She met her lover, writer René Boylesve, who encouraged her to take the stage name, Jane Avril. While performing at Moulin Rouge of which she helped popularize the can-can, she was discovered by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who painted a promotional material of Jane dancing.
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