 Portrait of Ida Rubinstein, 1913, by Antonio de la Gandára Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (5 October 1883 – 20 September 1960) was a Russian dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 and then quit to form her own company. Boléro by Ravel (1928) was among her commissions.  Mme Ida Rubinstein dans La Dame aux camélias. Robe, Charles Frederick de Worth BiographyRubinstein was born into one of Russia's richest families, to Jewish parents in Kharkov, Russian Empire, and grew up in Saint Petersburg. For many years, it was a mystery whether she was born in Kharkov or Saint Petersburg, complicated by the rumour that "Ida" was short for "Adelaida". Rubinstein herself would not confirm where she was born, nor if Ida was a nickname, preferring the aura of mystery. Ida's grandfather, Ruvim (Roman) Rubinstein, had been a successful sugar trader in Kharkov. He moved to Saint Petersburg, where he founded the company Roman Rubinstein & Sons with his two sons, Lev (Leon) and Adolf (Anton). The family multiplied their investment many times over, becoming millionaires. By the time Ida was born, the family expanded to own several banks, including the First Bank of Kharkov, sugar mills and breweries. The family donated large sums of money to charities, particularly the arts. Lev and Adolf were both well educated; they regularly hosted prominent intellectuals and artists in their home. Adolf's son Iosif became a successful pianist who studied under Franz Liszt. Her mother died when Ida was very young, and in 1892, her father Lev died in Frankfurt, leaving her a vast fortune. In 1893, the 8-year-old Ida was sent to Saint Petersburg to live with her aunt, socialite "Madame" Gorvits (Horwitz). Rubinstein grew up in her aunt's mansion on the city's famed Promenade des Anglais, where she was given the best education. She became fluent in English, French, German and Italian. When she became interested in Ancient Greece, a Greek professor was invited to tutor her in Saint Petersburg.  Ida Rubinstein in 1909 In Paris, Ida Rubinstein began her career as an actress, appearing on stage in various stages of "indecent" garb. While it was perfectly respectable for the upper class to be seen at the theatre, being an actress was no different from being a prostitute in the eyes of her horrified relatives. Her brother-in-law, a Parisian doctor had her declared legally insane in order to commit her to a mental asylum to save the family's honor.  Ida Rubinstein (5 October 1883 – 20 September 1960)  Ida Rubinstein Her family in Kharkov and Saint Petersburg, unhappy with her being in an asylum, demanded she be released and sent home. Once in Saint Petersburg, she was chaperoned at all times by her governess, as was customary for an unmarried young woman of her social class. To earn her freedom and right to control her fortune, she married her first cousin Vladimir Gorvits, who was madly in love with her and allowed her to travel and perform. She had, by the standard of Russian ballet, little formal training. Tutored by Mikhail Fokine, she made her debut in 1908. This was a single private performance of Oscar Wilde's Salomé, in which she stripped nude in the course of the Dance of the Seven Veils. Sergei Diaghilev took her with the Ballets Russes and she danced the title role of Cléopâtre in the Paris season of 1909, and Zobéide in Scheherazade in 1910. Both exotic ballets were choreographed by Fokine, and designed by Léon Bakst. Her partner in Scheherazade was the great Vaslav Nijinsky. Scheherazade was admired at the time for its racy sensuality and sumptuous staging, but these days it is rarely performed; to modern tastes, it is considered too much of a pantomime and its then fashionable Orientalism appears dated.  Ida Rubinstein left the Ballets Russes in 1911.  Ida Rubinstein in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, 1910 After leaving the Ballets Russes, Rubinstein formed her own dance company, using her inherited wealth, and commissioned several lavish productions. In 1911, she performed in Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien. The creative team was Fokine (choreography); Bakst (design); Gabriele d'Annunzio (text) and score by Debussy. This was both a triumph for its stylized modernism and a scandal; the Archbishop of Paris prohibited Catholics from attending because St. Sebastian was being played by a woman and a Jew.  Ida Rubinstein as Saint Sebastian in the play The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, 1911  Ida Rubinstein 1912 After the First World War, Ida Rubinstein appeared in a number of plays, and in Staat's Istar at the Paris Opera in 1924. She also played the leading role in the 1921 silent film La Nave based on D'Annunzio's play of the same name and directed by his son.  Ida Rubinstein during the First World War, 1914-1918  Ida Rubinstein in 1922 Between 1928 and 1929, she directed her own company in Paris with Nijinska as choreographer. She commissioned and performed in Maurice Ravel's Boléro in 1928. The repertoire also included The Firebird (L'Oiseau de Feu) with music by Stravinsky, and choreography by Fokine; this had been one of the most sensational creations for the Ballets Russes. The company was revived in 1931 and 1934, with new works. In 1934, the French government awarded her the Légion d'honneur. Ida Rubinstein closed her company in 1935, and she was awarded honorary French citizenship that same year. In 1939 she gave her last performance in the play Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher in Paris and that same year, she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion, the highest honor awarded by French Government. Ida Rubinstein is not considered to be in the top tier of ballerinas; She did, however, have tremendous stage presence and was able to act. She was also a significant patron and she tended to commission works that suited her abilities, works that mixed dance with drama and stagecraft. In 1940, she left France during the German invasion, and made her way to England via Algeria and Morocco. There she helped wounded Free French soldiers until 1944. Walter Guinness (later Lord Moyne), her long-term lover and sponsor, remained supportive, providing a suite at the Ritz Hotel, until he was assassinated by the Stern Gang in late 1944.  Ida Rubinstein(5 October 1883 – 20 September 1960) Ida Rubinstein returned to France after the war, living finally at Les Olivades in Vence, France. She died there in 1960 and is buried nearby.  Portrait of Ida Rubinstein by Romaine Brooks, Le Trajet, circa 1911, Smithsonian American Art Museum. It was Ida Rubinstein's elusive quality that fascinated. She expressed an inner self that had no particular denomination. Her beauty belonged to those mental images that demand manifestation, and whatever period she represented she became its image. In reality she was the crystallization of a poet's image, a painter's vision, and as such she possessed further significance ... It was her gift for impersonating the beauty of every époque, that marked Ida Rubinstein as unique.  Portrait of Ida Rubinstein by Romaine Brooks, 1917, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum Further interestArticles
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