Dancing in the Vortex: The Story of Ida Rubinstein

by Vicki Woolf

Overview

Paris at the turn of the century - Art Nouveau, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Folies Bergere. This was the atmosphere which nurtured the artistic development of the remarkable dancer and choreographer Ida Rubinstein.This long-awaited biography gives us a unique insight into the life of a remarkable woman, responsible for a fascinating chapter of our artistic heritage. She was a chameleon, a diva, who lived many lives, overcoming the anti-Semitism of her times to enchant and captivate the highest of societies.
Untrained as a dancer, Ida Rubinstein's charisma attracted collaborators such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Cocteau, Bakst, and Benois.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135853075
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/11/2013
Series:	Choreography and Dance Studies Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Vicki Woolf

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Series. List of Plates. Acknowledgements. Foreword. Prologue: Ruins against the Sky. 1 St Petersburg. 2 Antigone. 3 Salome. 4 Cleopatre. 5 Scheherazade. 6 Artists' Model. 7 St Sebastien. 8 The Producer. 9 War and Revelution. 10 Cracks in the Mask. 11 Milan. 12 La Dame aux Camelias. 13 Nijinsky. 14 The 1928 Season. 15 Covent Garden 1931. 16 The Paris Opera 1934. 17 World War Two. 18 Vence. 19 Whispers in the Wings. Chronology. Principal Sources. Index.

Editorial Reviews

Although untrained as a dancer, Ida Rubinstein was an integral part of the first Paris season of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1909. Her celebrated beauty and mysterious origins (she was an orphan from a wealthy Russian Jewish family) added to the exoticism of the lavishly staged ballets she graced, which also featured no less than Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. After a second season in this exalted company, Rubinstein left to form her own troupe. For more than 20 years, she would produce and often star in plays and ballets. Her own performing talents may have received mixed reviews, but for her theatrical spectacles she commissioned music by Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky; sets and costumes by Bakst and Benois; poetry by d'Annunzio and Cocteau; and choreography by Fokine, Nijinska, and Massine. Charles S. Mayer, writing in the International Encyclopedia of Dance (LJ 4/1/98) noted that "although Rubinstein's entire career was an exercise in self-glorification, it is noteworthy that the dancers, musicians, composers, poets, dramatists, and designers she employed were among the most influential and important in their professions in the twentieth century." The story of this singular grande dame will find its niche in collections that concentrate on the history of dance and the performing arts. Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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