Ida Rubenstein was born in 1883 in Kharkov, Ukraine as the youngest of four children to a wealthy family. When Rubenstein was nine both of her parents had passed away and she moved to St. Petersburg to live with her cousins in 1892. In 1904 Rubenstein made her professional debut in the title role of Antigone. Later that year she moved to study theater at the Moscow Theatre School and then transferred to the same program but in St. Petersburg. There she studied with Michel Fokine, a choreographer for her production of Salomé in 1908. The scandalous aspects of the show caused it to be banned, but it did increase the fame of Rubenstein, and helped her get many of her future roles.

    Rubenstein was not a technically trained dancer, so many of her roles were considered “mime” roles, including her roles as Cleopatra in 1909. The performance that Jo Davidson represents her as here, Rubenstein was able to bring life to the story of the Egyptian queen. Cleopatra helped promote Rubenstein and she continued to dance in productions until 1928 when she created her own ballet troupe, Les Ballets de Madame Ida Rubinstein. Rubenstein commission many scores to be written for her, and stared in every production. She continued to dance until she was forced to relocate to England when the Germans invaded France. When Paris was liberated, Rubenstein attempted to return and restart her career but with little success. Rubenstein lived until 1960.