“I don’t know what will become of this piece. Our brave critics will no doubt charge me with imitating Ravel’s Bolero. Too bad – this is how I hear war.”
— Dmitri Shostakovich
Ida Rubenstein strode onto the Paris Opera stage on November 22, 1928, and stepped onto a table. The set resembled a rustic Spanish tavern and several couples danced below a brass lamp hanging from the ceiling. They encouraged a female dancer to join them. A snare drum softly tapped out a modest rat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat and Ida Rubenstein began to dance. “Ida portrayed a voluptuous dancer whose suggestive dance atop a table in a rustic Spanish tavern incites the men to dance with her until they lose further control of their ‘senses,’ and end up in a violent brawl,” wrote J. M. Lacey for Season Ticket in 2010. The dance “caused a sensation,” he said. “When the piece ended, Ida’s provocative dance and Ravel’s dynamic music caused a near-riot between the audience and the performers.” “Ida narrowly escaped injury,” he added.
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Blood and the Bolero
“I don’t know what will become of this piece. Our brave critics will no doubt charge me with imitating Ravel’s Bolero. Too bad – this is how I hear war.”
— Dmitri Shostakovich
Ida Rubenstein strode onto the Paris Opera stage on November 22, 1928, and stepped onto a table. The set resembled a rustic Spanish tavern and several couples danced below a brass lamp hanging from the ceiling. They encouraged a female dancer to join them. A snare drum softly tapped out a modest rat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat and Ida Rubenstein began to dance. “Ida portrayed a voluptuous dancer whose suggestive dance atop a table in a rustic Spanish tavern incites the men to dance with her until they lose further control of their ‘senses,’ and end up in a violent brawl,” wrote J. M. Lacey for Season Ticket in 2010. The dance “caused a sensation,” he said. “When the piece ended, Ida’s provocative dance and Ravel’s dynamic music caused a near-riot between the audience and the performers.” “Ida narrowly escaped injury,” he added.
READ MORE HERE >>>