Rubinstein was born into one of Russian Empire's richest families,[4] to Jewish parents in Kharkov (now in Ukraine), 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".

Years after her death, the record was discovered in the archives of the Kharkov Choral Synagogue, where her father had been a board member: the birth of a daughter, Ida Lvovna, on 21 September (O.S., N.S.

5 October), to father Lev Ruvimovich, Honorary Citizen of Kharkov, and mother Ernestina Isaakovna Rubinstein, had been dutily recorded in the registry for 1883.

Her brother-in-law, a Parisian doctor named Lewinsohn (Levinson), had her declared legally insane in order to commit her to a mental asylum to save the family's honor.

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.

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.

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.

[6] After leaving the Ballets Russes, Rubinstein formed her own dance company, using her inherited wealth, and commissioned several lavish productions.

The creative team was Michel 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.

The repertoire also included The Firebird (L'Oiseau de Feu) with music by Stravinsky, and choreography by Michel Fokine; this had been one of the most sensational creations for the Ballets Russes.

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.

The Art Deco sculptor Demetre Chiparus produced a Rubinstein figurine, and she was also painted by Antonio de la Gandara and Jacques-Émile Blanche.

[11] Rubinstein was bisexual,[12] and in 1911 she began a three-year affair with the painter Romaine Brooks, who created several striking portraits, including one of the dancer as a nude model for Venus.