IDA don’t cry me love (2019) - Lara Barsacq
The origin of the idea came from Ida Rubinstein, the legendary dancer with the Ballets russes and muse of Sergei Diaghilev who caused a sensation in Paris at the start of the 20th century with her charisma, beauty and inflammatory presence. In Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, in which she made her name, the dancer shed her costume and stripped naked, resulting in an instant triumph and immediate fame. Through this provocative and liberating act, Ida Rubinstein entered the history of dance, performance and feminism.
One century on, Lara Barsacq is celebrating and singing in memory of Ida Rubinstein and her glory and absence, serving as a continual source of inspiration. Her way of combining the historic and the trivial, the grandiose and the absurd, personal memories and archives, allows the choreographer to compose an ode to freedom and to those guiding figures who inspire energy and daring. A hymn to poetry and to dance as an invention of the self.
After Lost in Ballets russes (2018), IDA don’t cry me love is Lara Barsacq’s second personal project. It premiered on October 18th, 2019 at La Raffinerie (Brussels) in the frame of Biennale de Charleroi Danse.
IDA don’t cry me love was nominated at the Prix Maeterlinck de la Critique (BE), as Best dance performance of 2019-2020!
After IDA don’t cry me love, Lara Barsacq created Fruit Tree (2021) and La Grande Nymphe (2023). In October 2025, she will create Kassia Undead.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
23.05.2024 | STUK Arts Center, Leuven (BE)
11.01.2025 | Cité musicale-Metz, Metz (FR) - en option
PREVIOUS TOUR DATES
18.10.2019 | Biennale de Charleroi danse, La Raffinerie, Brussels (BE) | PREMIERE
03.12.2019 | Les Brigittines, Brussels (BE)
04.12.2019 | Les Brigittines, Brussels (BE)
05.12.2019 | Les Brigittines, Brussels (BE)
06.12.2019 | Les Brigittines, Brussels (BE)
07.12.2019 | Les Brigittines, Brussels (BE)
30 - 31.01.2020 | Canal (rencontre professionnelle), CND, Paris (FR)
26.01.2020 | #IDA (extrait), Microdanse #3, Le 140, Brussels (BE)
06.02.2020 | #IDA (extrait), Microdanse #3, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris (FR)
16.06.2020 | Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (FR) - (postponed)
23.06.2020 | Festival Latitudes Contemporaines, Lille (FR) - (postponed)
10 - 20.07.2020 | Les Hivernales CDCN Avignon (FR) - (postponed)
16.10.2020 | Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil, Paris (FR)
13 - 14.11.2020 | Festival Emergentia, ADC-Genève (CH) - (cancelled)
18.03.2021 | Centre Culturel d'Uccle, Bruxelles (BE) - (postponed)
05.06.2021 | Festival Latitudes Contemporaines, Lille (FR)
10.06.2021 | Focus Danse - Biennale de la Danse, Lyon (FR)
16.06.2021 | La Manufacture CDCN Bordeaux (FR) - (postponed)
10.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
11.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
12.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
13.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
14.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
16.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
17.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
18.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
19.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
20.07.2021 | Les Hivernales CDCN / Festival OFF, Avignon (FR)
14.12.2021 | La Manufacture CDCN Bordeaux (FR)
10.03.2022 | Centre culturel Jean Moulin, Limoges (FR)
15.03.2022 | Centre Culturel d'Uccle, Bruxelles (BE)
17.03.2022 | In Movement, Les Brigittines, Bruxelles (BE)
18.03.2022 | In Movement, Les Brigittines, Bruxelles (BE)
19.03.2022 | In Movement, Les Brigittines, Bruxelles (BE)
23.03.2022 | + De Genres, KLAP Maison pour la danse, Marseille (FR)
01.10.2022 | C’est comme ça !, L’Echangeur - CDCN - Hauts-de-France, Château-Thierry (FR)
19.11.2022 | Born to be a live, Le Manège de Reims - scène nationale, Reims (FR)
06.12.2022 | La Passerelle, scène nationale de Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Brieuc (FR)
20.01.2023 | POLE-SUD, CDCN Strasbourg, Strasbourg (FR)
21.01.2023 | POLE-SUD, CDCN Strasbourg, Strasbourg (FR)
17.03.2023 | Charleroi danse, Charleroi (BE)
18.03.2023 | Charleroi danse, Charleroi (BE)
29.03.2023 | Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris (FR)
30.03.2023 | Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris (FR)
31.03.2023 | Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris (FR)
01.04.2023 | Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse, Paris (FR)
02.11.2023 | Festival Gender Bender, Bologna (IT) - Italian premiere
06.12.2023 | Festival de danse de Cannes, Forum Jacques Prévert, Carros (FR)
IDA don’t cry me love - a project by Lara Barsacq (65’, 2019)
Creation and performance: Lara Barsacq, Marta Capaccioli, Elisa Yvelin/Marion Sage Artistic advices: Gaël Santisteva Set design and costumes: Sofie Durnez Assistant for the props: Ben Berckmoes Light design: Kurt Lefevre Music: Nicolai Tcherepnin, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Snow Beard, Tim Coenen, Lara Barsacq, Gaël Santisteva Technical direction: Emma Laroche Administration & production: Myriam Chekhemani Communication & distribution: Quentin Legrand - Rue Branly
Production: Gilbert & Stock Coproduction: Charleroi danse - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Les Brigittines (BE) Residencies: La Raffinerie - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie- Bruxelles, Les Brigittines, Grand Studio, Le Théâtre de Liège (BE) and Honolulu, Nantes (FR) With the support of Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles — Service de la danse, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Grand Studio and Réseau Grand Luxe
Lara Barsacq is artist in residence at Théâtre de Liège (2024-2028) and at Cité musicale-Metz (2024-2026).
Photos: Stanislav Dobak
Choreographer Lara Barsacq, between Ballets Russes and female icons.
Portrait of Lara Barsacq by Rosita Boisseau, Le Monde, 24.09.23
In the tradition of Léon Bakst, her ancestor, Lara Barsacq, a choreographer trained at Batsheva Dance Company, is paying homage to the Ballets Russes. With IDA don’t cry me love, she offers a danced and sung ritual to Ida Rubinstein. (…) “At the beginning, it’s personal, I wanted to go see Leon Bakst, because it is linked to the death of my father and I therefore wanted to search in this part of my genealogy. I delved into the stories around the creative possibilities of these thinking heads about the ultimately quite sacred art of dance. Then, one archive leading to another, one fascination to another, it also made me discover that these women do not persist in history. I also like the idea that we are going to do a sort of ritual to celebrate the death of Ida who had withdrawn from the world, to talk about mourning, death, desire and allow people to project so that we end up saying: I’ve met Ida and each of the performers, and we talked about Salomé, Scheherazade, Cleopatra. In short, quite a few women…”
Thomas Hahn, Revue Transfuge, 30.03.23
Already mentioned in "Lost in Ballets Russes", the legendary character of Ida Rubinstein is exhumed to shape a very personal story. From an icon of the emerging female revolution in the 20th century, the choreographer draws on her memories […] From objects, accessories and videos, a figure emerges accompanied by her mythical panther at the back of the stage curtain, reviving the tradition of the Ballets russes. An intimate trio of women is formed, charming and provocative with a natural and sober charisma. All in finesse and suggestions, this tribute is a rare and intelligent piece.
Geneviève Charras, L'amuse-danse, 26.07.2021
Seeing the piece we realize that we don't know anything about Ida Rubinstein (thank you Lara Barsacq). She was a free woman and above all a precursor. She is the one who ordered the Bolero from Ravel. Without Ida, no Bolero. That means, no Bolero by Béjart nor by Pina. Can you imagine? [...] Ida don’t cry me love starts from Ida Rubinstein to put forward a feminist manifesto for today.
Amélie Blaustein Niddam, Toute la culture, 13.07.21
[Lara Barsacq] has fallen in love with Ida Rubinstein, she shows it in a piece as informative as it is joyful. […] She invites two other dancers on the stage and invents a funny knitting pattern with them: snapshots of solo or trio dance (and what a pleasure to discover this very particular gesture which does not care about classical dance and displays false awkwardness and new vocabulary and demonstrative), tender or ironic comments or asides between the three accomplices, and moments in the life of the idol told or acted out. Until Ida Rubinstein's death in destitution and the farewell ceremony of the other two dancers, so tender and childish at the same time: a miraculous spectacle.
Danièle Carraz, La Provence, 12.07.21
Provocative figure of the Ballets russes, performance pioneer, patron, she commissioned Ravel for his Bolero. Lara Barsacq, dancer and choreographer, dedicated a show to her, "Ida don’t cry me love" […] : "Ida Rubinstein was a very provocative figure for her time, and I find her assumed femininity very inspiring. She was a woman who took risks, and who, yes, was free."
Ida Rubinstein, performeuse scandaleuse de la Belle Epoque,
Camille Renard, France Culture, 19.10.2020
Dancer and choreographer Lara Barsacq examines her family stories and it's just wonderful. She is the great-grand-niece of Léon Bakst, painter and costume designer for the famous Ballets Russes (1909-1929). Enough to say that she is tattooed by the wonderful and revolutionary works of this period, including those showing Ida Rubinstein (1885-1960). […] Under the influence of this rebellious artist, Lara Barsacq stirred up archives and memories to create Ida Don't Cry Me Love. A tribute that makes time take off and merges the imagination of yesterday and today.
Rosita Boisseau, Télérama, septembre 2020
Léon Bakst was my great-grand-uncle. […] My desire to dance appeared when I was a child, thanks to a poster that was hanging at home and to some of his paintings. […] I immersed myself in the archives to search for anecdotes, stories, other paintings and to learn more about the Russian Ballets. It was a revelation, I found a great source of inspiration! […] For this period in particular, there are very few films or visual traces apart from photos or paintings, which invites us to imagine everything. Some people may try to be as faithful as possible to the work; for my part, it was the solution of emancipation that appeared to me the most inspiring.
Lara Barsacq in conversation with Marian Del Valle, NDD 77, 21.01.2020
You come out of it moved, convinced to have shared an amazing and extraordinary moment.
Watch a TV report by RTBF, Kiosk, 16.01.2020
Lara Barsacq draws our attention onto a marginal but exciting figure of the early XXth century and tells her story with love, humor and aesthetic refinement. She takes us into a docu - dance performance of superior aesthetic quality. […] Lara Barsacq loves Ida and makes us love her. ***
Christian Jade, RTBF, 08.12.2019
As the total art form claimed by its inspirer, 'IDA don't cry me love' marries dance, playfulness […], singing and theater. Woven with magnificence as well as humility, grandiose and trivial, the subject embraces humor and tenderness to combine a sovereign lightness with the depth of the pains that cross it, and the powerful accents of sorority.
Marie Baudet, La Libre Belgique, 02.12.2019
Mixing historical elements and personal arrangements, […] Lara Barsacq invited two dancers to dialogue with her family and transgenerational story and created a fascinating feminist manifesto with three voices.
Wilson Le Personnic, Ma Culture, 28.11.2019
Lara Barsacq's ‘IDA don’t cry me love’ is performative in its re-creation of historical events, and choreographic through the use of Ida Rubinstein's aesthetic and postural elements. It is intertwined with funny and fictional stories told by fun and touching performers - Lara Barsacq herself, Marta Capaccioli and Elisa Yvelin […]. A dynamic, creative and poetic result. Go for it!
Lodie Kardouss, Pzazz.theater, 22.10.2019
‘Ida don’t cry me love’ is not a simple biography of the dancer. The dance interludes (the great and magnificent Marta Capaccioli on the music of Debussy) alternate with spoken passages where Lara Barsacq and Elisa Yvelin, while recounting the life of Ida, also tell theirs. […] It's touching, funny, sometimes disturbing.
Colombe Warin, Le Bruit de Bruxelles, 21.10.2019
[Lara Barsacq] delivers a show that meets the demands of total art by Ida Rubinstein who wanted to mix music, song, dance, theater ... There is all this in 'Ida don't cry me love', together with a good extra dose of humor. Lara Barsacq and her two accomplices tell the story of Ida as well as their own, as if they were confiding in some friends. […] They dance too, with beautiful pleasure. […] They sing with a tasty mixture of innocence and light irony. […] Once again, during this biennale, from chaos beauty is born.
Jean-Marie Wynants, Le Soir, 21.10.2019
Fascinated by this unusual character, the choreographer Lara Barsacq has devoted a touching show to [Ida Rubinstein], a patchwork of documentary through dance and performance, archives and fiction. By lifting the veil on the woman who was the definitive Salome, the three dancers reveal something of their losses and create an ode to femininity.
Gilles Bechet, BRUZZ, 16.10.2019
A trio (with Marta Capaccioli and Elisa Yvelin) performed with generosity and confidence. […] Far from the smells of naphthalene, this IDA breathes a beautiful life into this ghost, who thus stands alongside the great heroines that the dancer incarnated, Cleopatra, Sheherazade or Joan of Arc.
Estelle Spoto, “Sur les pas d’Ida”, Focus-Le Vif, 10.10.2019