Ella Ilbak ( – August 8, 1997) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

dancer and writer.

Family

Ilbak was born at the Saksaveski farm in

Karksi Parish Karksi Parish () was a rural Municipalities of Estonia, municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. In 2009, it has a population of 4,041 (as of 1 January 2009) and an area of 321.45 km2. After the 2017 Estonian municipal elections, munici ...

in the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the daughter of Juhan Ilbak (born 1857) and Tina Ilbak (born 1858) and the twin sister of Hilda Ilbak.

Education

She attended primary schools in Tartu and Tartu Pushkin Girls' High School. From 1915 to 1917, she studied at Claudia Issatchenko's School of Plastic and Theater Arts in Petrograd, and in the

eurhythmics Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is a developmental approach to music education. Eurhythmics was developed in the early 20th century by Swiss musician and educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and has inf ...

courses of

Serge Wolkonsky Prince Serge Wolkonsky (also referred to as Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky; ; 4 May 1860 – 25 October 1937) was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first Russian proponents of eurhythmics, pupil and friend of Émile Jaques- ...

and

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement. Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl O ...

Career

In 1918 she performed at dance evenings in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. From 1918 to 1919, she did further training in Paris at Maria Rutkowska's ballet studio, Raymond Duncan's academy, and

Georges Hébert Georges Hébert (; 27 April 1875 – 2 August 1957) was a pioneering physical educator in the French military who developed a system of physical education and training known as "la méthode naturelle" ("Natural Method") and a more wide trainin ...

's acrobatic school. Her best-known dance, ''Leek'' (The Flame), was set to the music of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's opera ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

''. In the 1920s and 1930s, Ilbak performed extensively outside Estonia, primarily in Europe, but also in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. In the postwar years, she lived in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and from there she moved to the United States in 1955, where she also pursued dance. She worked at a hospital for two years. Her last known performance was in 1967 in New York. Later she lectured at the Estonian House on the importance of beauty. In addition, Ilbak published three autobiographical works in her later years: ''Otsekui hirv kisendab'' (1953) and a pair of novels, ''Tuvi Malm'' (1955) and ''Kumisev kannel'' (1966). Ella Ilbak died at a nursing home in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

on August 8, 1997. In 1998, her ashes were laid to rest in Tallinn at

Metsakalmistu Metsakalmistu () is a cemetery in the Pirita district of Tallinn. History Metsakalmistu was originally planned to be a public central city cemetery. Eduard Vilde was the first to be buried in 1933. The original area of the cemetery was 24.2 hec ...

(Forest Cemetery).

Bibliography

*1918: "Tants ja tantsjanna." In: ''

Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 employees. ''P ...

'' (May 10, page 1) *1933: "Et, mis, kuidas..." In: '' Päewaleht'' (April 5, page 4) *1953: ''Otsekui hirv kisendab...: mälestusi ja tõekspidamisi'' (Lund: Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv) *1955: ''Tuvi Malm: romaan'' (Lund: Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv) *1966: ''Kumisev kannel: romaan'' (New York: Kultuur)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilbak, Ella Estonian female dancers 20th-century Estonian women writers Estonian women centenarians 1895 births 1997 deaths People from Mulgi Parish Estonian emigrants to the United States Burials at Metsakalmistu