Trouhanowa was born into a musical family; her father was an opera singer in Kiev, Vladimir Bostunov. She made international news for wearing extravagant diamonds on stage at
Monte Carlo in 1906. She was known for dancing the part of
Salome in various Paris productions, including in
Richard Strauss's
Salome (1907, dancing for singer
Emmy Destinn), in
Antoine Mariotte's opera
Salomé (1910, dancing for singer
Lucienne Bréval), and in
Florent Schmitt's
La tragédie de Salomé (1912). She also premiered
Paul Dukas's
La Péri and
Maurice Ravel's
Adelaide, or the Language of Flowers in 1912, and acted the part of "the Nun" in
Max Reinhardt's
The Miracle (1912). In 1914, she danced at
Rheims for the Sixth Olympic Congress. She had a well-publicized confrontation with Richard Strauss in 1907, when he refused to let her take a curtain call as Salomé, next to the singer of the part, "as he considered the art of dancing was an inferior one"; she left the production and described the insult in a letter to the press. She appeared in several French silent films, mostly short films, beginning with
The Ugly Girl in 1909, and ending with
Léda and
La forêt qui écoute in 1916. She retired from the stage when she married in 1918, but returned in 1921. ==Personal life==