Isadora Duncan

Last updated
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan portrait cropped.jpg
Born
Angela Isadora Duncan

(1877-05-26)May 26, 1877 [lower-alpha 1]
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died(1927-09-14)September 14, 1927 (aged 50) [lower-alpha 1]
Nice, France
NationalityAmerican, French, Soviet
Known for Dance and choreography
Movement Modern/contemporary dance
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1922;separation 1923)​
Partner(s) Edward Gordon Craig
Paris Singer
Romano Romanelli
Mercedes de Acosta
Children3

Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 [lower-alpha 1] – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in California, she lived and danced in Western Europe, the US and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50 when her scarf became entangled in the wheel and axle of the car in which she was travelling in Nice, France. [1]

Contents

Early life

Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco, the youngest of the four children of Joseph Charles Duncan (1819–1898), a banker, mining engineer and connoisseur of the arts, and Mary Isadora Gray (1849–1922). Her brothers were Augustin Duncan and Raymond Duncan; [2] her sister, Elizabeth Duncan, was also a dancer. [3] [4] Soon after Isadora's birth, her father was found to have been using funds from two banks he had helped set up to finance his private stock speculations. Although he avoided prison time, Isadora's mother (angered over his infidelities as well as the financial scandal) divorced him and from then on, the family struggled with poverty. [2] Joseph Duncan, along with his third wife and their daughter, died in 1898 when the British passenger steamer SS Mohegan ran aground off the coast of Cornwall. [5]

After her parents' divorce, [6] Isadora's mother moved with her family to Oakland, California, where she worked as a seamstress and piano teacher. Isadora attended school from the ages of six to ten, but she dropped out, having found it constricting. She and her three siblings earned money by teaching dance to local children. [2]

In 1896, Duncan became part of Augustin Daly's theater company in New York, but she soon became disillusioned with the form and craved a different environment with less of a hierarchy. [7]

Work

Photo by Arnold Genthe of Duncan performing barefoot during her 1915-1918 American tour Isadora Duncan (grayscale).jpg
Photo by Arnold Genthe of Duncan performing barefoot during her 1915–1918 American tour
Abraham Walkowitz's Isadora Duncan #29, one of many works of art she inspired Brooklyn Museum - Isadora Duncan 29 - Abraham Walkowitz.jpg
Abraham Walkowitz's Isadora Duncan #29, one of many works of art she inspired

Duncan's novel approach to dance had been evident since the classes she had taught as a teenager, where she "followed [her] fantasy and improvised, teaching any pretty thing that came into [her] head". [8] A desire to travel brought her to Chicago, where she auditioned for many theater companies, finally finding a place in Augustin Daly's company. This took her to New York City where her unique vision of dance clashed with the popular pantomimes of theater companies. [9] While in New York, Duncan also took some classes with Marie Bonfanti but was quickly disappointed in ballet routine.

Feeling unhappy and unappreciated in America, Duncan moved to London in 1898. She performed in the drawing rooms of the wealthy, taking inspiration from the Greek vases and bas-reliefs in the British Museum. [10] [11] The earnings from these engagements enabled her to rent a studio, allowing her to develop her work and create larger performances for the stage. [12] From London, she traveled to Paris, where she was inspired by the Louvre and the Exposition Universelle of 1900. [13] In France, as elsewhere, Duncan delighted her audience. [14]

In 1902, Loie Fuller invited Duncan to tour with her. This took Duncan all over Europe as she created new works using her innovative technique, [15] which emphasized natural movement in contrast to the rigidity of traditional ballet. [16] She spent most of the rest of her life touring Europe and the Americas in this fashion. [17] Despite mixed reaction from critics, Duncan became quite popular for her distinctive style and inspired many visual artists, such as Antoine Bourdelle, Dame Laura Knight, Auguste Rodin, Arnold Rönnebeck, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, and Abraham Walkowitz, to create works based on her. [18]

In 1910, Duncan met the occultist Aleister Crowley at a party, an episode recounted by Crowley in his Confessions. [19] He refers to Duncan as "Lavinia King", and used the same invented name for her in his 1929 novel Moonchild (written in 1917). Crowley wrote of Duncan that she "has this gift of gesture in a very high degree. Let the reader study her dancing, if possible in private than in public, and learn the superb 'unconsciousness' – which is magical consciousness – with which she suits the action to the melody." [20] Crowley was, in fact, more attracted to Duncan's bohemian companion Mary Dempsey (a.k.a. Mary D'Este or Desti), with whom he had an affair. Desti had come to Paris in 1901 where she soon met Duncan, and the two became inseparable. Desti, who also appeared in Moonchild (as "Lisa la Giuffria") and became a member of Crowley's occult order, [lower-alpha 2] later wrote a memoir of her experiences with Duncan. [21]

In 1911, the French fashion designer Paul Poiret rented a mansion – Pavillon du Butard in La Celle-Saint-Cloud  – and threw lavish parties, including one of the more famous grandes fêtes, La fête de Bacchus on June 20, 1912, re-creating the Bacchanalia hosted by Louis XIV at Versailles. Isadora Duncan, wearing a Greek evening gown designed by Poiret, [22] danced on tables among 300 guests; 900 bottles of champagne were consumed until the first light of day. [22]

Duncan c. 1916-1918 Portrait photograph of Isadora Duncan.jpg
Duncan c. 1916–1918

Opening schools of dance

Duncan disliked the commercial aspects of public performance, such as touring and contracts, because she felt they distracted her from her real mission, namely the creation of beauty and the education of the young.[ citation needed ] To achieve her mission, she opened schools to teach young women her philosophy of dance. The first was established in 1904 in Berlin-Grunewald, Germany. This institution was the birthplace of the "Isadorables" (Anna, Maria-Theresa, Irma, Liesel, Gretel, and Erika [23] ), Duncan's protégées who would continue her legacy. [24] Duncan legally adopted all six girls in 1919, and they took her last name. [25] After about a decade in Berlin, Duncan established a school in Paris that soon closed because of the outbreak of World War I. [26]

A portrait of Duncan in 1922 by dancer Paul Swan. Paul Swan - Portrait of Isadora Duncan, wearing a blue dress, with a beaded necklace, 1922.jpg
A portrait of Duncan in 1922 by dancer Paul Swan.

In 1914, Duncan moved to the United States and transferred her school there. A townhouse on Gramercy Park was provided for its use, and its studio was nearby, on the northeast corner of 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South). [27] Otto Kahn, the head of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., gave Duncan use of the very modern Century Theatre at West 60th Street and Central Park West for her performances and productions, which included a staging of Oedipus Rex that involved almost all of Duncan's extended entourage and friends. [28] During her time in New York, Duncan posed for studies by the photographer Arnold Genthe.

Duncan had planned to leave the United States in 1915 aboard the RMS Lusitania on its ill-fated voyage, but historians believe her financial situation at the time drove her to choose a more modest crossing. [29] In 1921, Duncan's leftist sympathies took her to the Soviet Union, where she founded a school in Moscow. However, the Soviet government's failure to follow through on promises to support her work caused her to return[ when? ] to the West and leave the school to her protégée Irma. [30] In 1924, Duncan composed a dance routine called Varshavianka to the tune of the Polish revolutionary song known in English as Whirlwinds of Danger . [31]

Philosophy and technique

Duncan in a Greek-inspired pose and wearing her signature Greek tunic. She took inspiration from the classical Greek arts and combined them with an American athleticism to form a new philosophy of dance, in opposition to the rigidity of traditional ballet. Isadora Duncan 1.jpg
Duncan in a Greek-inspired pose and wearing her signature Greek tunic. She took inspiration from the classical Greek arts and combined them with an American athleticism to form a new philosophy of dance, in opposition to the rigidity of traditional ballet.

Breaking with convention, Duncan imagined she had traced dance to its roots as a sacred art. [32] She developed from this notion a style of free and natural movements inspired by the classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, nature, and natural forces, as well as an approach to the new American athleticism which included skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and tossing.[ citation needed ] Duncan wrote of American dancing: "let them come forth with great strides, leaps and bounds, with lifted forehead and far-spread arms, to dance." [33] Her focus on natural movement emphasized steps, such as skipping, outside of codified ballet technique.

Duncan also cited the sea as an early inspiration for her movement, [34] and she believed movement originated from the solar plexus. [35] Duncan placed an emphasis on "evolutionary" dance motion, insisting that each movement was born from the one that preceded it, that each movement gave rise to the next, and so on in organic succession. It is this philosophy and new dance technique that garnered Duncan the title of the creator of modern dance.

Isadora Duncan, by Arnold Genthe Arnold Genthe Isadora Duncan.jpg
Isadora Duncan, by Arnold Genthe

Duncan's philosophy of dance moved away from rigid ballet technique and towards what she perceived as natural movement. She said that in order to restore dance to a high art form instead of merely entertainment, she strove to connect emotions and movement: "I spent long days and nights in the studio seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body's movement." [35] She believed dance was meant to encircle all that life had to offer—joy and sadness. Duncan took inspiration from ancient Greece and combined it with a passion for freedom of movement. This is exemplified in her revolutionary costume of a white Greek tunic and bare feet. Inspired by Greek forms, her tunics also allowed a freedom of movement that corseted ballet costumes and pointe shoes did not. [36] Costumes were not the only inspiration Duncan took from Greece: she was also inspired by ancient Greek art, and utilized some of its forms in her movement (as shown on photos). [37]

Personal life

Duncan with her children Deirdre and Patrick, in 1913 Isadora Duncan and her children.jpg
Duncan with her children Deirdre and Patrick, in 1913

In both professional and private life, Duncan flouted traditional cultural standards.

Children

Duncan bore three children, all out of wedlock. The first two, Deirdre Beatrice (born September 24, 1906), whose father was theatre designer Gordon Craig; and Patrick Augustus (born May 1, 1910), [38] by Paris Singer, one of the many sons of sewing machine magnate Isaac Singer, drowned in the care of their nanny in 1913 when their car went into the River Seine. [38] Following the accident, Duncan spent several months recuperating in Corfu with her brother and sister, then several weeks at the Viareggio seaside resort with the actress Eleonora Duse.

In her autobiography, Duncan relates that in her deep despair over the deaths of her children, she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor Romano Romanelli, to sleep with her because she was desperate for another child. [39] She became pregnant and gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914, but he died shortly after birth. [40] [41]

Duncan and Sergei Yesenin in 1923 1923. Esen duncan.jpg
Duncan and Sergei Yesenin in 1923

Relationships

When Duncan stayed at the Viareggio seaside resort with Eleonora Duse, Duse had just left a relationship with the rebellious and epicene young feminist Lina Poletti. This fueled speculation as to the nature of Duncan and Duse's relationship, but there has never been any indication that the two were involved romantically.

Duncan was loving by nature and was close to her mother, siblings and all of her male and female friends. [42] Later on, in 1921, after the end of the Russian Revolution, Duncan moved to Moscow where she met the poet Sergei Yesenin, who was eighteen years her junior. On May 2, 1922, they married, and Yesenin accompanied her on a tour of Europe and the United States. However, the marriage was brief as they grew apart while getting to know each other. In May 1923 Yesenin returned to Moscow. Two years later, on December 28, 1925, he was found dead in his room in the Hotel Angleterre in St Petersburg, in an apparent suicide. [43]

Duncan also had a relationship with the poet and playwright Mercedes de Acosta, as documented in numerous revealing letters they wrote to each other. [44] In one, Duncan wrote, "Mercedes, lead me with your little strong hands and I will follow you – to the top of a mountain. To the end of the world. Wherever you wish." [45]

Later years

By the late 1920s, Duncan was so extremely depressed by the deaths of her three young children that her performing career had dwindled. She was also distraught by feeling that she had lost her daughters, some of the Adorables whom she had adopted, to the greedy wiles of the older men they had encountered while touring in the US. She became notorious for her financial woes, scandalous love life and public drunkenness. She spent her final years moving between Paris and the Mediterranean, running up debts at hotels. She spent short periods in apartments rented on her behalf by a decreasing number of friends and supporters, many of whom attempted to assist her in writing an autobiography. They hoped it might be successful enough to support her.[ citation needed ] Her autobiography My Life was published in 1927 shortly after her death. The Australian composer Percy Grainger called it a "life-enriching masterpiece." [46]

In his book Isadora, An Intimate Portrait, Sewell Stokes, who met Duncan in the last years of her life, described her extravagant waywardness. In a reminiscent sketch, Zelda Fitzgerald wrote how she and her husband, author F. Scott Fitzgerald, sat in a Paris cafe watching a somewhat drunken Duncan. He would speak of how memorable it was, but all that Zelda recalled was that while all eyes were watching Duncan, she was able to steal the salt and pepper shakers from the table. [47]

Death

Duncan's tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery AX Isadora Duncan Tomb crop.jpg
Duncan's tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery

On the night of September 14, 1927, in Nice, France, Duncan was a passenger in an Amilcar CGSS automobile owned by Benoît Falchetto  [ fr ], a French-Italian mechanic. She wore a long, flowing, hand-painted silk scarf, created by the Russian-born artist Roman Chatov, a gift from her friend Mary Desti. Desti, who saw Duncan off, had asked her to wear a cape in the open-air vehicle because of the cold weather, but she would agree to wear only the scarf. [48] As they departed, she reportedly said to Desti and some companions, "Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire !" ("Farewell, my friends. I go to glory!"); but according to the American novelist Glenway Wescott, Desti later told him that Duncan's actual parting words were, "Je vais à l'amour" ("I am off to love"). Desti considered this embarrassing, as it suggested that she and Falchetto were going to her hotel for a tryst. [49] [50] [51]

Her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, pulling her from the open car and breaking her neck. [1] Desti said she called out to warn Duncan about the scarf almost immediately after the car left. Desti took Duncan to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. [48]

As The New York Times noted in its obituary, Duncan "met a tragic death at Nice on the Riviera". "According to dispatches from Nice, Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement." [52] Other sources noted that she was almost decapitated by the sudden tightening of the scarf around her neck. [53] The accident gave rise to Gertrude Stein's mordant remark that "affectations can be dangerous". [54] At the time of her death, Duncan was a Soviet citizen. Her will was the first of a Soviet citizen to undergo probate in the U.S. [55]

Duncan was cremated, and her ashes were placed next to those of her children [56] in the columbarium at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. [57] On the headstone of her grave is inscribed École du Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris ("Ballet School of the Opera of Paris").

Works

Legacy

Duncan as a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1896 Isadora Duncan - first fairy.jpg
Duncan as a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1896

Duncan is known as "The Mother of Dance". While her schools in Europe did not last long, Duncan's work had an impact on the art and her style is still danced based upon the instruction of Maria-Theresa Duncan, [58] Anna Duncan, [59] and Irma Duncan, [60] three of her six adopted daughters. The adoption process was never verified, but all six of Isadora's dancers did change their last name to Duncan.[ citation needed ] Through her sister, Elizabeth, Duncan's approach was adopted by Jarmila Jeřábková from Prague where her legacy persists. [61] By 1913 she was already being celebrated. When the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was built, Duncan's likeness was carved in its bas-relief over the entrance by sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and included in painted murals of the nine muses by Maurice Denis in the auditorium. In 1987, she was inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

Anna, Lisa, [62] Theresa and Irma, pupils of Isadora Duncan's first school, carried on the aesthetic and pedagogical principles of Isadora's work in New York and Paris. Choreographer and dancer Julia Levien was also instrumental in furthering Duncan's work through the formation of the Duncan Dance Guild in the 1950s and the establishment of the Duncan Centenary Company in 1977. [63]

Another means by which Duncan's dance techniques were carried forth was in the formation of the Isadora Duncan Heritage Society, by Mignon Garland, who had been taught dance by two of Duncan's key students. Garland was such a fan that she later lived in a building erected at the same site and address as Duncan, attached a commemorative plaque near the entrance, which is still there as of 2016. Garland also succeeded in having San Francisco rename an alley on the same block from Adelaide Place to Isadora Duncan Lane. [64] [65]

In medicine, the Isadora Duncan Syndrome refers to injury or death consequent to entanglement of neckwear with a wheel or other machinery. [66]

Duncan has attracted literary and artistic attention from the 1920s to the present, in novels, film, ballet, theatre, music, and poetry.

In literature, Duncan is portrayed in:

Among the films featuring Duncan are:

Ballets based on Duncan include:

On the theatre stage, Duncan is portrayed in:

Duncan is featured in music in:

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 While Duncan's birth date is widely given as May 27, 1878, her posthumously discovered baptismal certificate records May 26, 1877. Any corroborating documents that might have existed were likely destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. See Stokes, Sewell. "Isadora Duncan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Desti helped Crowley write his magnum opus Magick (Book 4) under her magical name of "Soror Virakam", and also co-edited four numbers of his journal The Equinox , and contributed several collaborative plays.

Related Research Articles

<i>Isadora</i> (film) 1968 biographical film by Karel Reisz

Isadora is a 1968 biographical drama film directed by Karel Reisz from a screenplay written by Melvyn Bragg, Margaret Drabble, and Clive Exton adapted from the books My Life by Isadora Duncan and Isadora, an Intimate Portrait by Sewell Stokes. The film follows the life of American pioneering modern contemporary dance artist and choreographer Isodora Duncan, who performed to great acclaim throughout the US and Europe during the 19th century. A co-production between the United Kingdom and France, it stars Vanessa Redgrave as Duncan and also features James Fox, Jason Robards, and John Fraser in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Sturges</span> American film director and screenwriter

Preston Sturges was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. Sturges took the screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard today, is often surprisingly naturalistic and mature, despite the farcical situations. It is not uncommon for a Sturges character to deliver an exquisitely turned phrase and take an elaborate pratfall within the same scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Humphrey</span> American dancer and choreographer

Doris Batcheller Humphrey was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second generation modern dance pioneers who followed their forerunners – including Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn – in exploring the use of breath and developing techniques still taught today. As many of her works were annotated, Humphrey continues to be taught, studied and performed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loie Fuller</span> American actress, dancer, and lighting technician (1862-1928)

Loie Fuller, also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Rambert</span> Polish-born English dancer (1888–1982)

Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.

<i>Moonchild</i> (novel)

Moonchild is a novel written by the British occultist Aleister Crowley in 1917. Its plot involves a magical war between a group of white magicians, led by Simon Iff, and a group of black magicians, over an unborn child. It was first published by Mandrake Press in 1929 and its recent edition is published by Weiser.

<i>Magick (Book 4)</i>

Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 is widely considered to be the magnum opus of 20th-century occultist Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema. It is a lengthy treatise on magick, his system of Western occult practice, synthesised from many sources, including Eastern Yoga, Hermeticism, medieval grimoires, contemporary magical theories from writers like Eliphas Levi and Helena Blavatsky, and his own original contributions. It consists of four parts: Mysticism, Magick, Magick in Theory and Practice, and ΘΕΛΗΜΑ—the Law. It also includes numerous appendices presenting many rituals and explicatory papers.

Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck was a pioneer in modern dance, dance pedagogy and Labanotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amilcar CGSS</span> Motor vehicle

The Amilcar CGSS was a sporting car made by the Amilcar company from 1926 to 1929. The second S stood for surbaisse and the car was a lowered version of the CGS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mura Dehn</span> American filmmaker

Mura Ziperovitch Dehn (1905–1987) documented African-American social jazz dancing at the Savoy Ballroom in New York in the 1930s and 1940s, a time that she referred to as the "Golden Age of Jazz." She also worked as a producer and documenter up until her death, and was co-artistic director of Traditional Jazz Dance Theater, along with vaudeville performer James Berry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Walkowitz</span> American painter

Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. While never attaining the same level of fame as his contemporaries, Walkowitz' close relationship with the 291 Gallery and Alfred Stieglitz placed him at the center of the modernist movement. His early abstract cityscapes and collection of over 5,000 drawings of Isadora Duncan also remain significant art historical records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Seymour</span> Canadian-born ballet dancer (1939–2023)

Lynn Seymour was a Canadian-born ballerina, mostly associated with the Royal Ballet in London. She was a muse of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, creating lead roles in Romeo and Juliet, The Invitation, Concerto, Anastasia and Mayerling, among others. She also originated lead roles for several ballets by Frederick Ashton, including The Two Pigeons, Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan and A Month in the country. She also guested with various ballet companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Morris (dancer)</span> British ballet dancer, artist and choreographer

Margaret Morris was a British dancer, choreographer, artist and teacher. She founded the Margaret Morris Movement, Celtic Ballet, and two Scottish National Ballets in Glasgow (1947) and in Pitlochry (1960). Morris devised a system of movement notation, which was first published in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern dance</span> Genre of western concert or theatrical dance

Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was considered to have been developed as a rejection of, or rebellion against, classical ballet, and also a way to express social concerns like socioeconomic and cultural factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isadorables</span>

The Isadorables were a group of six young girls, Anna Denzler, Maria-Theresa Kruger, Irma Erich-Grimme, Elizabeth Milker, Margot Jehl, and Erica Lohmann, who danced under the instruction of Isadora Duncan. Their nickname was given to them by the French poet Fernand Divoire in 1909. They were all later given the Duncan last name when Isadora adopted them.

Isadora is a ballet created for the Royal Ballet by Kenneth MacMillan to music by Richard Rodney Bennett with a scenario by Gillian Freeman, based on the life and dance of Isadora Duncan.

Julia Levien was an American dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer. She was an expert on the dances of Isadora Duncan and taught Duncan's style of dance. She was a dance pupil of Isadora's daughter Anna Duncan, and founded the Duncan Dance Guild in the 1950s and the Duncan Centenary Company in 1977. Levien died at the age of 94 at her home on Roosevelt Island. One of her pupils was dancer Annabelle Gamson.

Asta Malthea Mollerup was a Danish dance teacher who was one of the first to introduce the Danes to modern dance, a new trend which was inspired by the American dancer Isadora Duncan and the German choreographer Mary Wigman. From 1914, she ran her own dancing school for children in Copenhagen and in 1927 she founded the Asta Mollerup School for Female Dancers. Apart from the Royal Danish Academy of Music, it was Denmark's only dancing school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Duncan (dancer)</span> American dancer and dance teacher (1871–1948)

Elizabeth Duncan was an American dancer and dance teacher from California who spent much of her life in Germany and the Soviet Union. The elder sister of Isadora Duncan, she dedicated her life to improving dance education and honoring of her sister's legacy. Elizabeth Duncan operated Isadora Duncan's schools during the latter's life.

Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan is a ballet solo choreographed by Frederick Ashton to music by Johannes Brahms, inspired by Isadora Duncan and created for Lynn Seymour. The first version, under the title Brahms Waltz, used only Brahms' Op. 39, No. 15, and premiered on 22 June 1975, at the Hamburg State Opera. The expanded version, which featured more Brahms waltzes, premiered on 15 June 1976, during Ballet Rambert's 50th anniversary gala, at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, and is dedicated to Marie Rambert.

References

  1. 1 2 Craine, Debra; Mackrell, Judith (2000). The Oxford Dictionary of Dance (First ed.). Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. p. 152. ISBN   978-0-19-860106-7. OCLC   45663394.
  2. 1 2 3 Deborah Jowitt (1989). Time and the Dancing Image. University of California Press. p. 75. ISBN   978-0-520-06627-4.
  3. ↑ Genthe, Arnold (photographer). "Elizabeth Duncan dancer". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  4. ↑ Lilian Karina; Marion Kant (January 2004). Hitler's Dancers: German Modern Dance and the Third Reich. Berghahn Books. p. 11. ISBN   978-1-57181-688-7.
  5. ↑ Ean Wood, Headlong Through Life: The Story of Isadora Duncan (2006), p. 27: "They...would all be drowned, along with 104 others, when the S.S. Mohegan, en route from London to New York, ran aground on the Manacle Rocks off Falmouth, in Cornwall."
  6. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 17
  7. ↑ International encyclopedia of dance : a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc . Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920–2005., Dance Perspectives Foundation. (1st paperback ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. 2004. ISBN   978-0-19-517369-7. OCLC   57374499.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 21
  9. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 31
  10. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 55
  11. ↑ "Isadora Duncan | Biography, Dances, Technique, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  12. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 58
  13. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 69
  14. ↑ Daly, Ann (2002). Done into dance : Isadora Duncan in America (Wesleyan ed.). Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN   0-8195-6560-1. OCLC   726747550.
  15. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 94
  16. ↑ Jowitt, Deborah. Time and the Dancing Image. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. p. 71
  17. ↑ Kurth (2001), p. 155
  18. ↑ Setzer, Dawn. "UCLA Library Acquires Isadora Duncan Collection" Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine , UCLA Newsroom, last modified April 21, 2006
  19. ↑ Abridged ed, p. 676.
  20. ↑ Aleister Crowley, Magick: Liber ABA: Book 4: Parts 1–4 2nd revised ed. York Beach, ME, 1997, p. 197
  21. ↑ The Untold Story: The Life of Isadora Duncan 1921–1927 (1929).
  22. 1 2 Aydt, Rachel (May 29, 2007). "Rediscovered". Time. ISSN   0040-781X. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  23. ↑ Sturges (1990), p. 39
  24. ↑ Kurth (2001), p. 168
  25. ↑ Kassing, G. (2007). History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach . Human Kinetics. p.  185. ISBN   978-0-7360-6035-6.
  26. ↑ "Isadora Duncan, 1877–1927: The Mother of Modern Dance". VOA. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  27. ↑ Sturges (1990), p. 120
  28. ↑ Sturges (1990), pp. 121–124
  29. ↑ Greg Daugherty (2 May 2013). "8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania". Smithsonian Magazine.
  30. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 422
  31. ↑ Aaron Greer (7 March 2016). "Varshavianka (1924)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-11 – via YouTube.
  32. ↑ Stewart J, Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance, 2000. p. 122.
  33. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 343
  34. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 10
  35. 1 2 Duncan (1927), p. 75
  36. ↑ Kurth (2001), p. 57
  37. ↑ Duncan (1927), p. 45
  38. 1 2 Kurth (2001)
  39. ↑ Gavin, Eileen A. and Siderits, Mary Anne, Women of vision: their psychology, circumstances, and success (2007), p. 267
  40. ↑ "Isadora Duncan and Paris Singer". Dark Lane Creative. 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  41. ↑ Gerrie (2014-09-24). "The Linosaurus: Isadora Duncan: a taste for life". The Linosaurus. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  42. ↑ "Duse, Eleanora (1859–1924)". glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. 2006-09-10. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  43. ↑ S.A. Yesenin. Life and Work Chronology Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine . The Complete Works by S.A. Yesenin in 7 Volumes. Nauka Publishers, 2002 // Хронологическая канва жизни и творчества. Есенин С. А. Полное собрание сочинений: В 7 т. – М.: Наука; Голос, 1995–2002.
  44. ↑ Hugo Vickers, Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta, Random House, 1994.
  45. ↑ Schanke (2006)
  46. ↑ Gillies, Malcolm; Pear, David; Carroll, Mark, eds. (2006). Self Portrait of Percy Grainger. Oxford University Press. p. 116.
  47. ↑ Milford, Nancy (1983). Zelda: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins. p. 118.
  48. 1 2 Sturges (1990), pp. 227–230
  49. ↑ "DEATH By Flowing Scarf – Isadora Duncan, USA". True Stories of Strange Deaths. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  50. ↑ "Isadora Duncan Meets Fate". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  51. ↑ "Isadora Duncan killed in Paris under wheels of car she was buying". Sandusky Star Journal. September 15, 1927. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  52. ↑ "Isadora Duncan, Dragged by Scarf from Auto, Killed; Dancer Is Thrown to Road While Riding at Nice and Her Neck Is Broken" . The New York Times. 1927-09-15. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  53. ↑ Janet Flanner (1972-06-16), "Episode 179, Season 6", The Dick Cavett Show
  54. ↑ "Affectations Can Be Dangerous". Three Hundred Words. Archived from the original on 2013-10-10.
  55. ↑ Petrucelli, Alan (2009). Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous.
  56. ↑ Kavanagh, Nicola (May 2008). "Decline and Fall". Wound Magazine. London (3): 113. ISSN   1755-800X.
  57. ↑ Hemingway: The Homecoming
  58. ↑ "Search Results: "Maria Theresa Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov.
  59. ↑ "Search Results: "Anna Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog". Library of Congress .
  60. ↑ "Search Results: "Irma Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov.
  61. ↑ Kateřina Boková. "100-year birth anniversary of Jarmila Jeřábková – dancer, choreographer and teacher". Czech Dance Info. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  62. ↑ "Search Results: "Lisa Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov.
  63. ↑ Jennifer Dunning (September 9, 2006). "Julia Levien, 94, Authority on the Dances of Isadora Duncan, Dies". The New York Times .
  64. ↑ Kisselgoff, Anna (September 24, 1999). "Mignon Garland Dies at 91; Disciple of Isadora Duncan". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  65. ↑ "Journal of proceedings, Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco". The Wayback Machine. Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco. January 25, 1988. p. 89. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  66. ↑ Gowens PA, Davenport RJ, Kerr J, Sanderson RJ, Marsden AK (July 2003). "Survival from accidental strangulation from a scarf resulting in laryngeal rupture and carotid artery stenosis: the "Isadora Duncan syndrome". A case report and review of literature". Emerg Med J. 20 (4): 391–3. doi:10.1136/emj.20.4.391. PMC   1726156 . PMID   12835372.
  67. ↑ Tobias Churton (1 January 2012). Aleister Crowley: The Biography: Spiritual Revolutionary, Romantic Explorer, Occult Master – and Spy. Watkins Media Limited. p. 135. ISBN   978-1-78028-134-6.
  68. ↑ Upton Sinclair (1 January 2001). Between Two Worlds I. Simon Publications LLC. p. 172. ISBN   978-1-931313-02-5.
  69. ↑ Schaub, Michael (25 May 2017). "A Dancer is Unstrung By Grief in 'Isadora'". NPR.
  70. ↑ Kramer, Melody Joy (12 October 2006). "A Series Of Unfortunate Literary Allusions". NPR.
  71. ↑ Dr Tracy Brain (22 July 2014). The Other Sylvia Plath. Routledge. pp. 1–. ISBN   978-1-317-88160-5.
  72. 1 2 Ann Daly (1 March 2010). Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America. Wesleyan University Press. p. 221. ISBN   978-0-8195-7096-3.
  73. ↑ Isadora at IMDb
  74. ↑ John Cline; Robert G. Weiner (17 July 2010). From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century. Scarecrow Press. p. 241. ISBN   978-0-8108-7655-2.
  75. ↑ Isadora Duncan at IMDb
  76. ↑ Annette Lust (2012). Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen: Expressive Movement for Performers. Scarecrow Press. p. 314. ISBN   978-0-8108-8212-6.
  77. ↑ Keslassy, Elsa (September 24, 2015). "Lily-Rose Depp to Star as Isadora Duncan in 'The Dancer'". Variety. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  78. ↑ Kavanagh J. Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton. Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1996, p543.
  79. ↑ "Isadora (1981 ballet)" [ permanent dead link ] on the Barry Kay Archive website. Retrieved: April 6, 2008
  80. ↑ Carrie J. Preston (2011-08-08). Modernisms Mythic Pose: Gender, Genre, Solo Performance. Oxford University Press. pp. 293–294. ISBN   978-0-19-987744-7.
  81. ↑ Angel G. Quintero Rivera (1989). Music, Social Classes, and the National Question of Puerto Rico. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. p. 34.
  82. ↑ Peter Buckley (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 195. ISBN   978-1-84353-105-0.

Bibliography

Further reading

Archival collections

Other

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.