Her famous encore was The Blue Danube. Performances followed in Berlin, Vienna and Munich. During this time she collaborated with the scenic designer Gordon Craig and the Russian theatre director Konstantin Stanislavsky. In , Duncan established her first school of dance in Grunewald, Germany followed by schools in France and Russia.
Here she began to develop her theories of dance education and to organize her famous dance group, dubbed by the press, the Isadorables. When she performed in Russia she made a profound impact on the Russian ballet which immediately via Mikhail Fokine and his Les Sylphides adopted her musical choices and more naturalistic approach to movement. Although Isadora was drawn to Greek myths and philosophy, her work was grounded in the deep expressive power of the body.
She recreated, rather than copied, ancient themes and allowed the body to feel weight and the force of gravity. At the age of 12, while giving lessons, the young dancer could already earn a part-time job. A year later she left school and devoted all her time to dancing, studying music, literature, and philosophy. From childhood, Isadora perceived dancing differently from other children - the girl "followed her fantasy and improvised, dancing as she liked".
Dreams of a big scene led in , Duncan in Chicago, where she unsuccessfully went to auditions in different theaters, and then in New York, wherein the girl got a job with the theater famous critic and playwright John Augustine Daly. There she took ballet lessons from ballerina Marie Bonfanti. But Duncan is known for her denial and contemptuous attitude towards ballet. Ballet, according to the dancer, was just a complex of mechanical body movements that do not convey spiritual experiences.
So, disappointed in classical choreography, Isadora moved to London in and then to Paris. It was in Paris in there was a fateful meeting between Duncan and Lois Fuller about which the dance film "La danseuse" was filmed and which later became the founder of the modern dance. Loi and Isadora had similar views on the dance, seeing it as a natural body movement rather than a rigid system of proven movements like in ballet. In Fuller and Duncan went on a dance tour in European countries.
Duncan became very famous in the European cultural scene. In , the dancer went to Greece. There she initiated the construction of a temple on Kopanos hill for dancing classes. In Isadora moved to Germany and opened her first dance school there and then another one in Paris, but it was soon closed down due to the outbreak of World War I.
Having become a widely popular and revered dancer around the world, Duncan continues to tour Europe, Russia, and America. She never liked it, she believed that the tour distracted her from her true calling to educate young dancers and create something creative. Duncan's personal life was filled with tragic twists of fate.
But she, as a creative person, found solace in work and creativity, no matter what. In , she met the director Edward Gordon Craig , and a year later they have a daughter.
But the happiness didn't last long. Craig, who never officially became Isadora's husband, returned to his former mistress. In , Duncan gave birth to a second child from billionaire Paris Singer. By the way, the heir to a vast empire of sewing machines needed a lot of effort to win the heart of an incredible and so famous dancer.
In , both Duncan's children died tragically. During this period she choreographed The Mother and The Revolutionary. Skip to main content. You are here Home People Community Member Isadora Duncan Mother of modern dance, American pioneering dancer, choreographer, teacher, revolutionary and innovator.
Biography The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul. Duncan lived in Chicago and New York before moving to Europe. There with brother Raymond she studied Greek mythology and visual iconography, which would inform her sensibilities and general style of movement as an artist.
Duncan came to look at ancient rituals around dance, nature and the body as being central to her performance ideology. Barefoot and clad in sheaths inspired by Greek imagery and Italian Renaissance paintings, Duncan danced her own choreography in the homes of the financially elite before becoming a major success in Budapest, Hungary, having a sold-out run of shows in She embarked on successful tours, becoming a European sensation honored not only by enraptured audiences, but by fellow artists who captured her image in painting, sculpture and poetry.
Duncan's style was controversial for its time, as it defied what she viewed as the constricting conventions of ballet, placing major emphasis on the human female form and free-flowing moves. Duncan's achievements and artistic vision would lead her to be called the "Mother of Modern Dance"—a moniker also shared by a successor of sorts, Martha Graham. Duncan defied social custom in other ways and was viewed as an early feminist, declaring that she wouldn't marry and thus having two children out of wedlock.
Duncan also founded dance schools in the United States, Germany and Russia, with her dance students dubbed the "Isadorables" by the media. She developed a particularly affinity for the latter country and its revolutionary movements, and in the early s received patronage from Vladimir Lenin for her teaching work.
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