During her last years, living in France, accumulated debt and lost her audience. The losses ended up contributing to a process of depression and excessive alcohol consumption. As early as the 1920s, Isadora was fluid, relating to both men and women openly. She lost her children when the vehicle carrying them crashed into the Seine and they all drowned.
Tragedy seemed to surround her though, especially with car accidents. She had three children without getting married, a scandal at the time. Isadora’s personal life was as liberating as her dancing. (The marriage was short-lived and Sergei would commit suicide just 2 years later). A few years later, falling out with the Soviet government that did not support her work as promised, she returned to Europe, along with her husband, the poet Sergei Yesenin, 18 years her junior. With such a different mind, Isadora soon became a sympathizer of the communist movement and when she arrived in the Soviet Union, in 1921, she founded a school in Moscow. That’s why the dancer ended up returning to her country, where she settled in New York. The second, in Paris, was closed when the war began. The first, in Germany, became what they called the birthplace of the “Isadorables” who would continue their legacy. In line with her philosophy, performing and touring took her away from the schools she opened to share her vision. The public went crazy.īut Isadora Duncan had a life mission. In order to have the bodily freedom that he defended, his clothes were usually tunics imitating white Greek clothes. In addition to movements, Isadora also innovated in fashion. “I spent long days and nights in the studio looking for that dance that could be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of body movement,” she said. Without a doubt, she created modern dance. Even more, she argued that each movement was connected, one was born from what preceded it, as well as led to the next in an organic way, never calculated or rehearsed. The beauty was in the naturalism of the gesture. No ballet steps en dehors, no plie or stretched pointe. Her movements imitated classical Greek art as well as folk and social dances, and even athletics because her choreography alternated jumping, running, and pirouetting, with arms outstretched and head held high. Emotion commanded the steps, not technique. For her, dancing was a sacred expression, never purely entertainment. Without shoes (she danced barefoot), stockings or tutus, the American emphasized natural movements, a 180° contrast from the traditional school of ballet. Isadora quickly became famous in Europe, especially in France, because of her innovative and daring technique. It didn’t take long for her to have enough money to rent her own studio and her performances moved to theaters, where she had proper space. Her inspiration came from the Greek bas-relief figures she saw in museums. With this thirst to find space and something new, she moved to London where she performed in the homes of the rich and noble. She dreamed of a different environment, with less hierarchy and different from the popular pantomimes of the time.
To help with the housework, Isadora and her sister, Elizabeth, taught dance to the local children, and already demonstrating what would become her legacy, the dancer was not restricted to the barre or classical steps, but encouraged improvisation and costumes, or, as she said, dancing “anything beautiful that came to head”.Īrt seemed to be Isadora’s vocation, she loved movement, but when at 19 she joined Augustin Daly‘s theater company in New York, she soon became disillusioned. She only studied until the age of 10, when she stopped attending school because it was “embarrassing”. Born in San Francisco, she was wealthy until her parents divorced, when they began to struggle.
Any restriction – behavioral or physical – was abhorred and rejected by her from the beginning.
Isadora duncan contemporary dance free#
Isadora Duncan defined what we call a free soul. An unbelievable farewell to a woman who changed the world. However, on the 14th of September of 2022, it’s the 95th anniversary of her death in Nice, where she was accidentally hanged when the scarf around her neck got tangled in the wheel of her car. She said she wanted to “rediscover the beautiful and rhythmic movements of the human body”. The American artist created what we call contemporary dance, breaking the shackles of classical ballet and enabling creative freedom that is disruptive to this day. Even if you don’t like ballet or dance in general, you’ve probably heard the name, Isadora Duncan.
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