by Zurama Johnston

Created on: September 12, 2007   Last Updated: September 13, 2007

"Isadora Duncan, the Innovator of Modern Dance"

Born Dora Angela Duncan in San Francisco, on May 27, 1878. She was the American dancer, who did more than any other person to bring about the revolution that took place in dance during the early years of the 20th century.

She was the innovator, of what came to be called Impressionistic Dance or Modern Dance. At an early age, she began to dance in the unconventional non-formalized way to which she became famous, and as young as six, she was teaching neighborhood children. She remained an inspiring teacher all her life. She danced across America with her family following close behind.

After briefly working in the theater and unsuccessful recitals in Chicago and New York, Miss Duncan went to London, where in the British Museum, she was inspired t adopt the Greek chiffon and bare feet, after observing the Tanagra figurines.

Doing away with the traditional ballet costume and painted sets, she danced barefooted in a floating drapery an a bare stage. She gave form to her emotions with her lyrical, natural, yet dramatic dances. She modeled her free movements, after gestures she observed in nature, showing the world, that dance could be the natural expression of the human body and emotions.

Miss Duncan's first successful performances were in Budapest (1903), in Berlin (1904), and London and New York (1908). Her early work, was primarily Lyrical, but she turned to tragic and heroic themes, to the music of such composers as Beethoven and Wagner, after her two children, Deirdre and Patrick, accidentally drowned in 1913. She established Modern Dance schools in Germany, France and Russia.

Rebelling against the restricting fashions of the era, she threw out corsets and strode onto the beaches bared-legged. She danced by the light of the moon completely nude. In the most elegant houses in London, she danced wearing sandals and flowing Greek tunics and in her own way fought for the total emancipation of women all over the world.

Isadora Duncan, died on September 14, 1927, at Nice, France. She was accidentally strangled when a scarf she wearing became tangled in the wheels of her automobile. She was a woman born ahead of her time.

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