Isadora Duncan, a well-known dancer, introduced a fresh dance style that conveyed her profound emotions. Unlike dancers of the late 1800s, she prioritized fluidity and disregarded the rigid postures and artificial pointe shoes associated with traditional ballet. Despite facing initial disapproval, Isadora Duncan emerged as an acclaimed figure in dance and made a lasting impression on people around the globe.
Angela Isadora Duncan, born in San Francisco, California on May 26, 1877, was one of four children. Her mother, Dora Duncan, worked as a piano teacher while her father, Joseph Duncan, had various occupations including banker, journalist, and poet. However, despite their initial happiness and educational backgrounds, Isadora’s parents divorced shortly after she was born.
After her divorce, Dora struggled financially to support her four children: Augustin, Raymond, Elizabeth, and Isadora. Even though she tried offering music lessons for income, it was not enough to maintain their current living conditions. As a result, the family had to frequently move from one apartment to another, always leaving a day before bills were due. Isadora started her education at just five years old and attended a school that focused on seated learning and memorization in the late nineteenth century.
To Isadora, attending school was a source of irritation and felt devoid of meaning. Her disdain for school was expressed in her autobiography, where she revealed that her true education occurred during the evenings when she and her siblings would dance to their mother’s music and pursue their interests in literature and music. Isadora’s upbringing emphasized the importance of self-reliance, leading her to recognize the family’s strained financial situation as she grew older. This awareness motivated Isadora to actively contribute to their well-being, prompting her and her sister Elizabeth to take up babysitting as a means of assisting their family.
In order to keep their charges entertained and make money for the family, they taught them how to dance. The main focus of these dance lessons was teaching them to wave their arms in the air. This proved successful in keeping them occupied and generating funds. During that time period, when dancing started becoming popular, women who were considered “respectable” would cover themselves from head to toe, hiding any exposed skin. However, new styles of dance emerged that allowed even the most socially esteemed women to abandon corsets and not feel pressured to have a perfect body. As more and more women began participating in dancing, it inspired Isadora to help support her family by becoming a dance instructor.
Isadora had learned to dance at home with her mother’s piano music, but she hadn’t taken any official lessons. Her mother saved up money for her to attend a small dance school, but Isadora didn’t like her teacher. The teacher wanted her to dance in pointe shoes, which Isadora found painful and unnatural, as well as unattractive. Ballet is rigid and restricts ballerinas’ freedom of movement with its precise steps and traditional poses.
Isadora disliked the way she had to dance and decided to quit her schooling after only three lessons. Despite her struggle with dance, she left her academic education behind and established her own business. Isadora’s neighbors recognized her natural grace and started sending their children to learn from her.
Pretty soon, Isadora gained a reputation and began teaching wealthy girls in San Francisco. Her classes became so popular that she realized her own dance lessons were unnecessary. When Isadora turned sixteen, her father returned to their apartment with exciting news. He regretted leaving his family with almost nothing when he had plenty of money. He purchased a massive mansion for the family, complete with a tennis court, dance rooms, a barn, and a windmill. Afterward, he disappeared and never returned. Elizabeth and Isadora started a dance school, while Raymond and Augastin transformed the barn into a theater.
To the Duncan children, this must have felt like a dream as they started performing together in the barn for small audiences. They eventually embarked on a tour of Northern California, receiving mixed reviews and facing financial failure. Nevertheless, Isadora Duncan emerged from this experience with a newfound sense of independence. She held onto the belief that she could continue performing without her family and harbored dreams of leaving San Francisco to tour the country with an acting group.
However, Isadora’s initial audition did not go well. She was informed that her performance was not suitable for a theater; it would be better suited for a church. Nevertheless, Isadora remained determined and decided to travel to Chicago with her mother, Dora Duncan. They agreed to leave the rest of the family behind and set off for Chicago in mid-1895. Their belongings were limited to just a trunk upon their arrival in the city.
Facing financial hardship, Dora Duncan and her daughter found themselves without a place to live. Determined to improve their situation, Isadora embarked on a quest to secure employment. After a diligent search, she was fortunate enough to be offered a position by the manager of the Masonic Temple Roof Garden. However, there was one condition attached to her hiring – she needed to enliven her dancing. Despite being required to don a frilly dress, Isadora accepted the job eagerly.
She earned $50 during her initial week, but declined to sign a long-term contract. She attempted auditions for various theater groups in Chicago, but encountered the same response she had in her first audition. Luck took a turn when Augastin Daly’s theater group arrived in town. She tried her luck with him and he appreciated her talent, offering her a minor role in a pantomime that he would present in New York that fall. Enthusiastically, she headed to New York City in October, finally having the opportunity to showcase her art to a paying audience. Yet, upon arrival and taking on the part, she once again experienced disappointment.
Pantomime was not a form of expression that allowed for speaking. Isadora did not consider it as true acting or dancing, and thus it did not align with her dreams in New York. Nonetheless, she remained with the theater group for a year, even traveling with them to London where they performed. Upon their return to New York, Isadora made the decision to quit dancing for the group. Throughout her travels with the group, Isadora developed an interest in the music of Ethelbert Woodridge Nevin. One day, as Isadora was working on her choreography, Nevin, who happened to be working in a nearby studio, heard his music being played and eagerly entered the room. He was captivated by Isadora’s beautiful dances and he proposed performing concerts together. Their concerts took place at Carnegie Hall and received outstanding reviews, leading to invitations from wealthy families to perform at their homes. Yet, despite this success, the income they generated was meager and barely enough to support Isadora and her mother.
Isadora decided she could find a better place than New York. She yearned for England but lacked the funds to go. However, she turned to the affluent families she had performed for and requested their financial support using her resourcefulness and ingenuity. Ultimately, she accumulated sufficient funds, and her mother consented to accompany her with a condition: her siblings, Elizabeth and Raymond, must also come along. They arrived in England with practically no money.
After residing in impoverished areas of London for a few weeks, Isadora stumbled upon an article in a newspaper regarding a well-off woman hosting gatherings at her residence. Seeking employment, Isadora paid a visit to the woman who ultimately decided to have her entertain a group of her acquaintances. Isadora’s performance was incredibly well-received, leading to numerous invitations to showcase her talents at social occasions hosted by other affluent women within the neighborhood. On one particular occasion, Isadora performed at the home of a Parliament member, attracting a multitude of attendees including notable figures like the Prince of Wales and art enthusiasts such as the artist Charles Hall.
Isadora adorned herself with several yards of curtain veiling and noticed that those who observed her were unexpectedly silent about her outfit. The average observers uttered expressions like “How lovely” and “Thank you kindly,” whereas the artists who witnessed her performance hailed her as gorgeous and graceful. Isadora felt let down by the indifference of those who failed to recognize her as an expressive dancer, but she took pleasure in finally having admirers. In contrast, Elizabeth and Raymond Duncan found nothing but tedium during her performance, despite Isadora’s newfound success.
Elizabeth returned to the United States in hopes of finding something to do, while Raymond traveled to Paris with his mother and Isadora set to follow. In Paris, Isadora was promptly invited to perform in the homes of affluent families. It was during these performances that she formed friendships with singer Mary Desti and painter Eugne Carrire, who gave her a sense of freedom and inspired her to delve deeper into dance techniques. Isadora particularly enjoyed dance exercises focused on unrestricted movement, rather than abrupt changes in motion.
Isadora Duncan, a pioneer in modern dance, captivated audiences with her ability to convey emotions such as fear and love through her movements. In her autobiography, she expressed her goal of making people truly hear the music rather than simply watching a dancer. Isadora successfully accomplished this objective.
Isadora Duncan not only expressed her own emotions but also conveyed the story and emotions of the music through dance steps. After living in Paris for three months, Isadora’s brother Augastine Duncan, along with his wife and children, joined her there. Augastine encouraged his family to go with him to Athens, Greece, and they eagerly accepted. When they arrived in Greece, they initially thought they would stay indefinitely, fully immersing themselves in Greek studies and dancing in the temples. However, their lack of money soon left them without a home.
The Duncan family made the decision to visit Berlin, Germany, a city known for its various performances showcasing diverse talents and arts. They believed that with the numerous talents within their family, at least one of them would be able to secure employment. Upon their arrival, it was Isadora who successfully obtained the desired job. Isadora initiated weekly receptions held at her residence, which eventually generated income. This newfound success brought happiness to Isadora Duncan for the first time in her entire life, yet she still yearned for more. She aspired to once again pursue her profession as a dance instructor and establish her own dance school.
In 1904, Isadora purchased a house in Grnewald, Germany and transformed it into a dance school. Her main goal was not to attract wealthy students with alternative art options but rather to offer underprivileged children a unique educational opportunity that they might not have otherwise had access to. She provided these students with clothing, housing, food, and education free of charge. However, she limited the number of students to twenty at a time. Whenever one student left, another would take their place. Only six students from all those who attended the Grnewald school remained for its entire duration and earned the nickname “Isadorables.” It was during this period that Isadora also met Edward Gordon Craig, who happened to be actress Ellen Terry’s son.
They had a lot in common and immediately fell in love. After about three months of heartfelt love and teaching, Isadora discovered she was pregnant. On September 26, 1905, she gave birth to her first-born child, whom she and Craig named Deirdre. Despite her eagerness to return to dancing, Isadora stayed home with Deirdre for a few weeks until she realized her bank account was running low. With expenses for the baby, the school, and an empty schedule ahead,
Duncan faced a difficult situation.
She quickly devised a plan and decided to take her “Isadorables” on a dance tour,
hoping to secure government funding for her school.
After Isadora came back from her tour, she realized that Craig had left her. To find comfort after this disappointment, she chose to visit the United States after almost a decade. New York City was the place where she discovered the solace she sought. In fact, it was there that President Theodore Roosevelt commended and honored her as a globally renowned figure for her courage and gracefulness. Furthermore, in New York City, she crossed paths with Paris Singer, who happened to be the affluent offspring of a British Parliament member.
She formed a strong bond with him, resulting in the arrival of Isadora’s second child on May 1, 1910. Together with Singer, she named their son Patrick. In 1913, she traveled to Paris with her children.
Shortly after Isadora’s arrival, she received devastating news from Paris Singer. While she was choreographing, he entered her studio to inform her that her children had tragically died in a car accident that ended in the Seine River. Sadly, they were trapped inside their limousine and drowned. For Isadora Duncan, overcoming this immense tragedy was not an easy task as her children had always been her top priority since birth.
Shortly after their arrival, Isadora experienced the greatest tragedy of her life. While she was choreographing, Paris Singer abruptly entered her studio to deliver devastating news: her children had tragically died in a car accident that culminated in the Seine River. Trapped inside their limousine, they had drowned. Overcoming this immense tragedy was not a simple task for Isadora Duncan, as her children had always been her utmost priority since the day they were born.
After the departure of Deirdre and Patrick, Isadora no longer saw any purpose in her life. Yet, despite enduring months filled with sorrow, she eventually regained emotional stability. The heartbreaking loss of her children sparked in Isadora a newfound empathy for children suffering from malnutrition and illness across the globe. When she felt ready to progress, her initial action was to journey to Albania. There, she embraced the role of caregiver and entertainer for undernourished children.
After spending a year at the same place, Isadora returned to her “Isadorables” group. Using her wealth, Singer purchased a larger dance school for Isadora in Bellevue. Isadora relocated her “Isadorables” to the new school and remained there during another pregnancy. Sadly, her baby died shortly after being born, plunging Isadora into a period of constant depression, loneliness, and grief. Despite giving birth to three children who all passed away in childhood, Isadora made the decision to abandon her recent school. The French repurposed it as a support facility for World War I veterans who had suffered abuse. Determined to overcome her depression, Isadora decided to end her romantic relationships and focus on her art instead. She returned to New York City accompanied only by her “Isadorables,” confident that they would find opportunities to perform.
Indeed, upon their arrival, they were warmly welcomed and provided with numerous performance opportunities, including the Metropolitan. Isadora had such a great time on this journey that she made the decision to officially adopt her six “Isadorables.” Once the adoption papers were signed, the girls’ names were changed to the Isadora Duncan Dancers. They bid farewell to the United States and, with very little money, embarked on a journey to Moscow, where they would establish another Isadora Duncan school of dance. Isadora and her girls found happiness there, with everything they desired: a beautiful dance space, a family, and just enough financial support. They resided in Moscow for five years until Isadora Duncan once again found herself destitute. At that point, she and her girls ventured to Paris, confident that they would receive a similar, if not better, reception than they had in New York.
They found what they had sought upon their arrival and promptly commenced performing concerts in packed theaters. Unfortunately, Isadora Duncan’s existence concluded during that particular visit to Paris when she had dinner alongside her lifelong comrade, Mary Desti. Subsequent to their meal, Isadora climbed into a Bugatti sports car with the representative from the car company. Adorned in a lengthy and refined crimson scarf, tragedy struck as Mary Desti gazed on in horror. Regrettably, the scarf became entangled in the axle of the rotating wheel, resulting in Isadora Duncan’s untimely demise by strangulation.
Over ten thousand individuals assembled at the cemetery to witness the interment of Isadora Duncan’s ashes alongside her children’s in their memorial. Even those who had observed her performances years ago attended the somber ceremony. Isadora Duncan held significance for all these individuals as she introduced the concept of imparting dance skills to young children. Despite being aware that not all of them would pursue dancing as a profession, she believed that possessing a sense of rhythm and freedom of movement were essential traits.
Isadora Duncan was the pioneer in publicly expressing her personal emotions through dance. She consistently donned revealing attire, often improvising with whatever items she had at her disposal. Whenever you witness a young child gracefully moving on stage, spinning and leaping while conveying their own emotional messages, it is because they have been influenced by Isadora Duncan’s groundbreaking style of dance.
