Duncan, Isadora
Born 26 May , San Francisco, California; died 14 September , Nice, France
Daughter of Joseph and Dora Gray Duncan; married SergeiEssenin, (separated by ); children: two, both died in
One of the great originators of modern dance and an articulate proponent of her art, Isadora Duncan grew up in circumstances which encouraged her independent spirit. Her father abandoned his family when Duncan was an infant, and her mother was forced to support the family by giving music lessons. Duncan left school at age ten to study dance and perform in the natural, graceful, and seemingly improvisational manner that later made her famous. Although she always considered her dance American in spirit, Duncan never met with much success on the stage in her own country. She lived most of her life in Europe, where she achieved enormous critical and popular acclaim, began the first of several schools of the dance, and bore two children. The ghastly deaths of her children in in an automobile accident haunted the dancer throughout her life and lent a tragic dimension to her highly personal art.
In Duncan was invited to found a school of dance in Russia, where before the Rev
Isadora Duncan
Born: 26 May (or 27 May ) in San Francisco, California.
Died: 14 September in Nice, France.
Angela Isadora Duncan was an American dancer who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe. Born and raised in California, she lived and danced in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50 when her scarf became entangled in the wheels and axle of the car in which she was riding in Nice, France.
Early life:
Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco, the youngest of the four children of Joseph Charles Duncan (–), a banker, mining engineer and connoisseur of the arts, and Mary Isadora Gray (–). Her brothers were Augustin Duncan and Raymond Duncan; her sister, Elizabeth Duncan, was also a dancer. 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 str
Isadora Duncan
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Who Was Isadora Duncan?
Isadora Duncan developed an approach to dance that emphasized naturalistic movement. She was a hit in Europe as a performer to classical music and opened schools that integrated dance with other types of learning. She later faced immense tragedy with the death of her children and spouse's suicide.
Childhood
With accounts varying, Isadora Angela Duncan was born circa May 26, (the date on her baptismal certificate; some sources say May 27, ), in San Francisco, California. Her parents divorced when Duncan was an infant, and she was raised by her mother, Dora, a piano teacher with a great appreciation for the arts. At the age of 6, Duncan began to teach movement to little children in her neighborhood; word spread, and by the time she was 10, her classes had become quite large. She requested to leave public school so that she, along with older sister Elizabeth, could earn income from teaching. Duncan subsequently received tutelage from poet Ina Coolbrith.
Success in Europe
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 h
Biography
Isadora Duncan was a dancer, adventurer, revolutionist, ardent defender of the poetic spirit. She has been one of the most enduring influences of the 20th century culture. Isadora did attend school but finding it to be constricting to her individuality. Her family was very poor so her and her sister gave dance lesson to local children for extra money.
In Duncan became part of Augustin Daly's theatre company in New York. She soon became disillusioned with the form. Her father, along with his third wife and their daughter, died in the due to the sinking of the British passenger steamer SS Mohegan.
Isadora Duncan had two children, both out of wedlock, her first, Deirdre (born September 24,
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