ISADORA DUNCAN The beginning of modern dance techniques. “Mother of modern dance”
May 27, 1877 – September 14, 1927
BIOGRAPHY Isadora Duncan was born on May 26, 1877.
She was born in San Francisco, California (U.S.A).
Isadora had one brother and one sister
EARLY MOMENTS Isadora started dancing at a young age.
At the age of six, Isadora began teaching movement to other children in her neighborhood
ď ˝When she was 10, she started teaching dance everyday
HER SUCCESS Over time, she became so popular that she went on tour in Europe and the USA
Throughout her life she lived in New York
Chicago
And Europe
HER STYLE Isadora liked to move her arms and legs in very smooth motions.
She said: “I was born at the seashore. My first idea of movement and dance surely came to me from the rhythm of the waves.�
HER STYLE She preferred natural movement and not what she called the artificial movement of ballet.
HER STYLE Her “free dance movement” was based on simple flowing movements of the body.
HER INSPIRATION It was inspired by nature ,and by ancient Greek sculptures.
CURIOSITIES She danced barefoot She wore very light clothes. Costumes were flowing and transparent.
CURIOSITIES Isadora Duncan did not like ballet. She thought ballet dancers had too many rules to follow about how they should stand, bend and move. She said ballet was “ugly and against nature.” She wanted her “modern” dance style to be free and natural.
THE TRAGEDY Duncan faced tragedies in her life, with her two children and their nanny drowning in 1913 when their car fell into the Seine River. .
MARRIAGE Later, Duncan married poet SerguĂŠi AleksĂĄndrovich Yesenin in 1922, traveling to the US with him. The marriage wouldn't last, ending in the 1923.
HER DEATH She died in Nice, France, on September 14, 1927, when her scarf got caught in the back wheels of an automobile she was riding in.
Isadora Duncan continues to inspire dancers even after her death