May 27 – Happy Birthday to the “Mother of Modern Dance”

nPostednon May 27, 2014

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Althoughnthe world-famous dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan was born innAmerica – in my home state of California, actually – she livednmost of her adult life in Europe and the Soviet Union.

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nDuncann(born on this date in 1877, according to some sources) grew up verynpoor, in a “broken home” (her parents divorced, so her mom raisednher and her two brothers and sister). Her mom was a piano teacher whonwas passionate about the arts, and Isadora discovered an earlynpassion, too, in dance. She began to teach “movement” tonneighborhood children when she was just six years old. By the timenshe was ten, her classes had become pretty large, and she and hernolder sister dropped out of school to work teaching dance for pay.

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nWhennDuncan first went to Europe, she studied Greek mythology, and shenfell in love with flowing tunics worn by the Ancient Greeks. Shenlearned about the ancient rituals surrounding dance, and shendeveloped a unique style that she carried into her own work asna dancer and choreographer.

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nFornexample, she often dressed like this when she danced:

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nAtnthe time that Duncan was introducing dancing barefoot in loose,nflowing tunics, everyone else was into rigid ballet technique,ncorseted costumes, and painful-to-wear pointe shoes. Duncan combinednher love of Ancient Greece with Americans’ love of freedom as shenintroduced natural movements such as skipping, plus “great strides, leaps and bounds, with lifted forehead and far-spread arms.”

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nDuncannwas a maverick off the dance floor, too, but she faced greatntragedies in her life. She had three children, but they all died innchildhood. Her husband was mentally ill and committed suicide.nIsadora Duncan herself died earlier than she should have – at agen50 – when her long, flowing scarf tangled in the spokes of thenautomobile she rode in, and her neck was broken.

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Thenworld always loves a good, gossipy story, and Duncan’s life allowednplenty of such stories. But the world mostly remembers her as andancer who earned fame and acclaim in Europe, and as a pioneer whosenwork led to an entirely new, much freer form: modern dance.