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1880 1st ed. "Ontology" By Emanuel Swedenborg
I have several other pictures of the book and it can be viewed via
webcam. Happy Bidding!!
The Untold Story, by Mary Desti 1929 ed. This is the Third Printing and
is the Biography of Isadora Duncan Below is the story of Isadora
Duncan. This book was written by one of the students of Isadora Duncan.
Isadora Duncan is considered the founder of modern dance.
I have more pictures of the book and it is able to be viewed via webcam.
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 ? September 14, 1927) was an American
dancer. She was born Angela Isadora Duncan in San Francisco, California,
and is considered by many to be the mother of Modern Dance. Although
never very popular in the United States, she entertained throughout
Europe.
Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Later life
5 Death 6 Isadora Duncan in culture 7 External links 8 References
[edit] Early life
Duncan was the youngest of the four children of Joseph Charles Duncan, a
banker, and Mary Dora Gray, youngest daughter of Thomas Gray, a
California senator. The other children were Elisabeth, Augustin, and
Raymond. Soon after Isadora's birth, Joseph Duncan lost the bank and was
publicly disgraced. Her parents were divorced by 1880 (the papers were
lost in the San Francisco earthquake), and Dora moved with her children
to Oakland where she worked as a pianist and music teacher. Duncan
attended school for the early years of her life, but dropped out because
she found it to be constricting to her individuality. Her family was
very poor, so, to earn extra money, both she and her sister gave dance
classes to local children.
In 1895 she became part of Augustin Daly's theater company in New York,
but soon became disillusioned with the form. In 1899, she made the
decision to move to Europe, first to London and, a year later, to Paris.
Within two years she had achieved both notoriety and success.
Isadora Duncan performing barefoot. Photo by Arnold Genthe during her
1915-1918 American tour.
Montparnasse's developing Bohemian environment did not suit her. In
1909, she moved to two large apartments at 5 Rue Danton, where she lived
on the ground floor and used the first floor for her dance school.
Barefoot, dressed in clinging scarves and faux-Grecian tunics, she
created a primitivist style of improvisational dance to counter the
rigid styles of the time. She was inspired by the classics, especially
Greek myth. She rejected traditional ballet steps to stress
improvisation, emotion, and the human form. Isadora believed that
classical ballet, with its strict rules of posture and formation, was
"ugly and against nature" and gained a wide following that allowed her
to set up a school to teach. She became so famous that she inspired
artists and authors to create sculpture, jewelry, poetry, novels,
photographs, watercolors, prints, and paintings. When the Théâtre des
Champs-Élysées was built in 1913, her likeness was carved in its
bas-relief over the entrance by sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and in
painted murals of the nine muses by Maurice Denis in the auditorium.
In 1922, she acted on her sympathy for the social and political
experiment being carried out in the new Soviet Union and moved to
Moscow. She cut a striking figure in the increasingly austere
post-revolution capital, but her international prominence brought
welcome attention to the new regime's artistic and cultural ferment. The
Russian government's failure to follow through on extravagant promises
of support for Duncan's work, combined with the country's spartan living
conditions, sent her back to the West in 1924.
Throughout her career, Duncan did not like the commercial aspects of
public performance, regarding touring, contracts, and other
practicalities as distractions from her real mission: the creation of
beauty and the education of the young. A gifted if unconventional
pedagogue, she was the founder of three schools dedicated to inculcating
her philosophy into groups of young girls (a brief effort to include
boys was unsuccessful). The first, in Grunewald, Germany, gave rise to
her most celebrated group of pupils, dubbed "the Isadorables," who took
her surname and subsequently performed both with Duncan and
independently. The second had a short-lived existence prior to World War
I at a château outside Paris, while the third was part of Duncan's
tumultuous experiences in Moscow in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
Duncan's teaching, and her pupils, caused her both pride and anguish.
Her sister, Elizabeth Duncan, took over the German school and adapted it
to the Teutonic philosophy of her German husband. The Isadorables were
subject to ongoing hectoring from Duncan over their willingness to
perform commercially, and one, Lisa Duncan, was permanently ostracized
for performing in nightclubs. The most notable of the group, Irma
Duncan, remained in the Soviet Union after Duncan's departure and ran
the school there, again angering Duncan by allowing students to perform
too publicly and too commercially.
[edit] Personal life
Both in her professional and her private lives, she flouted traditional
mores and morality. In 1922, she married the Russian poet Sergei
Yesenin, who was 18 years her junior. Yesenin accompanied her on a tour
of Europe, but his frequent drunken rages, resulting in the repeated
destruction of furniture and the smashing of the doors and windows of
their hotel rooms, brought a great deal of negative publicity. The
following year he left Duncan and returned to Moscow where he soon
suffered a mental breakdown and was placed in a mental institution.
Released from hospital, he allegedly committed suicide on December 28,
1925, at the age of thirty. It is still unclear whether the poet was
murdered or truly had committed suicide.
Duncan bore two children, both out of wedlock?the first, Deirdre (born
September 24, 1906), by theatre designer Gordon Craig, and the second,
Patrick (born May 1, 1910)[1], by Paris Singer, one of the many sons of
sewing machine magnate Isaac Singer. Her private life was subject to
considerable scandal, especially following the drowning of Deirdre and
Patrick in an accident on the Seine River on April 19, 1913. The
children were in the car with their nurse, returning home after lunch in
the city with Isadora and Paris Singer. The driver stalled the car while
attempting to avoid a collision. He got out to hand-crank the engine,
but he had forgotten to set the emergency brake, so once he got the car
to start, it went across the Boulevard Bourdon and rolled down the
embankment into the river below. The children and the nanny drowned[1].
Following the accident, Duncan spent several months recuperating in
Corfu with her brother and sister. After this, she spent several weeks
at the Viareggio seaside resort with actress Eleonora Duse. The fact
that Duse was just coming out of a lesbian relationship with rebellious
young lesbian feminist Lina Poletti fueled speculation as to the nature
of Duncan and Duse's relationship. However, there has never been
definite proof that the two were involved romantically.[2] In her
autobiography, Isadora Duncan relates that she begged a young Italian
stranger to sleep with her because of her desperation to have another
baby. She did indeed become pregnant right after her children's deaths.
She gave birth to a son who lived only a few hours, and was never named.
In her last United States tour in 1922-23, she waved a red scarf and
bared her breast on stage in Boston, proclaiming, "This is red! So am
I!". She was bisexual, which was not uncommon in early Hollywood
circles. She had a lengthy and passionate affair with poet Mercedes de
Acosta, and was possibly involved with writer Natalie Barney.
Duncan and de Acosta wrote regularly in often revealing letters of
correspondence. In one, written in 1927, Duncan wrote: (quoted by Hugo
Vickers in "Loving Garbo") "...A slender body, hands soft and white, for
the service of my delight, two sprouting breasts round and sweet, invite
my hungry mouth to eat, from whence two nipples firm and pink, persuade
my thirsty soul to drink, and lower still a secret place where I'd fain
hide my loving face..."[3]
In another letter, written to de Acosta by Duncan, she writes;
"Mercedes, lead me with your little strong hands and I will follow
you?to the top of a mountain. To the end of the world. Wherever you
wish." Isadora, June 28, 1926.[3]
De Acosta had once proclaimed that from the moment she first saw Isadora
Duncan, she looked upon her as a great genius, taken by her
completely.[3]
[edit] Later life
By the end of her life, Duncan's performing career had dwindled and she
became as notorious for her financial woes, scandalous love life, and
all-too-frequent public drunkenness as for her contributions to the
arts. She spent her final years moving between Paris and the
Mediterranean, running up debts at hotels or spending short periods in
apartments rented on her behalf by an ever-decreasing number of friends
and supporters, many of whom attempted to assist her in writing an
autobiography, in the hope that it would be sufficiently successful to
support her. In a reminiscent sketch, Zelda Fitzgerald recalled how she
and Scott sat in a Paris cafe watching a somewhat drunk Duncan. F. Scott
Fitzgerald would speak of how memorable it was, but what Zelda recalled
was that while all eyes were watching Duncan, Zelda was able to steal
the salt and pepper shakers (shaped like miniature taxicabs) from the
table.
In the book Isadora, an Intimate Portrait, the author, Sewell Stokes,
who met her in the last years of her life when she was penniless and
alone, describes her extravagant waywardness. Duncan's autobiography My
Life was published in 1927.
[edit] Death
A habitual wearer of flowing scarves which trailed behind her, Duncan's
fashion preferences were the cause of her death in a freak automobile
accident in Nice, France, on the night of September 14, 1927, at the age
of 50. The scarf was hand painted silk from the Russian-born artist
Roman Chatov. The accident gave rise to Gertrude Stein's mordant remark
that "affectations can be dangerous."
Duncan was a passenger in the Amilcar automobile of a handsome young
Italian mechanic, Benoît Falchetto, whom she had ironically nicknamed
'Buggatti' [sic]. (The marque of the automobile is open to dispute but
the informed opinion is that it was an Amilcar, a 1924 GS model. It was
regularly described and filmed as a more glamorous Bugatti.) Before
getting into the car, she said to a friend, Mary Desti (mother of 1940's
Hollywood writer-director Preston Sturges), and some companions, "Adieu,
mes amis. Je vais à la gloire!" ("Goodbye, my friends, I am off to
glory!"); however, according to the diaries of the American novelist
Glenway Wescott, who was in Nice at the time and visited Duncan's body
in the morgue (his diaries are in the collection of the Beineke Library
at Yale University), Desti admitted that she had lied about Duncan's
last words. Instead, she told Wescott, the dancer actually said, "Je
vais à l'amour" ("I am off to love"), which Desti considered too
embarrassing to go down in history as the legend's final utterance,
especially since it suggested that Duncan hoped that she and Falchetto
were going to her hotel for a sexual assignation. Whatever her actual
last words, when Falchetto drove off, Duncan's immense handpainted silk
scarf, which was a gift from Desti and was large enough to be wrapped
around her body and neck and flutter out of the car, became entangled
around one of the vehicle's open-spoked wheels and rear axle. As The New
York Times noted in its obituary of the dancer on 15 September 1927,
"The automobile was going at full speed when the scarf of strong silk
began winding around the wheel and with terrific force dragged Miss
Duncan, around whom it was securely wrapped, bodily over the side of the
car, precipitating her with violence against the cobblestone street. She
was dragged for several yards before the chauffeur halted, attracted by
her cries in the street. Medical aid was summoned, but it was stated
that she had been strangled and killed instantly."[4]
Isadora Duncan was cremated and her ashes were placed next to those of
her beloved children[5] in the columbarium of Père Lachaise Cemetery in
Paris. A plaque commemorating her death is to be found at the San
Fernando cemetery in Mexico City.
At her death she was a Soviet citizen, and her will was the first of a
Soviet citizen probated in the USA.
[edit] Isadora Duncan in culture
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. (March 2008)
Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or
articles.
As a sub-plot in the movie Four Friends 1981, main character Georgia
Jodie Thelin keeps referring to Isadora Duncan as being her kindred
spirit. She even believes at one point in the story that she was
reincarnated from Isadora Duncan.
John Dos Passos devotes a section of his panoramic 1936 novel The Big
Money to Duncan, called "Art and Isadora".
Vivian Pickles played Isadora Duncan in Ken Russell's astonishingly
inventive 1966 biopic for the BBC. Subtitled 'The Biggest Dancer in the
World' it was introduced by Isadora's biographer, Sewell Stokes, and is
probably unmatched as a portrait of the pain and the glory that come
with being an artist.
The 1968 film of her life, Isadora, starred Vanessa Redgrave in the
title role.
She was the subject of a ballet, Isadora, written and choreographed by
the Royal Ballet's Kenneth MacMillan, and performed at Covent Garden for
the first time in 1981.[6]
When She Danced, a stage play about Duncan's later years by Martin
Sherman won the 1991 Evening Standard Award (best actress) for Vanessa
Redgrave.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books contained the
Quagmire triplets named Isadora, Duncan, and Quigley. Isadora and Duncan
are quite unlucky, which is a reference to Isadora Duncan's ill-fated
life.
She is featured in the opening theme song to the popular 1970s show
Maude. "Isadora was the first bra burner, ain't you glad she showed up."
Isadora Duncan Lane in San Francisco, is named after her.
In the romantic comedy film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a diamond
necklace supposedly once having belonged to Isadora Duncan is featured.
Salsa diva Celia Cruz sang a song in Isadora Duncan's honor, titled
"Isadora".
Robert Calvert poet and musician recorded a song about Isadora Duncan on
his Revenge EP. The song is called Isadora and mentions dancing schools
and fast cars.
In the Pixar animated movie The Incredibles Edna Mode refuses to make a
cape for Mr. Incredible's new uniform, citing numerous mishaps that
previous heroes have had with their capes, perhaps inspired by Isadora's
tangling and death from her scarf. The villain, Syndrome, is later
killed in a similar way when his cape is caught in a jet engine. Roger
Ebert drew this connection to Duncan in his review of the film.
In the Mage: The Ascension supplement Cult of Ecstasy, Duncan is
considered an important figure in the Cult's history.
Isadora Duncan is referenced in the poem Fever 103 by Sylvia Plath:
"love, love the low smoke rolls from me like Isadora's scarves/ I'm in a
fright one will catch and anchor in the wheel".
In Mikhail Bulgakov's story Heart of a Dog professor Preobrazhensky
compares his life with Duncan's life in Moscow.
In the 1997 animated film Anastasia, an Isadora Duncan character makes a
cameo during the "Paris Hold the Key to her Heart" number, singing the
line "Come dance through the night!" with a long scarf dangling behind
her.
Duncan is the "poor dancing girl" alluded to in The Libertines' song
"Radio America".
Isadora Duncan is mentioned in an episode of The Mighty Boosh' talking
of her death and then subsequently Vince's scarf gets caught up in the
wheel of the van.
Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) mentioned worshipping "Buddha, Allah,
Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan," in her
"Church of Baseball" opening monologue to the movie "Bull Durham".
Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) mentioned reading "My Life" by Isadora Duncan
in the movie Serpico.
In the animated Disney cartoon The Weekenders, Tish went into a discount
costume shop looking for an Isadora Duncan costume. However, all the
costume shop had was legionnaire breastplates and feather boas.
John Lennon sings "Isadora Duncan, worked for TeleFunken" in an outtake
on Let It Be.
Finnish musician Juice Leskinen recorded a song called "Isadora Duncan"
for a single.
The Magnetic Fields sing "Like Isadora Duncan II, in impossibly long
white scarves" in their song Jeremy, from the album The Wayward Bus.
Vic Chesnutt recorded a song called "Isadora Duncan" on his first album,
Little.
Talking Heads sing "Je me lance vers la gloire", her (supposed) last
words, in their song "Psycho Killer".
Elliott Murphy wrote a song called "Isadora's Dancers" on his 1976 album
Night Lights.
In an episode of Steptoe and Son when Harold finds out that Albert had
been to Russia during the civil war he asks "You weren't Isadora
Duncan's dancing partner?"
Russian singer Alexander Malinin recorded a song about the death of
Isadora Duncan.
In a deleted scene from the blockbuster movie Titanic, Rose speaks to
Jack about the possibility of becoming a dancer "like Isadora Duncan".
The Constantines sing "Collect the body of Isadora Duncan" in their song
The Long Distance Four, from the album Constantines.
In SNL she is portrayed in a skit in which she is deciding to wear a
long or short scarf but her friend says to wear the long scarf and
agrees with her friends decision.
[edit] External links
Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, Inc., directed by Lori Belilove
Isadora Duncan's Web Links
Isadora Duncan International Institute, Inc.
Modern Duncan biographer, Peter Kurth's Isadora Duncan page
Picture of Duncan
Picture of Duncan
Isadora Duncan Archiv, a German web site.
Place where she lived during her childhood (map)
[edit] References
^ a b Kurth, Peter (2001). Isadora, a Sensational Life. Little Brown.
ISBN 0316507261.
^ Duse, Eleanora (1859-1924). glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture (2006-09-10). Retrieved on
2007-07-02.
^ a b c The Old Dyke (2001-05-12). Mercedes de Acosta and her Friends!.
The Old Dyke: Omnibus Edition. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
^ "ISADORA DUNCAN, DRAGGED BY SCARF FROM AUTO, KILLED; Dancer Is Thrown
to Road While Riding at Nice and Her Neck Is Broken" (Fee), The New York
Times, 1927-09-15. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
^ Nicola Kavanagh (May 2008). "Decline and Fall". Wound Magazine (3):
113. ISSN 1755-800X.
^ Isadora (1981 ballet): Barry Kay Archive website. Retrieved on April
6, 2008.
Duncan, Isadora (1927). My Life. New York: Boni and Liveright. OCLC
738636.
Donoghue, Emma. What the Driver Saw. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
Atlas F1 historical research forum about the Amilcar debate
(2002-07-21). Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
Persondata
NAME Duncan, Isadora
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American dancer
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1927
PLACE OF DEATH Nice, France
Retrieved from "/csg/p?en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan"
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