She felt that her performances were transient, but so is life. She believed that every dancer should look within to be led in dance in fact, she would not even allow a camera to film her while she was dancing because she did not want her performance to be reproduced, or to become a dead experience. She did not want a school named after her, or pupils to copy her work. Yet, perhaps Duncan’s greatest legacy in dance was that she did not want one. “From the mystery of the Parthenon, the frescoes, the Greek vases, and the Tanagras came my dance-not Greek, not Antique, but in reality the expression of my soul moved to harmony by beauty.”³ Bessie Potter Vonnoh, The Fan, 1910 Silvered bronze Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay Critics have tried to pigeonhole Duncan’s dance by calling it “Grecian-inspired,” but Duncan refused labels. She never wore shoes, perhaps to emphasize her connection to the Earth. The nearly sheer fabric fell freely around her body, highlighting her womanly curves, as it did for the three Graces in La Primavera. This memory, as well as her frequent trips to Athens and Rome, inspired her to wear shifts that resembled the Chitons worn in Ancient Greece. It was no coincidence that the first art she had ever seen matched her idea of the highest beauty. As a child, the only picture she had hanging in her room was a poster of Botticelli’s La Primavera. One of the most controversial aspects of Duncan’s performance, which began to rise in popularity after she moved to London in 1898, was her attire. This signified the equal part played by the performer and the audience member, discarding the Victorian notion of a dancer as an object at which to look. These circular movements also tied into her belief in “connected thought,” or communication with socializing intent. She used “wave” motions and circular forms throughout her dance to demonstrate her philosophy that movement comes from within, like rays emanating from the sun. Duncan developed a style so natural that many critics believed that her dance was improvisation.
The unnatural way in which it forced her to twist her body and squeeze herself into painful shoes led her to explore and express the natural symmetry of human bodies. Even though she lived in an era where women still had very limited rights, Duncan, in revolutionary fashion, repeatedly expressed, “I have my will.”²Īfter just a few minutes of one ballet class, Duncan knew that the Romantic ideal of the ballerina opposed her beliefs. Free-spirited to the core, and with the support of her artistic mother, Duncan strove to escape the restraints of convention.
The same year, she dropped out of school. She took her first ballet class, and walked out after a mere 20 minutes. Tall for her age, she told everyone she was 16, earning enough credibility to charge them money.¹ At 12 years of age, she made decisions that would definitively change her lifestyle. By the time she was six years old, Duncan held dance classes for the neighborhood children. Her favorite activity was to venture down to the beaches near her home in San Francisco and imitate the waves and birds. Growing up in a family that struggled with poverty and separation, Duncan sought happiness through dance from an early age. Isadora Duncan, arguably the first modern dancer, was born on May 27, 1877. Isadora Duncan performing barefoot photo by Arnold Genthe during her 1915–18 American tour. This gave rise to new forms of ballet and a new style of dance known as modern dance. As ballet developed a more scandalous reputation, many serious dancers realized that they had to drastically change their focus. Unfortunately, as more ballerinas fit this new ideal, theaters seemed to grow increasingly corrupt. Basically, a male dancer’s role was merely to frame the female body, support it, and aid in its contortion. Even male dancing in Romantic ballets was tailored to please male audiences. Pointe shoes were invented by Marie Taglioni in 1827 to heighten the lithe look, and Romantic ballets starred fairies and nymphs. Additionally, as a reaction against the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution, an “ethereal” aesthetic became popular. Victorian corsets were donned by young “gamines,” who pranced around for the bourgeoisie. The ballet theater had been nearly reduced to a peep show in Paris by 1850, as is reflected in the art of Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others. In the mid-19th century, dance was ready for a revolution.
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