Isadora Duncan Goes to Glory
by She was a hit as an interpretive dancer but was a lady way before her time!
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She was scandalous and a disgrace to many in the art world but there were those who truly loved her. One supporter was President Theodore Roosevelt who said, “Isadore Duncan seems to me as innocent as a child dancing through the garden in the morning sunshine and picking the beautiful flowers of her fantasy.” She was born in San Francisco in 1878. Her father, a banker, and her mother never really got along and divorced when Isadore was twelve and she vowed never to marry. She loved dancing and started a dance school for her friends. She loved to dance in the interpretive style where the dancer’s body is in tune with the rhythms of nature and the unpredictable whirlings of her spirit. She wore a costume of flowing robes and twirling scarfs and often expose her legs. On some occasions she bared her breasts, causing a scandal. She was a hit in New York for awhile but soon grew out of fashion and traveled to London. she gained influential friends in the art world and her career took off. Some wrote approvingly of a free spirit that expressed itself by making and breaking its own rules. She had two children by two different men and many turned away from her. In 1913, a great tragedy occurred when bot her children were killed in a drowning accident.
In 1921, she performed in the Soviet Union. In Russia, she broke her vow not to marry when she became the bride of poet Sergei Esenin. There were financial problems and Isadore took to drink. More squabbles and her half-mad husband committed suicide in 1925. More financial difficulties followed and Isadore was soon out of shape and drinking heavily. She regained her enthusiasm when a publisher expressed interest in doing a book on her life. Celebrating her fresh start,Isadore went to an auto dealership to buy a new convertible sports car. On the test drive, she threw her long red shawl around her neck and waved to her friends. A few minutes later, part of the shawl got caught in the spook of the rear wheel and snapped her neck. She died instantly. Her last words yelled out at her friends were, ” Goodbye, my friends, I go to Glory.”
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