ISADORA DUNCAN

I have discovered the dance. I have discovered the art which has been lost for two thousand years – Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan is tragically better known for her unlikely, almost unbelievable death than for her prolific contributions to modern dance. Described as the ultimate fashion victim, she died as a shawl she was wearing became entwined around the spokes of the car she was in as it drove off, instantly breaking her neck (Gok Wan take note: turns out you can have too many accessories). Some debate remains as to whether it was a silk scarf, hand-painted by the artist Roman Chatov or a red shawl with a foot-long fringe, made for her by a friend (who also happened to be the mother of screwball film director Preston Sturges). But one thing is certain, Isadora courted controversy and drama everywhere she ventured.

Isadora began classical ballet lessons as a young child, but found its strict rules “ugly and against nature.” She began to develop her own more ‘natural’ style of dance, and when she moved from America to England in 1899 her study of Greek sculpture at the British Museum became an overriding inspiration. Her style became more fluid and she embraced draped tunics and dancing barefoot. She was a devotee of the Delsarte method that was beginning to take hold in America – a theory that eschewed more melodramatic styles of speech and drama in favour of more natural tones and gestures. She was an early detractor of the corset (even before Chanel) and she wrote highly critical manifestos outlining its constriction of the ribs, muscles and vital organs. She rejected pointe ballet shoes for similar reasons.

In many ways she was the perfect conduit between the Victorian period and the early days of Modernism. She danced to a variety of classical music from Beethoven and Mozart to Romantic composers like Tchaikovsky and Chopin, but her pieces were often improvised rather than rigidly structured. Her life was also tinged with Bohemian living; she had two children by two different fathers out of wedlock and she had affairs with women as well as men. Her infatuation with Classical Greece and her penchant for tunics ensured that her onstage attire was a lot more daring (and showed a lot more flesh) than most early twentieth century audiences were accustomed to. Even though she pancaked her legs to look like marble, her drapery and emotive movements (not to mention the lack of stockings) would have been the cause of many a blush throughout the audience.

Her ashes rest at Pere Lachaise cemetery, in the splendid company of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Georges Melies and Jim Morrison. Isadora Duncan’s legacy has not just affected the world of dance, she is a perennial source of inspiration for the fashion industry as well. The rather unnerving Vogue cover on the left dates from 1928 – the year after Duncan died – has an eerie resonance with her manner of death. And her influence still reaches us today; Diane von Furstenberg’s S/S 2011 collection was named Goddess in honour of Isadora, after von Furstenberg visited a retrospective in Paris in 2010. Grecophile Isadora would most certainly have approved of the draped fabrics, flowing tunics and Grecian-style sandals.

Picture credits:

Isadora 1, 2, 3: Series of photographs (1898) from Done into Dance by Ann Daly

Isadora 4: Rendition of the ‘Marseillaise’ during WWI from Done into Dance by Ann Daly

Vogue 1928: 1928 Vogue cover illustrated by Georges Lepape, from The Art of Vogue Covers 1909 – 1940 by William Packer

Vogue cover from 1928 – the year after Duncan died – has an eerie resonance with her manner of death. Illustrated by Georges Lepape, from The Art of Vogue Covers 1909 – 1940 by William Packer

She still proves to be an inspiration today in Diane von Furstenberg’s S/S 2011 collection, which was named Goddess in honour of Isadora, after DVF visited a recent retrospective in Paris. Style.com

Isadora would have most certainly approved of the draped fabrics, flowing tunics and Grecian-style sandals.