Isadora Duncan was an American pioneer of modern contemporary dance who helped reshape the cultural restrictions of her day, giving rise to a freer movement style. She believed, “The dancer’s body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul,” and her avant-garde dance form sought to illuminate our innermost being and our connection with nature. She explained: “Listen to the music with your soul. Now, while listening, do you not feel an inner self awakening deep within you – that it is by its strength that your head is lifted, that your arms are raised, that you are walking slowly toward the light?”
Isadora Duncan was born around 1877 in San Francisco, California, USA. Isadora Duncan had dance within her very being, and this she expressed from a young age. After just three lessons, she quit ballet. She wrote: “I dreamed of a different dance. I did not know just what it would be, but I was feeling out towards an invisible world into which I divined I might enter if I found the key.”
At the age of six, Isadora had started what she called her “school of the dance.” It was a neighborhood troupe of very young infants that she gathered and taught, by coaxing them to sway their arms. Isadora’s venture flourished, and by the age of 10, her services were in great demand. In 1898, the family decided to explore Europe, where Isadora imagined her craft might be better received.
Isadora Duncan was inspired by nature, especially the sea. Isadora Duncan also believed her life was strongly influenced by the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and when Aphrodite’s star was in the ascendant, things went smoothly for Isadora.
