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| One of Abraham Walkowitz's Isadora Duncan Sketches Photography Credit: Kyam Putney and Mark Ferketish |
Born in Russia, Abraham Walkowitz emigrated with his family to the United States. During his career as an artist, he met Isadora Duncan in 1906 at August Rodin's Studio in Paris, and an instant bond was forged. Isadora Duncan is recognized as the "mother of modern dance." Her dancing greatly inspired Walkowitz. Somewhere between the movement of dance and the movement in a work of art, the two modernists connected. From the fluidity of Isadora's expressive gestures and the fluidity of Abraham's lines of graphite, they simply understood each other.
Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco, California to a free spirited mother who enriched Duncan with classical music, poetry, art and nature in 18771. Although Isadora Duncan received countless standing ovations throughout America and Europe at the spike of her career, her beginnings were modest like most artists. She attended a few dance classes as a child, rejecting the conformity of ballet, and only began seriously pursuing dance as a young adult2. Her free flowing and less constricted dance technique (unlike the very popular ballet) was not widely accepted in America at the beginning of her career. In her notable long flowing Grecian tunic, Duncan created liberation and lack of constraint in her dances. In fact, the American Renaissance (1876-1916, an artistic period shaped by aligning America with Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance ideas of humanism) was taking shape as Duncan began entering social circles. At once, the viewer recognizes both Duncan's attire as it recalls the festivals of Ancient Greece where Duncan's dance style may have been accepted for entertainment.
Arnold Genthe, Isadora Duncan, portrait photograph, c.1916
By 1910 Isadora Duncan was touring the country from Chicago to St. Louis to Los Angeles (and many more) with audiences filled with upper and middle class men and women. Just as her free flowing movements entertained Americans her romantic life, her personal life and opinions were featured in various women's magazines as well as newspaper pages for women. Her fans who could not afford to attend her shows could still see pictures of Duncan, her thoughts and ideas. Indeed, she met Walkowitz in Auguste Rodin's studio which only sheds light on a minuscule part of Duncan's social circle. Since she traveled throughout America as well as back and forth to Europe, Duncan's tales are sure to be compelling-- the subtitle of her autobiography is A World Idol Bares Her Deepest Intimate Life.
(1) "Dancing the Future, Performing the Past: Isadora Duncan and Wagnerism in the American Imagination" by Mary Simonson Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 65, No. 2 (Summer 2012), pp. 511-555
(2) "Isadora Duncan" by Lincoln Kirstein The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Nov., 1941), pp. 10-11
With permission from Director Elyssa Dru Rosenberg of isadoraNow and Nell Shaw Cohen of Beyond the Notes, both have allowed the museum to share the link to their respective videos. Their videos will provide insight about who is Isadora Duncan..
The first video, "Isadora Duncan-Dances and Dance Technique," created and narrated by Director Elyssa Dru Rosenberg provides an overview of who is Isadora Duncan and a summary of how Isadora Duncan's dance style evolved through time. The video features modern reconstructions of Isadora's dance choreography.
"Isadora Duncan-Dances and Dance Technique"
Length of Video: ~ 6 Minutes
About the video: "The first of a series of videos that will educate viewers about who Isadora Duncan was and the dances she choreographed. The series will teach about Isadora Duncan's dance technique and demonstrate the themes about which she danced. Isadora Duncan's choreography as danced by isadoraNOW will be used to demonstrate the technique and the inspiration behind Isadora Duncan's work. As it evolves, the series will elaborate on Isadora Duncan's legacy in the modern dances of today and the work that isadoraNOW does to continue that legacy."
"Narrated by isadoraNOW director and fifth generation Isadora Duncan dancer, Elyssa Dru Rosenberg."
"For more information, visit: www.isadoranow.org"
"All photographs of Isadora Duncan and music in this video are in the public domain."
Credit: Permission to link video from Director Elyssa Dru Rosenberg of isadoraNow. This video belongs to and is copyrighted to isadoraNow (http://isadoranow.org/).
About isadoraNOW
'"isadoraNOW fuses contemporary dance with historical preservation and uses Isadora's timeless movment ideas to help modern audiences understand, appreciate, and relate to the art of dance. Under the direction of educator, artist, and historian Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, who holds a Masters in Dance & Dance Education from NYU, isadoraNOW has been presented at numerious prestigious venues. A fourth-generation Duncan dancer, Elyssa's dancing has been described as "radiant" and "magnetic," while her efforts to keep Isadora's work relevant for a new generation have been praised as "refreshing."'
For more information about isadoraNow, please check out their website at http://isadoranow.org/.
The second video is created by Nell Shaw Cohen of Beyond the Notes. Her video, "Isadora Duncan: The Dancer of the Future," provides a summary Isadora's beliefs and inspirations and how they influenced her dance style. The video explains some of the various artists such as poets and composers whom influenced Isadora Duncan.
"Isadora Duncan: The Dancer of the Future"
About isadoraNOW
'"isadoraNOW fuses contemporary dance with historical preservation and uses Isadora's timeless movment ideas to help modern audiences understand, appreciate, and relate to the art of dance. Under the direction of educator, artist, and historian Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, who holds a Masters in Dance & Dance Education from NYU, isadoraNOW has been presented at numerious prestigious venues. A fourth-generation Duncan dancer, Elyssa's dancing has been described as "radiant" and "magnetic," while her efforts to keep Isadora's work relevant for a new generation have been praised as "refreshing."'
For more information about isadoraNow, please check out their website at http://isadoranow.org/.
The second video is created by Nell Shaw Cohen of Beyond the Notes. Her video, "Isadora Duncan: The Dancer of the Future," provides a summary Isadora's beliefs and inspirations and how they influenced her dance style. The video explains some of the various artists such as poets and composers whom influenced Isadora Duncan.
"Isadora Duncan: The Dancer of the Future"
Length of Video: ~7 Minutes
About the video: Nell Shaw Cohen discuss Isadora Duncan's philosophy, influences, and aesthetic.
Credit: Produced by Nell Shaw Cohen for beyondthenotes.org
About Beyond the Notes.org
Beyond the Notes is a site focused on providing unique online multimedia experiences exploring the visual and performing arts that reveal surprising connections, facilitate discovery, foster appreciation, and inspires innovation and experimentation for the arts and artists. '"Bringing 'program notes' into the 21st century. Beyond the Notes delves beyond the surface of works of art with the belief that educational materials can be artistic, just as art works can be incredible resources for learning and exploring ideas. Beyond the Notes and its materials are created by Nell Shaw Cohen, a composer, multimedia artist and producer based in New York City."' For more information visit her at nellshawcohen.com.
About the video: Nell Shaw Cohen discuss Isadora Duncan's philosophy, influences, and aesthetic.
Credit: Produced by Nell Shaw Cohen for beyondthenotes.org
About Beyond the Notes.org
Beyond the Notes is a site focused on providing unique online multimedia experiences exploring the visual and performing arts that reveal surprising connections, facilitate discovery, foster appreciation, and inspires innovation and experimentation for the arts and artists. '"Bringing 'program notes' into the 21st century. Beyond the Notes delves beyond the surface of works of art with the belief that educational materials can be artistic, just as art works can be incredible resources for learning and exploring ideas. Beyond the Notes and its materials are created by Nell Shaw Cohen, a composer, multimedia artist and producer based in New York City."' For more information visit her at nellshawcohen.com.
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