In any case, the life and death of the famous dancer Isadora Duncan fully confirms this version.
"Brilliant shoe"
This outstanding woman was born in May 1878 in America. Her father, having gone bankrupt, ran away from home, leaving his wife and four children without a livelihood. So, we can say that relations with men did not work out for Isadora Duncan from a very young age.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
At the age of 13, Isadora left school, taking up seriously only music and dance. And five years later she left for the big city of Chicago to achieve success and fame in the field of art. Here her first love was waiting for her - a red-haired Pole Ivan Mirosky, older than her by almost a quarter of a century and also married. However, the failure in her personal life was made up for by the first successes in dance - denying the classical school of ballet, expressing her momentary feelings in motion, young Duncan, dancing barefoot in transparent clothes, conquered the refined audience of secular salons. The novice dancer had money, she immediately went to Europe, hoping that some unknown world would open to her there.
In Greece, the dancer became interested in ancient art, since then the tunic has become a permanent attribute of her performances. But before Greece there was Budapest, where the heir to the Austrian throne himself noticed and appreciated the overseas star - Archduke Ferdinand. Here, on the Danube, Duncan met a new love, which also turned out to be short. Isadora's chosen one this time was a young Hungarian actor Oscar Take Care. Communication with him led Duncan to the sad conclusion that an ordinary family life with her beloved man was impossible for her.
She traveled to Germany, where she became interested in majestic music Wagner and tried to express it in her plastic improvisations. In Germany, she had a short and quite platonic romance with a local art critic. Heinrich Thode. A little later, when she went on tour to Russia for the first time, the already famous dancer managed to conquer another artist - the director, already famous by that time. Konstantin Stanislavsky. True, relations with him did not go beyond tender kisses.
For the first time, Duncan had a long and serious relationship with a man in Berlin, where she met the great English theater director. Gordon Krag, who also fell under the spell of both Duncan's personality and her art. The first weeks of life together were happy, but soon Craig began to hint that he would like to see Isadora not as a famous artist, but simply as a housewife. The dancer could not agree to this. And although they had a daughter, whom Craig gave the poetic Irish name Deedre, the union of the two artistic natures fell apart.
Meanwhile, the fame of Isadora Duncan was already thundering around the world. She was called the "divine sandal", and her dancing style became fashionable and leading in many cultural capitals of Europe, including St. Petersburg.
Dance of death
Inspired by motherhood, Isadora Duncan decided to take care of other children - she opened a dance school in Paris. The maintenance of this children's school was expensive, and then Duncan met one of the richest people in Europe. He was the son of the inventor and manufacturer of the famous sewing machines - Paris Eugene Singer. He willingly gave money for the school. Acquaintance grew into friendship, and then into love.
A dancer from a poor American outback has become a regular at social events and the owner of unheard-of luxury. a son was born Patrick. It seemed that happiness had come, all dreams had come true. But at one of the parties, Singer became terribly jealous of Isadora, quarreled with her and left for Egypt. The children stayed in Paris, while Duncan herself went on tour to Russia. Here she suddenly began to have nightmarish visions: among the white snowdrifts she sees two coffins, and at night she hears the “Funeral March” Chopin.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
With gloomy forebodings, Isadora returned to Paris and, taking the children, took them to rest in the picturesque place of Versailles near the French capital. Soon Singer also appeared there, a reconciliation took place. Again there was a sense of idyll. And again fate destroyed everything in the most terrible way.
After walking around Paris with Singer and the children, Isadora decided to stay in the city to take up dancing in her atelier. Singer also had business in Paris, so the children, along with the driver, were sent by car to Versailles. On the way, the car stalled, the driver went out to inspect the engine, and in the meantime the car rolled into the Seine, and the children died. The death of six-year-old Didre and three-year-old Patrick shocked Duncan so much that she could not even cry, but fell into a deep depression. At the same time, she interceded for the driver, knowing that he also had children.
She wanted to commit suicide, and only the little pupils from the dance school stopped Duncan. To somehow distract, Isadora went to the Mediterranean Sea. But here, too, she was haunted by images of dead children. Once they seemed to her in the waves of the sea, and Isadora fainted. And when she came to herself, she saw a handsome young man in front of her. "May I help you?" - he asked. "Yes, give me a child."
Their relationship was short-lived, the Italian was engaged and did not cancel the wedding. And their son died a few hours after birth.
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Last node
Great events took place in Europe - the First World War began and ended, empires fell, a revolution took place in Russia. In Soviet Russia and went at the invitation of the People's Commissar Lunacharsky in 1921 by Isadora Duncan. She stated: "I want the working class to be rewarded for all their suffering and deprivation by seeing their children beautiful." In Moscow, she opened another dance school for children.
When Isadora was only two years old, a fire broke out in their house, and the girl was thrown out of the window into the arms of a policeman. Since then, the scarlet flames have become for Duncan a kind of symbol of life and death. She often performed on stage with a huge scarlet scarf, creating with them the image of flashes of fire. Now in Soviet Russia, this scarf has also become a symbol of the revolution. She danced on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater under the "Internationale", and from the former royal box applauded her Lenin. A few years will pass, and the scarlet scarf will tie its last knot on Duncan's life.
In Moscow, a middle-aged dancer met a young and very popular Russian poet Sergei Yesenin. And although they did not know each other's language and communicated through an interpreter, passionate love broke out, which ended in an official marriage - the first in Duncan's life. But this love did not last long. The poet, as you know, drank heavily, they often quarreled, in the end, he sent her a telegram: "I love another, married, happy." When Yesenin died two years later (according to the official version, he committed suicide) and Duncan found out about this already in Europe, she said: “I sobbed and suffered so much because of him that he exhausted all my possibilities for suffering.” At the same time, Isadora Duncan acted very nobly - she gave all the rights to Yesenin's fees to the poet's mother and sisters, although, as a widow, they relied on her.
In those years, Duncan herself was in great need, she was almost 50 years old, with her former grace and former success, she could no longer dance. In addition, she opened dance schools for children wherever possible, which then usually quickly closed due to lack of funds. Only the Moscow dance school on Prechistenka lasted two decades, thanks to the support of the government. The school was run by a student and adopted daughter of Isadora - Irma Duncan.
Isadora Duncan Dance School. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Little is known about the last days of the great dancer. Among her last men is a Russian émigré pianist Viktor Serov who was half her age. She was terribly jealous of him and even wanted to commit suicide one day. But a few days after that, fate decreed otherwise. Going for a walk in an open car, Isadora Duncan knitted her favorite scarlet scarf with long ends. The car pulled away, the scarf caught in the axle of the wheel, tightened and strangled Duncan. It happened on a clear autumn day on September 14, 1927.
The great dancer and woman of an unusual tragic fate was buried in the famous Parisian cemetery of Pere Lachaise.
From childhood, Isadora Duncan had the feeling that everything was destined in her biography. She had a premonition of her world fame and knew that she would have to pay a terrible price for recognition and talent.
Fate seemed to punish her for success, selecting the most expensive people. Isadora loved many times and was ready to give all of herself, but the chosen ones, as a rule, abandoned her. She had to endure the worst thing for any mother - the death of her own children. The last mockery of fate was the absurd death of the dancer herself.
Isadora Duncan - childhood: Daughter of Terpsichore
As a child, she loved to dance on the seashore; later, Isadora said that the waves and wind taught her an unusual style. She danced barefoot - simply because the family did not have money for ballet shoes. This habit remained with her for the rest of her life, becoming one of the "highlights" of the image of her biography.
The youngest daughter of the Duncan family was considered a little strange, out of this world. Teachers often complained that the girl was in the clouds, instead of thinking about the lessons. Her mother only brushed it aside: she was left alone with four children, she had no time for her daughter's whims. Well-fed, healthy - and well. At the age of 13, Isadora left school without regret and joined a touring troupe. She only wanted to do dancing, and no one could stop her.
A few years later, an unusual dancer appeared in Chicago, who became the main sensation of the season. She performed in a short tunic, worn almost on a naked body, without the usual gymnastic tights in those days. Her dancing style was unique and unlike anything else. The “sandal” itself called itself the heir to ancient Greek traditions.
Terrible prophecy
The eroticism of her dances inflamed men's hearts, Isadora had crowds of ardent admirers. Nevertheless, until the age of 25, she remained a virgin: she believed that a true servant of the muses should remain chaste and not waste herself on carnal pleasures. True, her heart did not always obey her mind: back in Chicago, Isadora first fell in love with a 45-year-old artist of Polish origin Ivan Mirotsky. He touchingly looked after her, offered his hand and heart. And then the girl found out that he had a legal wife in Poland ...
To heal spiritual wounds, Isadora left for Europe, where her performances made a splash. In Paris, the city of love, she met someone who awakened her sensuality. Oscar Berezhi, whom Isadora met on tour in Budapest, was an unknown actor, but Duncan saw in him a noble knight, an unrecognized genius. However, Oscar, who quickly got tired of being the shadow of the "divine Isadora", left her.
Soon the dancer met a new love - director Gordon Craig. They not only met, but lived together. A year later, Isadora gave birth to a daughter. Motherhood transformed her so much that she was ready to leave her career for the sake of her family. But happiness did not last long. Craig, who never officially became Isadora's husband, returned to his former mistress.
Isadora, plunged into the abyss of darkness and depression, went to the famous soothsayer. What she learned did nothing to ease her condition. The palmist said that she was waiting for worldwide fame and success, but she had to lose two of her most beloved people.
The prediction comes true
Solace could only be found in work, and Isadora again plunged into the world of dance. She constantly came up with something new and invariably delighted the most sophisticated audience. Millionaire Paris Eugene Singer, heir to a huge sewing machine empire, had to work hard to win her heart. He gave Isadora furs and diamonds, daily sent luxurious bouquets. He was ready to throw the whole world at her feet.
Singer and Duncan lived together for several years, they had a son, a charming boy, in whom both souls doted. But family life did not work out again. Singer was languishing with jealousy: he wanted to lock Isadora at home so that she belonged to him alone, and Duncan could not live without a stage. And although the feelings have not yet cooled down, the couple broke up.
Isadora went on tour to Russia. All the way she was tormented by the most gloomy forebodings, she constantly recalled the prediction of the palmist. Once, on the way from the next concert, she was visited by a vision: two children's coffins in the snow. A chilling terror gripped my heart. She hurried to Paris, where the children remained and Singer lived. Isadora decided to make peace with him in the hope that they would have a full-fledged family. But all her hopes were dashed in an instant.
Having sent the children with a nanny for a car ride, Isadora was waiting for her lover for a serious conversation. He ran into the room with terrible news: the car in which the children were traveling had fallen off the bridge into the Seine. The doors jammed in the water, no one managed to get out.
Isadora Duncan's fatal scarf
Isadora fell ill with a fever. She did not want to live, her strength gradually left her. Doctors sent the inconsolable mother to a resort and prescribed complete rest.
She was indifferent to everything, mourning the dead kids from morning to evening. One day she was walking along the beach and saw two children's figures not far away. They were her children! They walked among the waves, and Isadora rushed towards them. The distraught woman would have drowned if she had not been pulled out by a passing young Italian officer. "Save me, save my mind, give me a child!" whispered Isadora... He became her lover, and the dancer became pregnant again. But a new tragedy followed: the boy died just a few hours after his birth.
After that, Isadora realized that she was not destined to be happy, that her lot was loneliness. From now on, work is the only thing that keeps her in this life. A new detail appeared in the stage image of the dancer - a long red scarf, which stood out against the background of a white tunic, like a bloody wound. He also symbolized an unhealed wound - in her heart.
Isadora Duncan experienced another vivid romance - with a Russian poet. He was 18 years younger, they spoke different languages, but she could not resist his pressure and charm. She was indifferent to the opinions of others: in love, like a girl, Isadora blossomed, she wanted to live again ... But Yesenin did not fit into European society. While they lived in Russia, relations developed perfectly, but abroad he could not write, he began to drink, and most of all he was annoyed that no one here knew the poet Yesenin. He was called "Isadora's husband"! Yesenin left everything and left for his homeland. Two years later, the news of his suicide came.
The feeling of impending doom, which had not let go of Isadora for many years, surged with triple force. She saw the omens of imminent death in everything and waited for her. On her last evening, getting into the car after the concert, she shouted to the fans: “Farewell, friends! I'm on my way to glory." The end of her long red scarf, which, as always, wrapped around her neck, was on the ground and, when the car started, got into the axle of the rear wheel. A sharp push tightened the noose around Isadora's neck. The driver stopped, the fans surrounded the car, but it was already impossible to save the legendary dancer.
Author of the biography: Natalia Serdtseva 15614
Duncan, Isadora - American dancer. Angela Isadora Duncan was born Dora Angela Duncan (Isadora Duncan) in San Francisco on May 27, 1877. In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE), the year of birth 1878 is indicated erroneously. The name and surname of the dancer is correctly pronounced Isadora Denkan, but in Russia she was always called Isadora Duncan. Isadora Duncan was Irish. Isadora Duncan's children drowned with their nanny in 1913. Didra, daughter of Gordon Craig, was 7 years old, and Patrick, son of Paris Eugene Singer, was only 4 years old. Duncan herself tragically died in Nice on September 14, 1927. She was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Duncan is an innovator and reformer of choreography, who gave in her dances, freed from formalistic classical ballet forms, a plastic embodiment of musical content. She contrasted the classical school of ballet with free plastic dance. She used ancient Greek plastique, danced in a tunic and without shoes. One of the first to use symphonic music for dancing, including Chopin, Gluck, Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner. Isadora dreamed of creating a new person for whom dancing would be more than a natural thing. With her dance, she restored the harmony of soul and body. She opened dance to people in its purest form, “self-valuable only in itself”, built according to the laws of pure art. In the harmonic dance art of Isadora Duncan, the desire for harmony and beauty is expressed in an ideal form. Starting from music, she came in motion to the harmonic canon, and that is why she became the main and only founder of the entire dance modern. Duncan has achieved a perfect match of the emotional expressiveness of musical and dance images. It was a new approach to the art of dance, a new method of creative expression that was outside the aesthetic boundaries of the traditional ballet school. The movement was born out of the music, not preceded it.
At the age of 13, Isadora left school and took up music and dancing seriously. As an independent dancer, Duncan first performed in Budapest in 1903, after which, in 1903, she and her family made a pilgrimage to Greece. She opened her first dance school with her older sister Elisabeth in 1904 in Germany in the city of Grunewald. She arrived in Russia for the first time on January 10, 1905. At the end of 1907, Duncan gave several concerts in St. Petersburg. At that time, she became friends with Stanislavsky. On April 16, 1915, the first performance of the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Pathetic Symphony took place. In July 1921, Duncan arrived in Soviet Russia at the invitation of A.V. Lunacharsky and L.B. Krasin, and organized a choreographic school in Moscow for the children of workers (a mansion at 20 Prechistenka Street), where about 60 girls aged from 4 to 10 years. Duncan's first performance in Moscow took place on November 7, 1921, on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater during the celebration of the fourth anniversary of October. While in Russia (1921-24), she married the poet S. Yesenin and traveled to the USA with him (1922-23). In 1922, Isadora got into big trouble after several interviews in which she spoke about atheism and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Her last New York performances were on January 13 and 15, 1923 at Carnegie Hall. After a divorce from Sergei Yesenin, in 1925, she returned to the United States, where she was harassed as a “Bolshevik spy”. Was deprived of US citizenship for conducting "red propaganda". As a result, she was forced to move to France, where she remained until the last days of her life. In 1925, the school founded by Duncan in Russia was deprived of state funding, however, the school and studio existed until 1949. After Duncan's departure, the studio was run by her adopted daughter, Irma. The school was closed for ideological reasons, as promoting "morbid, decadent art brought to our country from America." However, Duncan was followed by "plastic-sandals" L.N. Two books by Isadora Duncan were published in Russia: "Dance of the Future" (M., 1907) and "My Life" (M., 1930).
Today, in different countries of the world - America, France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Greece and Russia, the followers of Isadora Duncan's art preserve and develop the traditions of her dance. Duncan's original choreography has been recorded in sheet music, books on dance technique have been published, original Duncan dances performed by contemporary dancers have been filmed. In 2001, the Isadora Duncan Cultural Center for Pure Arts (Duncan Center) was established in St. Petersburg, within the framework of which, since 2002, the annual International Open Non-Commercial Festival in memory of Isadora Duncan (Duncan Festival) has been held.
Between 1906-1912
To seek in nature the fairest forms and to find the movement which expresses the soul in these forms—this is the art of the dancer. ... My inspiration has been drawn from trees, from waves, from clouds, from the sympathies that exist between passion and the storm."
“To look for the most beautiful forms in nature and to find such a movement that will express the soul in these forms - this is the art of a dancer .... My inspiration is caused by trees, waves, clouds, that community that exists in passion and storm.”
A. Duncan dancing in the theater of Dionysus, Athens, 1903
ROBERT EDMOND JONES: "Come away! her dancing says. Come out into the splendid perilous world! Come up on the mountain-top where the great wind blows! Learn to be young always! Learn to be incessantly renewed! Learn to live in the intemperate careless land of song and rhythm and rapture! Say farewell to the world you know and join the passionate spirits of the world's history! Storm through into your dreams! Give yourself up to the frenzy that is in the heart of life, and never look back, and never regret!"
"Get up!" says her dance. Step outside into this dazzling and dangerous world! Climb to the mountain top where the strong wind blows! Learn to be young forever! Learn to be constantly reborn! Learn to live in the harsh carefree land of songs, and rhythm, and delight! Say goodbye to the world you know and join the passionate soul of world history! Let the elements enter your dreams! Dedicate yourself to the frenzy that is at the heart of life and never look back and never regret!"
Far into the depths of centuries the soul plunges when Isadora Duncan dances; back to the morning of the world, when the greatness of the soul found free expression in the beauty of the body, when the rhythm of the movement corresponded to the rhythm of the sound, when the movements of the human body were one with the wind and the sea, when the gesture of a woman's hand resembled the blossoming rose petals, her foot stepping on the turf was like a leaf falling to the ground. When all the fervor of religious faith, love, patriotism, sacrifice or passion found its expression under the sounds of a cithara, harp or tambourine, when men and women danced in front of their hearths and their gods in religious ecstasy, or in the forests, or by the sea, because they were filled with the joy of life; every strong or positive impulse was transmitted from soul to body in absolute harmony with the rhythm of the universe.
Mary Fenton Roberts
Isadora and her students, 1908 (photographer Paul Berger)
In Venice, 1903
Photos Arnold Genthe made in New York 1915-18 during the visit of A. Duncan to America:
Isadora dances everything that others say, sing, write, play and draw, she dances Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Moonlight Sonata, she dances Botticelli's Spring and Horace's poems.
Maximilian Voloshin
CARL SANDBURG ("Isadora Duncan"): "The wind? I am the wind. The sea and the moon? I am the sea and the moon. Tears, pain, love, bird-flights? I am all of them. I dance what I am. Sin, prayer, flight, the light that never was on land or sea? I dance what I am."
"Wind? I am the wind. The sea and the moon? I am the sea and the moon. Tears, pain, love, the flights of birds? I am all of them. I dance myself as I am. Sin, prayer, flight, light, such, which has never been on land or sea ... I dance myself as I am."
SHAEMAS O'SHEEL: "What glorious things she makes the soul remember! Once we were young, and the leaping blades of our desire striking the granite facts of life lit lively fires of wonder. We were simple, so that when the moving beauty of nature and the joy of each other's company stirred us to ecstasies, we sought free and natural expression; we danced—we danced as the movements of waves and branches, and as the exquisite beauties of our own bodies suggested. subtle gestures and movements... The morning of time dawns on our spirits again, and once more we have a sense that hears the gods."
"What magnificent things it makes the soul remember! When we were young, the impatient blades of our desire pierced the granite facts of life and kindled living fires of wonder. We were simpler, and when the moving beauty of nature and the joy of communicating with each other caused ecstasy in us, we we were looking for a free and natural expression of feelings; we danced - danced, repeating the movements of waves and branches, as the graceful beauty of our own bodies suggested it. Such memories she evokes with her graceful gestures and movements ... The morning of time comes in our souls again, and again once we have the intuitive ability to hear the gods."
Sergei Yesenin, Isadora Duncan and her adopted daughter Irma. 1922
OK. 1923
1923
S. Yesenin and A. Duncan
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) - the famous American dancer-innovator, was the founder of free dance. She owned the development of a whole system and plastics associated with ancient Greek dances. Repeatedly, as a result of polls, Duncan was recognized as the greatest dancer in the world.
Isadora is also known for being the wife of the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
Childhood
Isadora was born on May 27, 1877. It happened in the US state of California, in the city of San Francisco on Geary Street. Her real name is Dora Angela Duncan.
Her father, Joseph Charles Duncan, pulled off a major banking scam, then took all the money and fled, leaving his pregnant wife with three children without a livelihood.
The mother of the future dancer, Mary Dora Gray Duncan, experienced this tragedy in her own way, she could not eat anything except oysters, which she washed down with cold champagne. Subsequently, when journalists asked Isadora the question at what age she first started dancing, the woman jokingly replied that, probably, even in the womb, champagne and oysters made themselves felt.
The girl's childhood cannot be called happy. The mother could barely lift her now four children on her shoulders and for a long time fought off the depositors deceived by her father, who now and then rallied under their windows.
We must pay tribute to Isadora's mother, the woman was not broken by such troubles and troubles. She made a promise to herself that she would bring up her children, provide everything necessary and grow good people out of them. By profession, my mother was a musician, and in order to support her family, she had to work very hard, giving private lessons. Because of this, she simply physically could not pay due attention to her children, especially the little Dora.
In order not to leave the baby at home alone for a long time, she was already sent to school at the age of five, while hiding the real age of the girl. Forever in the heart and memory of Isadora remained those unpleasant memories and feelings from childhood, when she felt uncomfortable and lonely among her older, well-off classmates.
But there were girls in childhood and good moments, albeit rare. The selfless mother in the evenings belonged only to her children, she played them the works of Beethoven and other great composers, read William Shakespeare, instilling a love of art from an early age. Children, like chickens around a hen, united around their mother, forming a strong and close-knit Duncan clan, which was ready to challenge the whole world if necessary.
Passion for dance
We can say that already at the age of six, Dora opened her first dance school. It was then that she created them all over the world, and then the little girl, along with her sister, simply taught the neighboring children to dance, to move beautifully and plastically. And by the age of ten, Duncan was already earning her first money by dancing. She not only taught younger children, but also came up with new beautiful movements. These were her first steps in creating her own dance style.
Very early, Isadora became interested in representatives of the opposite sex. No, she was not at all a dissolute nymphet, she was simply distinguished by amorousness from a young age. For the first time, she liked the young man Vernon, who worked in a pharmacy warehouse. Dora was at that time only eleven years old, but she so persistently sought attention to herself that Vernon had to lie that he was supposedly engaged. And only when the young man assured Isadora that he would soon marry, she fell behind him. The girl was still very young, falling in love turned out to be childishly naive, but even then it became clear that a persistent and eccentric person would grow out of her.
The school program was given to Dora with difficulty. And not because she did not understand something, on the contrary, Duncan was very capable. It was just that schoolwork caused Isadora to be terribly bored. The girl ran away from lessons many times and wandered along the seashore, listening to the music of the surf and inventing light airy dance movements to the sound of the waves.
Isadora was thirteen years old when she left school, saying that she did not see any point in learning, she considered it a useless occupation, in life she could achieve a lot even without a school education. She seriously began to pay attention to music and dance. At first, the girl was engaged in self-education. But soon she was lucky without anyone's patronage and recommendations, without cronyism and money: she got to the famous American dancer and actress Loi Fuller, who was the founder of modern dance.
Fuller took Isadora as her student, but soon the young Duncan began performing with her mentor. This went on for several years, and by the age of eighteen, a talented student went to conquer Chicago.
She showed her dance numbers in nightclubs, where she was presented to the public as an exotic curiosity, since Isadora performed barefoot and in a short ancient Greek chiton. The audience was shocked by the way Duncan performed, she danced so sensually and gently that it was impossible to take your eyes off her movements and get up from your chairs after the end of the dance. Such a length of dress in those days was unthinkable even for progressive America, nevertheless, no one has ever called Isadora's dances vulgar, they were so light, graceful and free.
Isadora's performances were successful, which allowed her to improve her financial condition and go to conquer Europe.
In 1903, she came with the entire Duncan family to Greece. Already in 1904, Isadora's deafening performances took place in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna. In Europe, she quickly gained fame.
In 1904, the first tour of Isadora took place in St. Petersburg. Then she came to Russia more than once, where there were a lot of admirers of her talent.
Despite such success, Duncan was not a rich woman, she spent all the money she earned on opening new dance schools. There were moments when she had no money at all, then Isadora was helped by friends.
Personal life
After Vernon, an apothecary warehouse worker, with whom Isadora fell in love at the age of eleven, for six years she was exclusively occupied with dancing, work and a career. Her early years passed without love adventures.
And since the age of 17, Duncan has experienced all the feelings that are subject to a woman on Earth - love, disappointment, happiness, grief, pain, tragedy. She, a principled opponent of marriage, had a too stormy personal life. Different men became her lovers: old and young, married and single, rich and poor, beautiful and talented or none at all.
When she performed in Chicago nightclubs, a Polish emigrant, artist Ivan Mirotsky, fell in love with Isadora unconsciously. He was not reputed to be handsome, wore a beard, and his mop of hair on his head was a bright red color. Nevertheless, Duncan took a liking to him, even though the man was almost thirty years older. Their romance with walks in the woods, kisses, courtship lasted a year and a half. The case began to move towards the wedding, and its date had already been set, when Isadora's brother found out that Mirotsky was married, his wife lived in Europe. Duncan painfully experienced this gap, it became for her the first serious tragedy in her life. To forget about everything, she decided to leave America.
Then the unsuccessful actor Oscar Berezhi appeared in her life. She was 25 years old, Oscar became Isadora's first man, despite the fact that she constantly revolved in bohemian circles. The wedding did not work out again, as Berezhi was offered a lucrative contract, and he preferred Isadora a career, leaving for Spain.
Four years later, Duncan met theater director Gordon Craig. Isadora gave birth to a daughter from him, but soon Craig left them and married his old friend.
Heir to the famous sewing machine dynasty, Paris Eugene Singer is the next man in Duncan's life. He really wanted to meet the dancer and one day after the performance he came to Isadora in the dressing room. She did not marry Singer, although she gave birth to a son from him.
Tragedy with children
She had a unique gift: Duncan had a presentiment when death was walking nearby. In her life, it happened more than once that nature itself sent her some kind of sign, and soon after that one of Isadora's relatives, friends or acquaintances died.
Therefore, when in 1913 terrible visions began to torment her, the woman lost her peace. She constantly heard funeral marches and saw small coffins. She went crazy worrying about her children. Duncan tried to make the life of the kids absolutely safe. With a common-law husband and children, they moved to a quiet, cozy place in Versailles.
Once Isadora was with her children in Paris, she had urgent business there, and she sent the kids with a chauffeur and governess home to Versailles. On the way, the car stalled, the driver got out to find out the reason. At that moment, the car drove off and fell into the Seine River, the children could not be saved.
Isadora's depression was terrible, however, she found the strength to defend the driver, realizing that he also had small children.
She was like a stone, did not cry and never spoke to anyone about this tragedy. But one day, while walking by the river, she saw the ghost of her little children, they were holding hands. The woman screamed, she went into hysterics. A young man who was passing by rushed to her aid. Isadora looked into his eyes and whispered: “Save… Give me a child!” From this fleeting connection, she gave birth to a baby, but he lived only a few days.
Duncan and Yesenin
In 1921, the greatest love came into her life. She met the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
A stormy romance began immediately on the day they met. She fell in love with him because Sergei reminded her of a little blond son with blue eyes. The difference of eighteen years did not prevent them from becoming spouses in 1922, in Duncan's life it was the first and only marriage.
Yesenin loved Isadora madly and admired her, they traveled around Europe and America, were happy, but not for long. He did not know English at all, and Isadora Russian. But not only these difficulties in linguistic communication broke their idyll. Yesenin was depressed that everyone abroad perceived him only as the husband of the great Isadora Duncan. The passion passed, and the eternal love union did not work out. Sergei returned to Russia two years after the wedding, and Isadora continued to love him.
He died in 1925, in the life of Duncan there was not another fair-haired, blue-eyed, most beloved.
Death
One close friend said about Isadora that it was as necessary for her to move quickly as to breathe. Duncan raced like crazy all her life, stopping only to eat and drink. She had all the prerequisites to crash her car at least twenty times.
Cars became a kind of obsession in Isadora's life and played a mystical role. Her children died in a car accident, the dancer herself crashed more than once, dissecting cars across Russia. During the European trip with Yesenin, they changed four cars, because Duncan simply terrorized the drivers, demanding to go as fast as possible, and several times these demands of her ended in tears.
It was as if she had been playing with cars all her life: who wins? Cars brought her pain, disappointment and tragedy, and she again sat down and raced. On September 14, 1927, the final came in Nice, Duncan lost. She had a date with another lover Benoit Falketto. Isadora sat in the passenger seat of his two-seater sports car and did not notice how the edge of a long shawl was left overboard and caught on the rear wheel. Benoit stepped on the gas, the car moved, the shawl pulled like a string, and in an instant broke Isadora's neck. At 9.30 pm at the Saint-Roch clinic, doctors recorded the death of the great dancer.
Many poetry lovers associate her name exclusively with Sergei Yesenin, believing that she was only a companion and inspirer of the great Russian poet. The Western world sees the situation from a different angle, perceiving Yesenin as the husband of a famous dancer, a real revolutionary in art.
Contemporaries gossiped about their stormy romance, high-profile quarrels and reconciliations, and biographers continue to savor the details to this day. But we must not forget that these were not only passions and intoxicating attraction - it was a union of two strong creative personalities, gifted and selfless.
Today, the biography of Isadora Duncan is interesting not only for professional dancers and researchers of Sergei Yesenin's work. For many, she has become a symbol of women's freedom and independence, and to some extent even a symbol of feminism and emancipation.
Our article will tell about the difficult fate of Isadora Duncan, biography, personal life, creativity and the role she played in the art of dance.
Dora's childhood
Dora Angela Duncan was born in San Francisco to a wealthy family on May 26, 1877. She was the fourth child of her parents. Her father, Joseph Charles, was a banker and mining engineer, famous as a connoisseur and connoisseur of art. But soon after the birth of Dora, the family went bankrupt and for some time lived in real need.
When Dora was not even a year old, her parents divorced. The mother, along with four children, moved to Auckland and for some time earned her bread by sewing and taking piano lessons.
Dance of the Feelings
From childhood, not only Isadora, but also her brother and sisters were passionate about dancing. But unlike other children, little Dora was always trying to find her way. She danced what she felt.
She had to quit her studies in a dance club quite early, because there simply wasn’t enough money to pay. But Isadora did not give up dancing, on the contrary, she began to teach this art to others. It was with such lessons that she earned her first money.
At the age of 18, the girl moved to Chicago, where her dream of a big stage led her. But the city did not accept it: the samples ended in failure. Failure did not stop Isadora at all, she did not begin to doubt herself, but only realized that the world was not quite ready for her work.
New York was next. This time, luck smiled at the girl, and she got a job at the famous John Daly Theater in those days.
For a while, Isadora took ballet lessons from the famous Marie Bonfanti, but soon realized that this was not what she wanted. She was disappointed not only in ballet, but also in America, which, in her opinion, could not appreciate her talent.
Isadora in Europe
In 1898 the dancer came to London. This decision brought good results: Isadora began to receive invitations to speak, her income increased significantly.
In the biography of Isadora Duncan, an interesting fact related to money deserves special attention. She did not know how to save and always spent the lion's share of what she earned on opening another school, renting a studio, and financing tours. The business that gave her income was also the main source of expenses. So this time, the first thing she did was rent a dance studio, as soon as the income level began to allow it.
In 1902 she traveled to Paris, where she made a fateful acquaintance with Loi Fuller, the founder of the modern dance genre. The girls had similar views on art, which made them akin. They both believed that dance should not be a strict system of movements (like ballet), but a natural expression of feelings and thoughts. Soon after they met, the girls went on a tour of Europe.
Then there were other tours and tours. Isadora was finally recognized, she was expected and admired in Europe and her native America.
In 1912, the couturier Paul Poiret invited Isadora to perform at a private party, the leitmotif of which was the Versailles Bacchanalia of Louis XIV. Poiret personally made an outfit for the guest. She, barefoot and dressed only in a Greek tunic, danced on the tables among the guests. The performance made a real sensation, and the image remained with Isadora for many years: she had gone on stage barefoot before, but she could not find the perfect outfit. They became a light tunic that does not constrain movements and allows you to admire the magnificent plasticity.
Another amazing story happened in 1915. Brief biographies of Isadora Duncan do not always pay attention to this event, but it was truly fateful. Due to debts, she could not leave the UK in time and sail to the USA on the magnificent Lusitania liner. Litigation with creditors dragged on, as a result, Isadora hastily had to change tickets. The Lusitania sank off the coast of Ireland, torpedoed by a German submarine. This disaster claimed 1198 lives.
Isadora had a chance to dance in the USSR, and in many European countries, and at home in the USA. But she herself was not enthusiastic about such activities, considering her real mission not to entertain the public, but to teach.
dance schools
The first school of Isadora began to work in 1904 in Germany, and soon another one appeared, this time in Paris. The First World War made its own adjustments: the school in France was soon closed.
On the personal front
When considering the biography of Isadora Duncan's personal life, a separate chapter is usually allocated.
She did not seek to advertise the details, but she did not make a special secret of them either, so some information differs.
It is known that Isadora was an atheist and an opponent of stereotypes. She was not married to any of the fathers of her children, considering the paperwork useless. She was not interested in the opinion of society, and she was not afraid of condemnation that she became a mother out of wedlock.
There is evidence of the bisexuality of the dancer, but not all sources confirm them. However, Isadora's letters to Mercedes de Costa have been preserved, to whom she wrote about tender feelings and readiness to go to the ends of the world for the sake of love. Mercedes responded just as gently and soulfully.
Information about a romantic union with Lina Poletti is even more scarce. It is known that the women met on the island of Corfu and became very friends, but it seems that information about a love affair is greatly exaggerated.
mother's tragedy
Considering a brief biography of Isadora Duncan, one can get an idea that the dancer experienced great grief - the death of her own children.
She gave birth to Derry's daughter Beatrice in 1906 from theater director Gordon Craig. Four years later, from the union with the heir of the Swiss magnate Paris Singer, a son, Patrick August, was born.
In 1913, the car, which was driven by children with a driver and a nanny, stalled on the road. The driver went out to check the engine, at which time the car rolled into the Seine. Amazingly, in the grief-stricken heart of the dancer, there was room for generosity: she did not blame the driver, because she knew that he also had children, and did not want to deprive them of their father.
A terrible tragedy led to a deep depression. Trying to save a wounded soul, Isadora decided to take a desperate step. In her autobiographical book, she later wrote about how she begged a stranger for one night in order to conceive a child. This man was a young Italian sculptor, Romano Romanelli, and their relationship gave Isadora the desired pregnancy. However, such a long-awaited baby was not destined to console the mother's heart: he died a few days after birth.
Isadorables
Adopted children became her joy. She was the first to adopt six dancers, whom she taught back in Germany: Maria Theresa, Anna, Irma, Gretel, Liesel, Erica. Under the tutelage of a foster mother and mentor, the girls continued their dance classes. The team was familiar to viewers from different countries under the name Isadorables (a play on words from Isadora and adorables - “charming”). The girls enjoyed great success, toured, gathering full houses.
Moving to the USSR
In 1921, Isadora Duncan received an offer from A. V. Lunacharsky to open a dance school in the USSR. The government promised support, including financial support, but in fact Isadora financed the activities of the school herself.
However, if this saddened her, it was not enough to close the institution. She was happy teaching others. The popularity of the school grew, and in the same year the first performance of the students took place, which went down in history.
It was dedicated to the anniversary of the October Revolution and took place on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. The dance program, personally invented by Isadora, among other things, included the Varshavyanka dance, during which the banner, which fell from the hands of the fallen soldiers, was picked up by other strong hands. The action took place to the sounds of the Polish revolutionary march. This performance brought the dancer a resounding success, although evil tongues complained that she was far from being as light and graceful in her tunic as she was in her youth.
The dancer lived in the USSR for 3 years, all this time devoting herself to teaching. Isadora did not live richly, she, as usual, spent money mainly on the school and the team, sometimes experiencing need and putting up with the lack of the most necessary. Various troubles served as a pretext for returning to the United States. After Isadora's departure, the school in the USSR was headed by her adopted daughter Irma.
Acquaintance with Yesenin
1921 was an eventful year for the American dancer Isadora Duncan. In the same year, an acquaintance with Yesenin, who was 18 years younger than her, took place.
She knew almost no Russian, and he knew English even worse. But real feelings flared up between them. In May 1922, the lovers tied the knot.
Isadora received Soviet citizenship, but Russia never became her native. Yesenin, accompanying her on trips around the world, suffered from homesickness. He left his wife already in 1923 and returned home.
Researchers of the Russian poet's work note that he did not leave poems dedicated to Isadora, and only in the poem "The Black Man" are there hints of her.
The married life of two creative people, separated by a language barrier and age difference, and even not being compatriots, simply could not be simple. The couple quarreled, and then just as violently reconciled. Yesenin languished from longing and boredom in a foreign land, seeking consolation in amusements and extravagance. He was oppressed by her feelings, in which a maternal desire to control and patronize was clearly visible. But when in 1925 Isadora received a letter from Irma with the news of the death of the poet, it was a real shock for her. She wrote an obituary full of despair and sorrow and stated that she sincerely mourns her lover, with whom she has always lived in harmony and understanding. Later, the dancer published memoirs about Yesenin, and transferred the entire fee (more than 300 thousand francs) to his family in the USSR.
last years of life
After the poet's death, Isadora performed little. The press wrote about her promiscuity and problems with alcohol. Inspiration left her, the stage was no longer the main joy of life. Debts accumulated, former friends were lost in the cycle of events, beauty faded ...
Scarlet scarf
It is hard to imagine that such a bright life, full of victories and accomplishments, losses and hardships, would end with a trivial, quiet death ... In the biography of Isadora Duncan, closely connected with the stage, the finale was bright in its own way.
September 14, 1927, leaving the house of friends in Nice, she got into an open sports car "Amilcar" and said that she was going towards fame (according to other sources, towards love).
The driver started the engine, the car started, the air currents picked up the ends of a magnificent hand-embroidered silk scarf. Its floors were tangled in the spokes of the wheel, Isadora was thrown overboard. She died instantly from a fracture of the cervical vertebrae.
The personal biography, life and death of Isadora Duncan, and in particular her work, still inspire poets and artists, directors and artists today. Several biographical films have been made about her, and many books have been written. The dance style she founded is still taught in many schools around the world.
