Introduction to the discipline
Modern dance is a dance that seeks to express spiritual needs.
human spirit, it is the language of feelings, expressing the most secret movements of the spirit
shi. The naturalness and free expression of the dancers serve this purpose.
the best way. Modern dance is always a dance on the edge, to the limit
saturated with emotions. With the advent of modern dance, new
opportunities for dancers through the use of movements, expressing
exorbitant severity, as well as ugliness, since "ugly" movements
dance, along with beautiful movements, contribute to the expression
feelings and emotions.
“Improvement of body, mind and soul” remains relevant in
Nowadays. Modern dance helps the physical development of a person and
quenches him spiritually. Ballet training is based on a precise, unchanging
movement program. Modern dance rejected this program, changing and proving
that movement arises naturally and individually. Movements in dance
Art Nouveau are dictated by nature and are built according to the anatomical laws of the movement
of the human body. “True dance does not consist of various
updated pas and pos. The dancer does not need them: he only has to find
features of the movement, most truthfully expressing the movements of his soul
shi". This is a method of movement, subordinate to breathing and anatomically justified.
body movements. This is a certain dance system with its own
principles and laws of technical performance, in which the body acquired
your full language. Education of the muscular apparatus, free from
canons of classical dance, develops and liberates the human body.
It gives the ability to control oneself, to move easily and plastically, freely.
keep in life. This new type of dance was born from the principles laid down
nyh Isadora Duncan, and imbued with her psychological truth.
Section 1. From the history of the issue
The historical role of Isadora Duncan in the development of dance
"The history of modern dance is the history of personalities ...", - said in one of
interview with A. Girshon. Undoubtedly, a new dance - modern dance - began with
named after Isadora Duncan. "The charm of the first will always be for her name
light halo. Her historical role bears comparison with the roles
all the founders of new eras and styles: she was inspired by the enthusiasm
the spirit of denial, the spirit of magnificent rebellion, creative protest against
conventional art forms.
Francisco. At the age of 5, hiding her age, she was sent to school. Due to family
She was very often alone during her stays. Wandering by the sea, she betrays
indulge in your own fantasies. Everything danced around her: flowers, birds,
us, she danced too. At the age of 13, Isadora left school in order to seriously
play music and dance. In 1895, 18-year-old Isadora Duncan, accompanied by
driving her mother went to Chicago. But an attempt to conquer this go-
her art ended for her only in disappointment. Then, in
New York, she studied at the ballet school for a year, working in the theater, where she
there were pantomime performances. At the end of 1896 with the troupe of Daly Isadora
went on tour in England. Returning at the beginning of 1898, Aise-
Dora Duncan parted ways with the troupe, concentrating her efforts on her own
military independent career. Among the first dances of her repertoire were
"Ophelia" and "Narcissus" - both to the music of E. Nevin; "Breath of Spring", "Dance
joy" - both to music by Strauss; "Rubai of Omar Khayyam" - three to music
Strauss and three to music by Mendelssohn. These lyrical dances were the basis
on literary sources. In 1899 she and her mother, sister
and two brothers in the hold of a cattle ship, the only
transport, which was then affordable for them, is sent to conquer the Euro-
pu. Here she meets influential people, finds her patrons.
lei. Her tours begin. 1900-1901 - Paris; 1902 - Ber-
Lin and Vienna. Success swiftly rushed ahead of her. In 1903 Isadora
was able to go to the coveted Greece. Greek dance was the ideal for Aise-
dora. Her dances are characterized by the spirit of Greek simplicity. Greek technique,
explains Ginner, a contemporary of Duncan, begins with an assessment of the role that
ruyu is performed by every part of the body. The ancient Greeks highly valued
the beauty of a human foot that it would never occur to them to cover it
during the dance. Each part of the body had its own emotional functions.
“The meaning of the liberated body in dance is equal to the principle of pure colors
Pressionists ... Isadora Duncan was the first to dance without shoes ... ". To her
applauded the best stages of Europe, everywhere her performances
went with a full house. Its first appearance in Russia dates back to 1904-
1905 years. Her performances in Russia made a significant impression,
it was from this era that Russian ballet began to join Chopin and Schumann.
Duncan receives recognition as the inspiration for the dramatic
ballet revival in the 20th century.
In 1906, fate rewarded A. Duncan with the birth of his daughter Didra, and in
1910 son Patrick was born. Love took a big place in life
dancers. For all the novels of A. Duncan ended dramatically, and the children
were the light in the series of her unhappy love. In January 1913 both children
Isadora, together with the governess, were driving from Paris to Versailles, and
the car, along with the children, fell into the Seine. From this loss, A. Duncan is not justified
never curled.
At the beginning of her career, A. Duncan studied plastic in-
interpretation of music, the art of open improvisation (occurs in our
days). She had the rare gift of painting music, using it to pro-
awakening your own emotions, visions and dreams. "About the musical
The verses of her dances talked and argued especially a lot. Dance Duncan determined
as "a mimic illustration for music", as "the aspiration of the life of the spirit,
concentrated in music, rhythmically embody in found fanta-
ziya images". In the sounds of a musical work, she was looking for eternal
rhythms that led the hand of the creator. Not an illustration, but a translation into another language
would be the exact definition of her dance." The movement basis was
where a simple gymnastic complex. And, living in London, on tour with
Daly troupe, Isadora took ballet lessons from Katty Lanner (approx.
ballerina of the Royal Theatre). Practicing classical dance, she
more convinced of his failure. And the more she's into it
convinced, the stronger her determination to go her own way grew stronger.
She refuses classical forms, becoming a "subverter" of the class.
sic dance. Her dance is based on the principle of the naturalness of human life.
century in dance.
The school of François Delsarte had a strong influence on Isadora's dance.
(1811-1871), his theory of body movements. Plastic system F. Delsarte
contains an analysis of many varieties of gesture and body positions. Stre-
trying to figure out how movement becomes material for art
imagery, he established an extremely precise scale of functional
of each part of the body in its connection with emotions and was the first to scientifically substantiate
human gestures, giving each of them a name. Delsarte recognized the gesture
purposeful and organically connected with the experienced feeling. He
said that there is nothing more terrible and regrettable than a gesture that does not carry in itself
it makes no sense that any feeling, experience or joy a person experiences
gives through gestures, pos. And no matter what the words say, no movements
when they don't lie. His theory became widespread at the beginning of the 20th century. and lay down in
the basis of A. Duncan's creative searches. Having determined for himself that the human body
can be divided into three main areas: head - mental area, upper
torso - emotional and spiritual zone, lower torso - vital and physical
Skye, Isadora was inclined to believe that the source of movement originates in
upper torso, so in the dance she was interested in the emotional and spiritual
sides. “Movement is motivated by emotion, and the instrument of its expression
must be a human body." “With all the grace of your being, your-
with pirouettes, languor, awe of nakedness under the covers, she created
la a new language, an ensemble of metaphors capable of conveying musical
times,” wrote the composer Gustave Charpentier.
Isadora was the first to use ugly movements as an important element
dance ment. The "Dance of the Furies", created by her in 1911, showed how
ugly movements in dance can contribute to the expression of feelings and
emotions. For her, the only criterion for evaluating movement was the answers to
questions: is it natural? Is it true? Is it expressive? “She reproduced
excites in his dance the whole gamut of human emotions, - said Fokin, -
America's greatest gift to the arts."
With the outbreak of the First World War, Isadora began to create dances on
political and social themes such as "La Marseillaise" and "Slavonic
All American representatives of modern dance considered themselves to be after-
A. Duncan's followers, despite the fact that her creative path took shape in
mainly in Europe. Isadora had many followers, but to become the
the innovator of a new direction in choreography was not given to her.
. America's first modern dance school
In America, the first school of modern dance was opened in 1915 by Te
home of Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. The program of this dance school was "perfect
cultivating the body, mind and soul." The students learned Spanish
Greek and Oriental dances. The use of Greek themes and symbols
phonic music - a clear influence of A. Duncan. At school, in addition to dancing,
other forms of art and philosophy also began to develop. Much attention was paid
costume, which was considered an integral part of the plastic expressive
sti. By the technical virtuosity and pomp of the Denishawn performance
were purely compared with the Russian Ballets. The emergence of the school and creative
the search for its organizers suggests that modern dance is gradually
rotated into a certain dance system with its own principles and
technical laws. The appearance of the school was the first attempt
who systematize the "new" dance and Ted Shawn with Ruth St. Denis began
the first professional teachers of modern dance.
Saint-Denis (1879-1968) was a dancer, choreographer and teacher.
She shared the views of F. Delsarte and did gymnastics according to his system.
topic. She gained fame by performing theatrical cult
dances of the East. "Ruth St. Denis was undeniably one of the brightest
new dance stars. Some kind of, almost ideal, embodiment has been achieved in it.
nie. Along with her realism, Ruth Saint-Denis intoxicated with striking sensuality.
the subtlety of her image. Her dance is elemental, extrajudicial, insane, at the same time
deeply thought out, conscious ... Of all the considered options for Ruth's dance
Saint-Denis alone has style." Ruth Saint-Denis was passionate about oriental dance
tsem, later, after parting with Ted Shawn, she organized in New York
school of oriental dance, where he spent sessions of yoga and meditation. "Before 1963
years she performed with concerts, lectured, taught.
Ted Shawn (1891-1972) was a dancer, teacher, choreographer
rum. He started dancing at the age of 17. In 1910 he organized a school and
small troupe. In 1914 he became a partner of R. Saint-Denis. T. Shawn
led the men's dance group. "He initiated the professional
national American male dance. Using in dance performances
the general folklore of various peoples, including the American Indians, T.
Shawn has enriched the vocabulary of modern dance.” Denis Shawn's school was
professional school and lasted until the 30s of the XX century, giving
the birth of the first generation of choreographers and performers of the American
modern dance. Such well-known teachers and choreographers came out of this school.
like Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Martha Graham.
Martha Graham - the founder of the modern dance system.
Principles and laws of motion in her technique
In the history of modern dance, one name stands above all. That name is Martha Grae
hem. She was born in the family of a psychiatrist in the city of Allegheny (Aleghsni),
State of Pennsylvania May 2, 1893. The ancestors of her family were the first American
Kanese settlers, Irish great-grandfather came to America from Scotland with
aiming to make a career in Pittsburgh. Babysitter Catholic Lisey, incredible you
thinker, knew many fairy tales. As a child, the future famous dance-
She was surrounded by servants in the house and gardeners - Japanese and Chinese. So about-
at once, M. Graham was influenced by two religions: Presbyterian and Roma
but Catholic. After attending college, she began a serious career in 1916.
New dance class at the Denishawn School in Los Angeles. by her teachers
were Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. T. Shawn drew attention to the swarthy ex-
centric girl with long strong legs and gave her a leading role in
fantastic ballet "Xochitl" to the music of Grun. So the dance began
career M. Graham.
“Small, with black hair, a long face and very, very
thin. She did whatever she wanted with her body. She had a small
foot, flexible hook as well as strong. She was small in stature, but in her
lived a great power. It was God's gift of strength and flexibility...,” recalls M.
Cunningham. She was characterized by lyrical qualities and a well-learned
in "Dani-Shown" oriental style of performance.
Until 1923, M. Graham worked in the troupe of the school, performing leading
roles in performances. She is attracted to finding her own way in choreography. "IN
our days, when people are opposed to hostile and threatening re-
realities, choreography can no longer be just art - masterful
a whim of the imagination or the revival of a beautiful romantic dream.
Man wants not to forget himself, but to know himself. The dance must become an act
active participation in life, a necessity,” said M. Graham. Since 1923
year, she begins dancing in the Broadway revue "Greenwich Village Follis",
staging dances for herself. Since 1926 - begins to teach at the theater
1926 M. Graham made her debut in New York with great success as
choreographer, but still retaining the exotic manner of dance taken from
Denishawn School.
In 1927, M. Graham organizes his own troupe from those devoted to her
students and begins to create his own style of dance and choreography.
This happened during the formation of the art of modern dance as
directions in choreography. It was at this time that M. Graham began to make
the first steps in creating your unique technique.
Significant influence on the formation of aesthetic views of M.
Graham was rendered by the composer Louis Horst, with whom she was deeply connected
personal and creative relationships. L. Horst was for M. Graham her
a supporting "pillar", a person who was initiated into her creative
searching. He introduced M. Graham to the ideas of Mary Wigman, a representative
German expressionist school of dance. Expressive plastic
dance M. Wigman considered a biologically natural reflection
certain moments of the psychological state of a person,
contrasting it with classical ballet. "She dances without music, and her
immaculately developed body, allowing all turns and postures, and its
dance against the background of iodine, sky and earth is opposed to all the most wonderful
frilly expressionism, as a magnificent promise of the future - organ-
the insignificance of the dance, which should not be confused with the old natural
Isadora's naturalism. Mary Wigman believed that space is the world
dancer, it is a reflection of infinity, a symbol of the ever-changing
around dance medium. Movement fills the soul of the dancer with delight
complete merging with space, and these ideas turned out to be close to M. Graham.
The dancer must "peer, ponder through space", as
if it were impenetrable, moving - “listen to
space” and “carve out” a place for yourself in it. Getting to know the views
German dancer helped M. Graham to get rid of stylization
and exoticism inherited from Saint-Denis.
In her creative search, she determined that the movement under-
obeys three basic constants: time, space, energy. He
believed that the internal energy of the performer is released and
"splashes" into space during the dance. Like K.S. Stanislavsky,
M. Graham emphasized that emotion provokes movement.
Movement, she believed, should and could define emotion more precisely,
than words. "No matter what the words say - the movements never lie... the dance
should not do anything that you can say in words. He must
be expressed in actions colored by deep feelings that can
be expressed only by movements. Having created her own school and troupe, she
She also created her own language of movements, developing its technique in detail.
An important component of her technique was the so-called internal impulse:
"She not only used our bodies, she also used our souls,
our inner life...”, her students recall.
M. Graham's technique lessons began with simple movements that
turned into long dance chains with the addition of various
positions of arms and legs and changing directions, levels of movement This new
technique and was very bold and was not limited to generally accepted
traditions and stereotypes. She started with her own beautiful body
Graham and the extraordinary movements she performed. This technique
dance was and is an opportunity to find a way of self-expression through
the movement of the body in dance, the appearance of which is largely made up of breathing. M.
Graham found the answer to her own questions by discovering new movement
body capabilities. She paved the dregs to create her own manner
dance using contraction and release. Any movement must be
motivated by the inner life of the dancer. Martha said that when
the inner life is not developed, "infertility" develops, and the lack
motivation will lead to meaningless movement, meaningless movement
Downfall. This is a completely new approach to the physics of motion, subordinate
respiration and anatomical changes during the respiratory process. M.
Graham revealed the mechanism of movement - effort and relaxation, carefully
hidden in classical dance. It became an essential element of her
technique, its concept of movement based on "compression -
release." It is an outpouring that fills the whole body. She said,
that movement should not be invented, but discovered in oneself. Martha Graham
used all sorts of ways to awaken the imagination, including in
lessons to work on hundreds of images of animals. Martha taught in free
manner, fully concentrating on the subject. Every year in class
new moves added.
In 1938, Eric Hawkins entered Martha's life. He became the first
a man in the troupe, and later - her husband. His appearance was coming
Femininity in Art M. Graham. It was a new stage in her life and
creativity. “With the advent of men, the nature of the company has changed, and with
technology has changed. What was smooth and strong is now
weightless and impetuous, like mercury, ”remember the first performers
troupe of Martha Graham.
M. Graham introduces a classical dance lesson into the work of the troupe, which
Eric Hawkins began teaching. He had a classical background and
joining the company, he danced in the Balankhin Ballet. The dancers were
shocked by the appearance of the machine in the studio. Ballet was their antagonist.
“I loved her old technique more. Yes, people hurt their knees. But this
it was more inventive, it was more exciting. A lot of
exercises with parallel legs disappeared, exercises on the floor too
were changed…,” recalls John Butler. Technology has expanded and
enriched, but the basic technical principles remained unchanged. E.
Hawkins, dancing in "American Document" (1938), added to the movement
weight, power and strength, which was not there before him. In "Letter to the World" (1940)
the created men's group participated. M. Graham has changed a lot here
his technique for the sake of creating "male" movements. Inside some
variations and parts of the scenes of the main dance of men and women kept
gender relations, but more emotionally than through
movement. The main changes were brought about by the introduction of the male
athleticism, which was a significant change in vocabulary. In the 40s. V
dancers began to come to the troupe from classical choreographic
preparation. M. Graham, taking into account and using classical dance, created
his own system of correlation between classical dance and his own technique. She
was interested in using classical dance to develop
of his technique.
M. Graham, being interested in all kinds of art, created her own “theater
dance." She approached the characterization process like a dramatic actor.
Dramatic training of performers was important in the troupe
Graham. The dramatic approach to the dance was obvious, and this was facilitated by
the inner depth of Graham's work, her superhuman strength and
a dramatic talent that was legendary. It would be appropriate here
cite the memoirs of John Butler, a member of the troupe from 1943 to 1953: “I
heard her sobs. It wasn't just crying or even despair. This
there was something bigger and deeper, almost animal suffering. These were the flows
tears. There was something extraordinary, something from gothic stories or
Greek tragedies. It happened after the break with Eric Hawkins.
Throughout Graham's life, her technique has steadily grown,
expanded and changed. But she always remained the one "... from what we
depended not only for endurance training, but also for obtaining
source of motivation for emotional satisfaction,” says Peter
Sperling, troupe dancer from 1973 to 1987, associate professor of dance at
University of Michigan. The members of the troupe helped M. Graham to create
and conducting classes and experiments, calling her studio "the temple of the pelvic
truths." In 1957, the film "The World of the Dancer" was filmed, which reveals
Graham's main ideas and her troupe is represented. Sophie Maslova and Gertrude
Schurr, while at Graham's company, made a practical Lesson Description and
created a detailed curriculum. In practice, this program has 4
level of study and takes about three years. The program includes, in addition to
studying Graham technique, studying music, composition, teaching
seminars and presentations.
In the Graham technique, the class begins on the floor. Followed
kneeling exercises, knee bending exercises that
developed into a series of movements in order to rise from the priest. movements
body and arms were performed in a standing position using various
jumping along the diagonals of the class and in a circle. New patterns have been introduced
counts: slow quarter, double count for percussive motion or count
thirds for lyrical movements. Change of accent and counting, blending
rhythms and uneven dimensionality have become familiar to modern dance.
Patterns of 10 or 5 bills have also become common. Dancers must dance
barefoot. “They have to come to class and get their bodies ready for work.
School is a disciplined place because there is only one
freedom is discipline,” said M. Graham, “I prefer to teach
their students from the age of nine. I'm biased towards having
prior training and would prefer it to be ballet. Eat
things that should be familiar: fifth position, for example, next - pile,
the use of various poses of the body, but only ordered.
In 1970, at the age of 76, being 49 years old on stage, M Graham
left the troupe. "My body can no longer do what I want," said
she. She fell into depression, losing the will to live. rebirth
occurred only in 1973: “My work must continue even if I
I can't dance anymore." M. Graham continued to live, rehearsing,
traveling, creating new dances for the troupe and watching classes at the School.
In 1984, she was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor. Until the very last
day she remained elegant and fit. In 1991, M. Graham died.
Her book The Notebooks of Martha Graham, published in 1973, sheds light on
sources of Graham's creativity as a dancer and choreographer.
Having traced the life path of M. Graham, we can confidently say that
her dancing technique changed as her personality changed
a performer who has transformed in her aesthetic perception,
in an intuitive search for movements that would reflect social
Problems. "You have so little time to prepare for your birth in
a moment, for a moment,” noted M. Graham.
"We remember Martha" - under this name the series is published
interviews and memoirs edited by Joseph X. Mazo. Author creates
portrait of a purposeful, devoted to art artist, faithful
certain principles and values of evolutionary change. This is a portrait
a woman who, realizing her strength, is ready to admit mistakes and start
re-create: “She could be ruthless with her
dancers and generously inspire them. She could be sharp and tactful
she had a sharp mind and loved to laugh, adored "soda", counted sweat in
classroom "pure pretense", was practical. And those who worked with her,
understood that they were communicating with a genius.
At the beginning of the XX century. she, in fact, became the oracle of the choreography of the new
time. Various ideas of European and American modern dance found
in her work the most holistic and versatile implementation. At the same
time, the art of M. Graham was the fruitful basis of a new stage
development of modern dance. Directly or indirectly, her work influenced
almost all foreign choreographers who came to the stage at the beginning
fifties of the XX century. M. Graham School of Modern Dance,
established in 1927 in New York, is now the largest center
- Introduction………………………………………………………………………………2
- Chapter 1. Time of theatrical apprenticeship.
- 1.1 The beginning of wanderings………………………………………………………………………4
- 1.2 Success…………………………………………………………………………………12
- 1.3 A new flash of love…………………………………………………………....22
- Chapter 2
- 1.1 Shadow of tragedy……………………………………………………………………..29
- 1.2 Russian period…………………………………………………………………...…38
- Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………48
- List of used literature………………………………………………..……50
Introduction.
An invisible spiritual thread, a spiral, passes through the fate of each person, and everything that develops around it supports its existence, and there is real life.
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) is a famous American dancer, the first to start dancing in the Art Nouveau style. She had an immeasurably great influence on Russian dance art at the beginning of the 20th century. Critics of that time defined Duncan's dance as "pictorial", borrowing forms from the imitation of natural, ordinary postures and movements, the mimic transmission of emotional experiences. Duncan learned a lot by observing natural phenomena, studying the art of the past: Greek vase painting, Tanagra figurines, paintings by Italian Renaissance masters. Creating dances, Duncan was inspired by the music of composers of different eras and different styles: Beethoven, Gluck, Chopin, Schumann, Grieg, Tchaikovsky. The decision to dance to classical music for that time was unusually bold, from the point of view of some, including musicians, impermissibly bold. Others were enthusiastic about this innovation.
Of particular importance was the work of Duncan to raise the prestige of dance art on the concert stage. Perhaps for the first time, non-theatrical dance began to be treated as a serious art. The influence of Duncan's creativity and her idea of introducing the broad masses to the art of dance turned out to be fruitful.
The influence of Duncan's work on classical ballet turned out to be significant. Her concept was a complete antithesis to the conventions of academic choreography. And in her statements, she repeatedly criticized and ridiculed the conservatism of the ballet. She herself did not have a special choreographic education, although as a child her mother brought her to classes in a ballet class. With her characteristic categoricalness, Isadora rejected the mechanical techniques and conventions of classical dance. Undoubtedly, the success of Duncan's new dance philosophy was supported by the visual embodiment of her dance images by the dancer. Having by nature a great artistic and dancing gift, Duncan carried away many admirers. But no one could repeat her personality. These were just replicated copies of the outstanding sandal dance.
Duncan's dispute with academic choreography ended not with the defeat of the ballet, as many predicted, but with the enrichment of it with new means of expression, more democratic, more accessible to the understanding of a wide range of spectators.
So, Isadora Duncan's first memory was a delightful picture of the bright flames of a raging fire, the last - a scarlet silk scarf that whipped her eyes, and then tightened tightly around her neck. A lifetime has passed between these two events.
Chapter 1
The time of theatrical apprenticeship.
1.1 The beginning of the wanderings
Isadora was born in May 1878 under the sign of the goddess of love, Aphrodite. The birth of a girl was preceded by a family drama - a gap between parents
The dramatic events that preceded the birth of Isadora brought not only mental, but also physical torment to the mother. She felt so bad that she could hardly eat anything and only occasionally allowed herself the unheard of luxury - frozen oysters and ice-cold champagne. Then, in her numerous interviews, Isadora turned this circumstance into a joke, and when asked when she started dancing, she answered: “In the womb; probably under the influence of Aphrodite's food - oysters and champagne.
The time came when Isadora stood on her own feet, and then she pretty soon learned to keep up with the older children. Only gauze bandages on her knees and elbows and bumps on her forehead spoke of what it cost her.
Raymond, Augustine, Elisabeth and Isadora were free children and sincerely pitied those unfortunate little representatives of wealthy families who were constantly patronized by strict nannies and bonnes, pulling at every attempt to be a little naughty. Such a life shackled by adults seemed completely unbearable.
And on bad days, they stayed at home and arranged enchanting performances invented by themselves in front of a large mirror. The children never parted with the mirror, it moved with the family from apartment to apartment, which had to be constantly changed depending on their financial situation at the moment.
However, much more often than the housing issue, there was a problem of finding daily bread. Isadora, the smallest in the family, but the most charming and brave, was entrusted with visiting food stalls.
“When there was absolutely nothing to eat in the house, I volunteered to go to the butcher and with my charms forced him to give us lamb cutlets for free. It was I who was sent to the baker to convince him not to stop taking vacations on credit. These excursions seemed like fun adventures to me, especially when I was lucky, which almost always happened. I walked home dancing and, carrying the booty, I felt like a robber from the main road. It was a good school of life, because, having learned to appease the fierce butchers, I acquired a skill that later helped me to resist the fierce entrepreneurs.
The little girl intuitively understood what she later, becoming an adult, read from Immanuel Kant: “A person plays only when he is a person in the full sense of the word, and he is fully human only when he plays.”
When Isadora was five years old, her mother bought a satchel, put on her a strict dress, took her by the hand and took her to school. And then the whole festive world of Isadora collapsed, the official school environment turned out to be an unbearable prison. You can't play in prison...
Time passed... One evening, a tired mother returned home after regular lessons and found the following picture: ten-year-old Isadora showed simple movements to a group of girls, reciting Walt Whitman's poem "I shot an arrow into the sky." Her hands pulled on an imaginary bowstring, her body bent tensely, and her eyes aimed at an imaginary eagle in the sky. The girls followed her movements. But they didn't copy Isadora. Each of them pulled its bowstring and saw its eagle.
At first, the mother was confused, and then she realized what the young students were missing, sat down at the piano and began to accompany. For a moment she caught Isadora's grateful glance. Things went well.
After the enthusiastic young dancers left, Isadora announced to her mother her final and irrevocable decision to leave the school walls she hated and that from today she was opening a paid dance school.
“When I hear fathers of families say they are working to leave as much money for their children as possible, it occurs to me: do they realize that they are removing any sense of adventure from their children’s lives? The best legacy that can be left to a child is the ability to make his own way. I did not envy rich children, on the contrary, I felt sorry for them. I was struck by the pettiness and meaninglessness of their lives, and it seemed to me that, compared with these children of millionaires, I was a thousand times richer in everything that is worth living for. It seems to me that a child should begin to do what a person will have to do later. It would be interesting to know how many parents realize that by the so-called education they give their children, they only push them into everyday life and deprive them of every opportunity to create something beautiful or original. But, probably, it should be so, otherwise who would give us thousands of employees for banks, shops and so on, which seem to be necessary for an organized and civilized life.
The mother did not find in herself either the strength or the arguments to resist the decision of her daughter. Even then, she intuitively felt that this girl would go her own way.
Evenings were filled with music and poetry. Children received a real education when their mother played Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart or read poetry to them.
The Duncan family did not notice that they stayed up until late at night. Mother selflessly went into the world of music and poetry, the children enthusiastically and enthusiastically followed her. For them, constant spiritual communication with the world, albeit with a lack of material wealth, has become an urgent need.
The family goes on tour along the Pacific coast.
In Santa Barbara, they managed to give several performances. The concert consisted of different numbers: first Augustine recited poetry, then Isadora danced in her short Greek tunic of fantasy and improvisation, and finally Elisabeth and Raymond presented a comedy. His mother accompanied them on the piano. The spectators were touched by the immediacy of the children's ensemble, and this, of course, brought some material support, but most importantly, indescribable joy and pride for the children: after all, they became involved in the holy of holies - art. Their overexcitation after concerts was so great that at night they often could not sleep for a long time; the mother was worried, but nevertheless did not interrupt the tour, as she understood that for the children this could be a real tragedy.
In the evenings, Isadora and Elisabeth give dance lessons to young people at the dance school. Girls dress up for a long time in front of their favorite mirror. Isadora tries to imitate Elizabeth. She does her hair up and puts on a long dress, altered from her older sister's outfit. Mom adapted a charming lace collar for him, and Isadora looks just wonderful ...
“At school, clumsy provincial bumpkins are waiting for them, who roll heavily from side to side, often step on their feet, while blushing embarrassedly, sweating and apologizing.
And one - two - three ... And one - two - three ... And one - two - three. God, how boring!
But one day a young man of very pleasant appearance appeared at the dance school. Isadora's heart beat faster. Oh, if he had thought to invite me, - the girl thought with sweet hope. - It would be easy for us to dance together ... And the young man approached her. They whirled in a waltz ... Where did these boring “and one - two - three ...” go?
The young man was a pharmacist, conjured over incomprehensible chemicals and bore a wonderful name - Veron. Faith... Veron... Verona... Shakespeare's world emanated from this name. My Romeo, Isadora called him mentally.
“I was twelve years old then ... I wrote in my diary in secret script that I was madly, passionately in love, and probably it was so. I don't know if Veron knew it or not, but for some reason in those years I was too shy to open my passion. We went to balls and parties where he danced exclusively with me. Then, after returning home, I sat over my diary until early morning, confiding to him how much I trembled when, in my expression, "rushed in his arms." I was madly in love and I guess I've never stopped being madly in love ever since."
This hobby lasted two years and ended with the fact that Veron got married at the appointed time and left the town with his wife. Isadora, in the late evenings, and sometimes before dawn, read books by her favorite writers. Getting acquainted with world literary masterpieces, she forgot about Verona, and at the same time compensated for the lack of school education.
In those years, Isadora's greatest passion was the history of Ancient Hellas. Isadora subconsciously felt her blood relationship with Greece, to the point of aching pain she was familiar with every line that has come down to our days.
Isadora looked at the sculptures and frescoes of Hellas for a long time. It seemed to her that she heard the melodies of those distant centuries and saw the amazing dances of this country. Slender quivering statues of sea nymphs seem to be devoid of earthly movements. They literally soar in the air, slightly touching the crests of fast-flowing waves. Earth gravity does not act on them, nor on the fluttering folds of their clothes, flying freely in the flowing air.
Isadora peered into the motionless plasticity of the figures and invented the dynamic plasticity of the dance, which she later saw in her amazing dreams.
Isadora not only mentally danced before the almighty gods, but also gave concerts to mere mortals with her family, which ultimately provided them with the opportunity to settle in the big city of San Francisco. The presence of a certain amount of money and the desire of the mother to give Isadora a professional dance education led the girl to the walls of a private ballet school. But Isadora very soon quarreled with the teacher. She still somehow endured while she was forced to stand up in awkward positions and at the same time, together with everyone else, throw up her arms and turn her head on command, but when the teacher demanded to rise on her toes, Isadora categorically opposed.
“The ballet school taught its students that the source of the dance movement was originally in the center of the back at the base of the spinal column. Around this axis, the arms, legs, torso should move freely, giving the impression of a moving puppet. This method generates an artificial mechanical movement unworthy of an authentic dance. On the contrary, I was looking for such a source of dance movement that would penetrate all the pores of the body. After many months, having learned to concentrate all my power in this one center, I found that when I listen to music, its vibrations rush to this one source of dance, which is, as it were, inside me. Listening to these vibrations, I could turn them into a dance.”
Teenage Isadora had more than enough trouble with her new, unrecognized theory. In a big city, the lack of a permanent job, meager funds took away the last strength. Moving from city to city did not give the desired results. In Chicago, Isadora, along with her mother, went around many dance troupes, where she showed her improvisations. The directors of the troupes were touched by them, but no more ... With her abilities, it was impossible to enter the canvas of traditional dance. Time was running out, and the need was ruthless. In the end, Isadora was forced to give in and agree to an engagement against which her whole being rebelled. The director of the troupe set a condition: no Greek tunics and sandals, you must wear a skirt and you must perform a solo dance with "pepper". I had to buy a red cloth on credit, sew a skirt out of it and dance with "pepper" for the needs of the public.
For a whole year she disfigured herself, mechanically grimaced, led a half-starved lifestyle (you can’t really go wild on a miserable salary), and she had to live in dirty hotels, which changed several times a month.
True, for some time in New York, the family managed to rent a dance studio. The father of four aspiring artists, who unexpectedly received a large amount of money, helped them in this. To maintain the studio, they rented it out to other teachers when there were gaps between their own lessons, and at that time they themselves went for a walk around the city, even in adverse weather. At night, five mattresses were spread right on the floor, one had to cover oneself with a blanket. Despite all the inconveniences, this atelier was a fairy tale compared to hotels and furnished rooms, but, unfortunately, it was short-lived ... The rent money soon ran out.
During this period, Isadora occasionally performed at the Boheme cafe, where little-known actors gathered to pass their free time over a mug of cheap beer. Here she was noticed Ivan Mirotsky- a Polish emigrant, a failed poet and artist, forced to earn a living by tedious clerical work .. The consequence of such a life outcome was the soft and easily wounded character of our new hero. Isadora didn't have much reason to enjoy life either. She felt too early that the time of serene childhood had passed, and her genuine sadness, in contact with Ivan's melancholic longing, evoked some strange, all too calm feeling of attachment of a still young girl to a mature man. They began to meet quite often, wander for a long time in the forest and indulge in baseless dreams together.
The wedding was coming soon. Mother, of course, was categorically against it, however, like the whole Duncan family. Raymond managed to make inquiries, and it soon became clear that Mirocki already had a wife in Poland. The wedding, of course, was upset. Thus ended a short love adventure ingloriously, and in Isadora's life only a hateful service in a stupid pantomime remained. Her radiant dreams did not come true.
During this year, Isadora learned to feel genuine contempt for the theater.
The young actress left the troupe. Having received freedom, she began to independently prepare a performance to the music of the American composer Nevin. As soon as rumors about this spread, an enraged Nevin rushed to Isadora demanding that this experiment be stopped immediately.
My music has nothing to do with your dancing,” he said curtly and angrily. But Isadora very soon managed to convince the composer. Nevin was delighted to see how she embodies his musical fantasies in her dance.
Soon an offer was made to perform at the Carnegie Hall Theatre. Here Isadora had a huge success for the first time and learned another life lesson - learn how to do business before you do anything. Unfortunately, from the commercial side, their project was not successful, but now Isadora was recognized in the highest circles of society and began to be invited to the richest mansions in New York. There, to the music of Nevin, she illustrated with dances the poems of Omar Khayyam, which were read by Augustine or Elizabeth, and her mother performed the melody on the piano. Together they created a lovely composition of poetry, music and dance.
The audience was fascinated by these performances, the ladies smiled and lavished sweet compliments, well-groomed men often threw very unambiguous glances at Isadora, but the superficial education of high-ranking persons did not allow them to understand the full depth of feeling embedded in elegant compositions. In those days, the attitude towards actors was condescendingly arrogant. They were considered the lower class, something like an older servant, in front of which, without shame, you could slam the door. No less offensive was the fact that such concerts practically did not bring income.
Isadora was tired of knocking on America's tightly closed door. She dreamed of leaving for the Old World, as she was sure that she could prove her right to exclusivity in front of a more cultured audience than provincial Americans who did not perceive high art.
For a trip to Europe, it was necessary to raise money. Isadora walked dozens of kilometers through the uncomfortable streets of New York, knocking on the thresholds of familiar rich houses and finding neither sympathy nor financial assistance there. The required amount was collected very slowly, while the weakness for the constantly malnourished Isadora approached much faster. Often she sat down on street benches, giving rest to her tired legs.
In the end, a sum of three hundred dollars was collected, which made it possible for the Duncan family to leave the New World on a fragile cattle-industrial boat. The whole family gathered on the road; only Augustine, who fell in love with a young actress, who by this time was expecting a child from him, remained in America. Mother, with her characteristic categoricalness, took this as a betrayal.
The rocky New York coast of young and therefore temperamental America was left far behind - London lay before them, full of imposing fatigue of the past centuries. London gives Isadora the first performance of the Old World.
For days on end, the family wandered around the magnificent city, which, due to its island location and, due to this, the absence of external enemies for many centuries, had the opportunity to develop not outside the fortress walls, like other European cities, but freely grow and combine several small towns. .
Isadora preferred to wander through the still unrenovated streets of the old city. But there are not so many places like this left in London.
But, unfortunately, the serenity of free life will soon come to an end. The irritated hostess expelled the Duncan family from the room, as they could not pay for the accommodation. So, even the miserable furnished room was lost.
After long wanderings and sleepless nights, Isadora and her mother use the Speakers Corner venue for their own impromptu concert. Conservative Englishmen were quite lenient about the unexpected violation of an age-old tradition. In all likelihood, this site was the first time a concert was given, and not speeches were made. The Duncan family managed to attract audiences and raise a small amount of money with their impromptu performance. During the concert, a beautiful woman in a large black hat approached the speakers. It was Patrick Campbell.
“There has been a turning point in our lives. Mrs. Patrick Campbell was fascinated by my art. She provided me with letters of recommendation.
From that evening I began to receive invitations to many famous houses. One day I danced in front of the crowned ladies at Lady Lauter's, and the next day we had nothing to eat, because I was not always paid.
And yet the family managed to earn a small amount of money. They rented an inexpensive studio, rented a piano, bought some inexpensive rollaway beds and bedding. At this time, Elizabeth received an offer to work at a New York dance school and soon left there in order to be able to financially support her family. Raymond and Isadora, in their free time from rehearsals and concerts, continued to absorb the knowledge that Europe had managed to accumulate for them.
Most often they were in the British Museum. Here the brother and sister for the first time saw authentic Greek sculptures, the marbles of the Parthenon, the creations of Phidias. Raymond made many sketches from Greek vases and bas-reliefs, Isadora studied the incomparable plasticity of ancient figures. She experienced a sacred awe before these great monuments of art.
Isadora met Charles Galle, a famous artist, director of the New Gallery, which collected works of contemporary painters under its roof, at one of the parties. He was fascinated by her dancing, and she - by his mind and nobility. Their friendship quickly strengthened, Isadora often began to appear in his studio, but even more often they went out for walks and excursions.
Another close friend of Isadora in London at this time was the young poet Ainsley. He is the exact opposite of Charles Galle. More like a boy than a young man, the owner of a gentle voice and dreamy eyes.
The fog no longer evokes mysterious tales, but fills the city with a heavy gray mass. It's time, it's time to leave. The anguish becomes unbearable. Raymond is the first to leave London, going to Paris. In the spring, Isadora and her mother move there after him.
1.2 Success
Paris 1900. Isadora wanders alone through the amazing streets of the festive city. The most refined society of Paris enthusiastically accepts her performances, many frivolous admirers dream of touching the edge of her light tunic, and she wanders alone through the city of lovers.
The first rays of glory have already begun to warm her. Frequent performances, recognition of high society and the bohemian public of Paris, a relentless desire to get acquainted with museums, theaters, libraries filled her life. Often she visited the library at the opera house, where she got acquainted with the works on theater and dance, which she decided to study thoroughly, from Egyptian times to the present day.
Only late in the evening did she return to her furnished atelier, rented at an unusually low price, because every night it trembled, as if from an earthquake, bounced and fell back into place. The night shift of the printing house regularly went to work and turned on their machines. How exhausted one had to be during the day to fall asleep under such a roar! But people get used to everything.
“Once a poor atelier was visited by a gentleman in a coat with an expensive fur collar and a diamond ring on his finger.
I heard about your “barefoot performances” and came to Paris from Berlin specifically to invite you to the largest variety theater. His whole posture, gestures, intonation spoke of arrogant indulgence towards the little dancer.
"Barefoot performance ... barefoot performance ..." - flashed through Isadora's head. Do you know, pompous snob, what is behind this barefoot performance? Where did it come from - barefoot performance?
... That evening, which she remembered for a lifetime, Isadora's nerves gave out, and she was seized by such a panic that she could not go on stage. Isadora asked for a glass of champagne for courage. When she raised it to her lips, her hand trembled, and the entire contents of the glass spilled onto golden sandals with long rawhide laces. The wine smell immediately absorbed into the skin. Tried to sprinkle with perfume - does not help. And on stage, the pianist is already playing the introduction. Mary Desty, Isadora's friend, frantically began unlacing the damp straps. The bewildered pianist repeated the introduction, and in the end Isadora was pushed onto the stage barefoot. The audience was delighted with the graceful legs of the dancer: it was original to dance barefoot. That's how unexpectedly this find was born - from the actress's panic fear of the stage, from the fear that actors often experience; what can I say - this fear is constant, and it does not allow the artist to get used to his great destiny on earth ...
Thank you. I will never agree to take my art to the cafeteria stage. My art is not for the cafeteria. I came to Europe to bring about a great dance revival, to instill a consciousness of the beauty of the human body, and not to dance for the entertainment of the overweight bourgeoisie. Someday I will come to Berlin and I hope to dance to your Philharmonic Orchestra, but in a temple of music, not in a café, along with acrobats and trained animals.”
“I feel that in a former life I was a dancer in Greece. And the gods loved me. To the accompaniment of the flute, I danced in their honor sincerely and passionately, so that their bodies were imbued with the joyful rhythm of the music, they danced and laughed with me. Now I remember the past and try to transfer all its charm to our time. After all, it is customary to think that the dance should only be rhythmic, and the figure and build of the dancer are of no importance; but this is not true: one must fully correspond to the other. The Greeks felt this deeply. Take, for example, the dance of Eros. This is a child's dance. The movement of his little chubby arms fully corresponds to its shape, the sole of one foot rests calmly on the base - a pose that would be ugly in a developed body; for a child who finds it difficult to keep his balance, it is completely natural. One leg half-raised; if it were stretched out, it would be ugly: such a movement would be unnatural and forced. The dance of Satyr is of a completely different character. His movements are those of a mature and muscular man, they harmonize wonderfully with his body. In all paintings and sculptures, in architecture and poetry, in dance and tragedy, the Greeks borrowed their movements from nature. That is why Greek art did not remain only national, it was and will forever be the art of all mankind. That's why when I dance barefoot on the ground, I do Greek poses, because Greek poses are exactly the natural position of the human body on our planet. In every art, nakedness is the most beautiful thing. This truth is common knowledge. The artist, the sculptor, the poet - everyone is guided by it, only the dancers have forgotten it. Although it is they who should understand it: after all, the material of their art is the human body itself.
The Hungarian impresario Alexander Gross offered Isadora a contract worthy of a great actress, and not a provincial dancer. Thirty concerts at the Urania Theater in Budapest!
Budapest met Isadora in a bright spring and with the jubilation of the public at the very first concerts. Alexander Gross was not mistaken. Here, success and a full house awaited her.
At one of the performances, Isadora approached the conductor and asked if he could perform the Strauss waltz "The Blue Danube" with the orchestra. He answered in the affirmative. And then Isadora asked to play it at the end of the evening. Without any prior rehearsals, she created an impromptu dance to this beautiful waltz. The effect was like an electrical discharge, the whole audience jumped up in a frenzy of delight.
After such a stunning success, Isadora, with new friends and fans, went to dinner at a chic restaurant where a gypsy ensemble performed.
The incendiary dance of the gypsies embraces Isadora's entire being. She picks up the edge of a thin tunic and... the ancient Greek woman becomes a free gypsy. Where, when did she learn these dances? How proudly she holds her head, how skillfully she raises her shoulders! Isadora completely dissolves in the dance, and the gypsies accept her into their sparkling circle.
That evening Isadora met her Romeo... a talented actor Oscar Take Care .
Time flew by, the concerts in Budapest ended, and Romeo secretly took Isadora to a small village.
The return of the loving couple was overshadowed by the extreme discontent of the mother and Elizabeth, who had returned from New York.
Painful relationships in the family managed to dispel Alexander Gross - he arranged a tour of Hungary.
Despite the bliss that gave Isadora art, despite the worship of the crowd, she constantly suffered from the desire to see her Romeo. however, Berezhi preferred Isadora's career.
Duncan signs a contract with Alexander Gross. She was to tour in Vienna, Berlin and other German cities.
But the concerts in Vienna did not take place. Isadora's severe depression forced Alexander Gross to place her in a clinic. She spent several weeks there in complete exhaustion and terrible agony. Having learned about the serious condition of Isadora, Romeo arrived from Budapest - gentle, attentive, understanding little of what was happening. It was their last sad meeting.
The recovery was slow, and Alexander Gross took Isadora to Francesbad, a very expensive and fashionable resort. Who knows how the recovery would have gone if the checking account in the bank had not been depleted. The need to replenish it forced Isadora to speak in Franzesbad. She pulled her dance outfits out of the chest, burst into tears as she kissed them, and vowed not to leave art for love anymore. Sorrow, torment and disappointment in love, she decided to turn into her art.
So, the cruel reality, as it often happens in life, has become the best healer for a person who is in a depressed state. Isadora took the stage again.
In Vienna, a resounding success awaited her. But, I must admit, from that time on, the dancer was followed by a trail of scandalous stories, often fictional, but which, nevertheless, does not leave her to this day.
Isadora gave concerts in Munich, studied German and got acquainted with the philosophy of Schopenhauer. During this period of her life, Isadora fully shared the philosopher's opinion that only the life of a hermit would allow "totally and completely immerse yourself in your research and studies. He who does not love loneliness does not love freedom, for only in solitude can one be free.
Schopenhauer supported her pessimistic moods. In Isadora's soul, this pessimistic philosophy gives rise to the opposite feeling. She puts the work of the philosopher aside and decides to immediately unwind, and for this she goes to Florence. It is in Florence that the light of the art of the Renaissance masters will revive her wounded soul.
Isadora, with her mother and Elisabeth, spent several weeks on an enthusiastic pilgrimage through the galleries, gardens, and olive groves of Florence. But most of all, Isadora was attracted by the magical charm of Botticelli's painting "Spring", which provided an opportunity for viewers to see the beauty of an ideal world. Amid the wild awakening of nature, waterfalls of flowers, the refined graceful figures in the picture barely touched the ground, as if they were performing a divine dance woven from light. Isadora sat for long hours in front of this picture. So, under the impression of the canvas, one of her most famous dances was created. In it, she sought to tell about spring, love, about the birth of life. Every movement she made radiated a healthy joy. Some physical resemblance of the dancer to the image of spring created by the artist and the soft plasticity of the goddess's pose accurately noticed by her and reproduced in the dance created, according to contemporaries, the illusion of Duncan's complete reincarnation in this image. She tried to depict gentle and amazing movements: the undulations of the earth covered with flowers, the dance of nymphs and the flight of marshmallows.
A little time passed, and the Florentine holidays had to be interrupted. Driving through the city, Isadora saw that the streets were a continuous poster announcing her arrival.
At the very first performance, from the very first minute, Isadora heard the applause of the surprised German public. She danced for two hours, and the audience demanded more and more repetitions, until, finally, in a single enthusiastic impulse, she rushed to the ramp. When in the end she managed to get to her dressing room, there a new surprise awaited her: with a huge bouquet of flowers on the threshold stood the same impresario who offered her a performance in the cafeteria. “Madame,” he said. - I was wrong". After he left, Isadora found a small note in the bouquet with the words: "Forgive me!"
Isadora was delighted. Success! Colossal success! Victory! Oh, how sweet it is to win!
But that was only the beginning of the triumph. The continuation was waiting for her at the service entrance, where restless students, following the charming German custom of unharnessing horses from a carriage, harnessed themselves to it and, singing the simple words “Isadora, Isadora, oh, how good life is”, lighting the road with torches, rolled it along Unter- den Linden. The feeling experienced by the young dancer must have been familiar only to the Egyptian queen, who was carried in a chariot. Then the students picked up Isadora in their arms and carried her to the student cafe. Here Isadora met with unbridled joy.
Never before had Isadora been present at such an unrestrained joyful party. She was as young as they were, and perhaps for the first time in her life she felt the serenity of youth.
Suddenly, strong youthful hands lifted Isadora, and her dance continued on the table. From above, she saw jubilant students who, putting their hands on each other's shoulders, swayed to the beat of the music. They simply went crazy with joy and a sense of fullness of life that overwhelmed them. In the dance, Isadora fluttered from table to table.
The next day there was not a single newspaper that did not mention Isadora's name. The content of the articles varied from praising the "divine, Saint Isadora" to vile descriptions of a student "orgy" that was, in fact, an innocent, cheerful revel of carefree young people.
Suddenly, Raymond arrived in Berlin from America, who missed his family very much. Raymond was amazed at the tremendous success that Isadora achieved during her several years in Europe.
With difficulty, Isadora convinces Alexander Gross to interrupt his tour of Germany. It seemed to him a childish whim: how can one refuse such lucrative contracts?! Isadora had such a significant amount on her account that she could afford not only a trip with the whole family, but, if desired, the construction of her own house in Greece or another country in the world. And the lost amounts under the interrupted contracts promised even more fabulous wealth. But Isadora decided to go as soon as possible to Greece, the meeting with which she had been waiting for so long.
“... In the end, with the onset of twilight, we arrived in Karvasaros. All the inhabitants came running to the shore to greet us. Christopher Columbus himself, landing on the American coast, probably did not cause more surprise among the natives. We were almost mad with joy; I wanted to hug all the inhabitants of the village and exclaim: “Finally, after long wanderings, we arrived at the sacred land of the Hellenes! Hail Olympian Zeus, and Apollo, and Aphrodite! Get ready, O Muses, to dance again! Our song will wake up Dionysus and the sleeping Bacchantes!”
Steps carved into the rock many centuries ago led to the temple of Zeus. The ancient Greeks never allowed themselves to use bypass roads. They climbed directly to the tops of the mountains along these steps. Here, to the temple of Zeus, people came to worship their cruel gods. Only such a harsh religion could have arisen on the meager, unfavorable soil of Greece.
Isadora walked through the ruins of the temple and recalled the ancient Greek myth of the origin of life on Earth, full of cruelty and violence.
Isadora again asks the question: why such honor was given to the cruel Zeus?
But then nature itself decided to give Isadora an answer. The bloody setting sun extended its rays from the west to a blue-violet cloud that covered the entire sky in the east. And then a swift lightning struck the column of the temple, turning it into a silvery stele, going into the black void of the sky. Is it in the void? Isn't this a thread connecting with Zeus the Thunderer?
Another clap of thunder stunned Isadora, and the lightning blinded her. But not fear, but the delight of touching the beautiful, all-destroying elements burst into her soul. Even life is not a pity to sacrifice for the pleasure of seeing the magnificent spectacle of the angry universal expanse. “Ether and fire burst into my veins!” Isadora exclaimed.
She hears the music of Wagner, and she is already ready to rush into flight among the sparkling lightning, along with a frenzied air cavalcade of colossal fantastic Amazons - Valkyries. Zeus appreciated the courage of the little defenseless dancer and did not direct his electric arrows in her direction.
“Perhaps love is not of such great importance to me, perhaps my destiny is completely different - to create,” Isadora thought, “and I shouldn’t indulge in sad memories too often? I want to live! I just incredibly, feverishly want to live!
Going on a pilgrimage, I was not looking for money or fame. It was a journey undertaken for the soul, and it seemed to me that the spirit that I dreamed of finding - the spirit of the invisible goddess Athena - still lives in the ruins of the Parthenon.
But the time of happy unity in ancient Hellas flew by with rapid speed. It was necessary to hurry up with the conclusion of new contracts for concerts in Germany.
On the eve of departure, before sunset, Isadora went alone to the Acropolis, where in the theater of Dionysus she mentally said goodbye to Greece - her unfulfilled dream.
Isadora danced among the columns of the Acropolis her last dance on the land of Hellas - a hymn addressed to the muses.
A few days later the Duncan family was leaving for Vienna. Together with them, with their Byzantine mentor, the boys' choir also went. A lot of people were gathered at the station. Isadora wrapped herself in a white-and-blue Greek flag, and ten boys, along with the people, sang a wonderful Greek hymn. Many had tears in their eyes. The European dancer took with her a piece of their ancient homeland they had forgotten.
An attempt to revive the Greek choir and ancient tragic dances in Europe failed. The audience of Vienna rather coldly accepted Aeschylus's "Callers" and came to an indescribable delight from the performance of "The Blue Danube".
Not only did the ancient Greek choir not evoke the expected response from the viewer, the boys who entered it caused considerable anxiety. There was nothing left but to buy them new costumes (they had grown out of the old ones) and send them back to Athens.
After the departure of the matured boys, the very idea of reviving ancient Greek music had to be shelved.
Almost every evening Isadora gave concerts in Berlin; The public was delirious about her work. The impresario offered her triumphant tours around the world. He assured that everywhere they were already copying her scenery, costumes and, most importantly, dances performed by young and not quite young dancers, taking off their ballet slippers, but failing to even partially convey the soul of her movements, because her individuality is unique and copying her - the most pointless thing in the world.
But the idea of a world tour for Isadora was unacceptable. She wanted to learn, "to create new forms of dance and still undiscovered movements, and passionately dreamed of her own school, dreamed of her since childhood, and this desire captured her more and more, bringing the impresario to complete despair."
She was brought out of an uncertain position by a chance meeting.
“One evening at a performance, I noticed a man who struck me with his appearance .. After the performance, I found out that this was the son of Richard Wagner, Siegfried Wagner.”
After a conversation with Siegfried Wagner, she could no longer think of anything else than the possibility of going to Bayreuth, to the Wagner Theater, where she could study the music of this great man. And this opportunity soon presented itself to her.
“One day the widow of Richard Wagner visited me. I have never met a woman who impressed me as much as Cosima Wagner, with her majestic bearing and tall stature, eyes of rare beauty, a nose a little too prominent for a woman, and a forehead that radiated deep thought. She understood the most complex philosophical issues and knew by heart every phrase and note of her great husband. She spoke about my art in exquisitely warm laudatory terms, then she spoke about Richard Wagner and his negative view of the ballet school and costumes, talked about how, in his opinion, “Bacchanal” and “Dance of the Flower Maidens” should have been staged. , and about the impossibility of realizing his dream by the Berlin ballet troupe. Then she asked me if I would agree to perform at Tannhäuser, but then difficulties arose. My views did not allow me to come into contact with the ballet, since his every movement offended my sense of beauty, and the incarnations he created seemed mechanical and vulgar.
Oh, why doesn't my school exist! I complained in response to her request. I could bring to Bayreuth the crowd of nymphs, fauns, satyrs and graces that Wagner dreamed of. But what can I do alone?
On a wonderful May day, Isadora arrived in Bayreuth.
From morning to evening she worked at the Wagner Theatre, immersing herself in the magical charm of his music.
“I was present at all the performances, waiting for a new performance of Tannhauser, Ring of the Nibelung, Parsifal, until I got into a state of constant intoxication with music. In order to understand it better, I memorized the entire text of the operas, imbuing my mind with these mysterious legends. I had reached that state when the whole external world seemed alien, incorporeal and unreal; the only reality for me was what happened in the theatre.”
Isadora plunged deeper and deeper into the fantastic world of the great composer. Once, at a rehearsal of the Three Graces dance from Bacchanalia, Isadora showed Cosima her own version of this scene, but he clearly did not suit Wagner's widow. She insisted on her interpretation, and the argument ended with Cosima, who always considered herself right, left the theater in a rather irritated state. Isadora, upset, returned to her hotel - she could only create her own art, only what music and intuition suggest to her, any dictate was completely unthinkable for her. Knowing the character of Cosima, she understood that she was unlikely to give in to her in this dispute. It was scary to even think about the possibility of a break. Isadora got used to this atmosphere so much that she managed to forget the wise blue-eyed Athena and her temple of perfect beauty on the Athenian hill.
Isadora spent an anxious night in her room and only in the morning was able to fall asleep. She was awakened by the early arrival of Cosima, who was holding some papers in her hands and was very friendly. “Dear child,” she said, “the maestro himself must have inspired you. Look here, here are his own notes - they are exactly the same as what you comprehended unconsciously. I will no longer interfere, and you will be completely free in your interpretation of the dances in Bayreuth. So Wagner's music itself powerfully led them along the right path.
“Somehow during the evening at the Villa Vanfried, it was reported about the arrival of King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Everyone stood up and in a whisper began to convince me to get up from my seat, but I, as an ardent democrat, remained lying on the couch in a graceful pose. Very soon Ferdinand asked who I was and came up to me, much to the indignation of all the other "lordships" present. He just sat down on the couch next to me and started a very interesting conversation about his love for the art of the ancient Greeks. I told him about my dream to create a school that would lead to the revival of the ancient world, and he declared publicly: “A wonderful idea! You must come to my palace on the Black Sea and set up your school there.”
To Isadora's great joy, her long-time Mary Desty visited her. Thanks to the presence of Mary, a new trait of Isadora's character was revealed - childlike immediacy.
Days passed in constant rehearsals. Isadora tried to dance with ballerinas, but nothing came of it, and she was very upset about it. In addition, she hurt her leg on another nail, carefully thrown onto the stage by one "well-wisher" from the ballet troupe. In an extremely irritated state, Isadora descended from the stage into the hall, asked Mary to sing her part, and, together with Cosima, began to observe the rehearsal.
Mary put on a tunic, tied a transparent scarf around her head and began to dance.
My God, how she looks like you! exclaimed Cosima, turning to Isadora.
And she, in turn, looked at the stage with wide eyes and muttered: “What a horror, how she looks like me! .. Even the expression of my eyes ... But in what a vulgar, in what an unbearably vulgar interpretation! ..”
Mary, get off the stage, Isadora shouted, get off the stage immediately and don't you dare impersonate me ever again in your life! I am who I am. And only I can dance my dance. You messed everything up...
“At the first performance of Tannhäuser, my transparent tunic, emphasizing the outlines of the body, caused some confusion among the dancers dressed in flesh-colored tights, and at the last minute even poor Frau Cosima lost courage. She sent me a long white shirt, which she asked me to wear under a loose scarf that served as my costume. But I was adamant.
Remember that after a while all your bacchantes and flower girls will dress like me now.
The prophecy has come true. But at that moment there was a lot of heated debate and even quarrels about whether the sight of my bare legs was moral enough.
The controversy was left behind, but, unfortunately, this performance of "Tannhäuser" was the first and last.
With undisguised sadness, Isadora said goodbye to Bayreuth and at the same time - with a dream of participating in performances staged at the Wagner Theater. Unable to tolerate opportunism, she could no longer stay here. However, despite her short stay, she still managed to capture the essence of Wagner's music: "immeasurable sorrow, pangs of conscience, the theme of love that calls for death."
A tour was quickly organized, and Isadora had to travel through the cities of Germany, despite the unbearable heat that stood that summer. The trips she took gradually brought her to such nervous exhaustion that those around her began to pay attention to her thinness and haggard appearance. There were severe, hopeless signs of insomnia. For long nights she lay, running her hand over her tormented body, seized, it seemed, by a thousand demons that tormented her. And there was no end in sight to this torture.
Once she noticed that a certain young man of short stature was standing idle in front of her windows for a long time. Isadora called him. They soon developed an amazing spiritual friendship.
Whole nights passed in conversations about art.
Heinrich lectured at universities in Germany and was an amazing conversationalist, who knew and understood art very well.
They spent most of their time reading Dante's Divine Comedy. And now, in the long sleepless nights, it was Dante's demons that stirred up Isadora's memories. Heinrich was an excellent reader. The scenes of Hell, read by him with incredible satanic power, squeezed Isadora's heart with "horror and trembling", and it seemed that Virgil himself, the poet's guide through the circles of Hell, appeared from the dark failure of the room and carried her into the muzzle of the monstrous shelter of sinful souls.
An impresario put an end to this, bringing a contract for a trip to Russia.
1.3 New outbreak of love.
St. Petersburg was a two-day drive from Berlin, but once you cross the border, you find yourself in a completely different world of endless snowy plains and dark forests.
Isadora's train was delayed by several hours, and so she witnessed the funeral of the victims on January 9, 1905, who were buried under cover of darkness to avoid mass demonstrations. For a long time Isadora remained under the impression of this terrible picture.
Isadora was waiting for a trip to the theater, an acquaintance with Anna Pavlova ... The noisy cavalcade of ladies and gentlemen accompanying Isadora in the walls of the overly gilded theater suddenly turned into a stiff secular audience.
“Russia is the largest country,” Isadora thought, “and every action here takes on colossal proportions, whether it be a funeral procession or a solemn departure to the theater.” Isadora in her loose Greek tunic, without any jewelry, looked very strange among all this royal luxury.
The performance began. Anna Pavlova appeared on the stage in the role of the fragile, quivering, defenseless girl Giselle. Isadora saw a miracle: it seemed that the ballerina was doing her dance, “without touching the ground; she rose up and hovered over the stage like a kind of ghostly, weightless creature.” For the first time, Isadora felt an enthusiastic intoxication from contact with the ballet. She couldn't help but applaud the Russian ballerinas as they fluttered across the stage like birds.
Two days later, the first concert of Isadora Duncan took place in the hall of the Noble Assembly.
“She appeared on the stage, “as if on the crest of a musical wave,” and rushed, stretching out her arms, throwing her head back, throwing her knees up at right angles to the body.
No corset, no bodice, no tights. A chiton tied at the hips flutters around bare feet. The hair is thrown back from the forehead and gathered in a careless knot.
The arms are bent at the elbows, the fists are tightly pressed to the chest, the back is tense. Now the arms are spread out, calling, pleading, forgiving and protesting. Suddenly the dancer began to twirl, stomping, stopped, sharply bent forward: her hands clasped her head, like the figures on the frescoes of ancient tombs. She fell, as one falls backwards into the grass, clinging to the ground, seeking consolation in the clear peace of nature...
And here is another image: a girl who looks like Venus Botticelli plays ball. A bucolic scene, a carefree youth...
Then prelude. The dancer, as before, alone. But it seems that around her there are a lot of the same girls dressed in short red tunics. The Amazons are engulfed in the rapture of battle. And Isadora's body bends, straining the tight bow; falls forward, following the flight of an arrow, covers himself with a shield, fighting off enemies and, shaking them, triumphantly prances, hastening victory ...
After the first number, Fokin jumped to his feet, looked around the room with a burning look and clapped his hands deafeningly. An avalanche of applause rolled down from the choirs and resounded like thunder below, flooding the voices of the dissatisfied...
The second part of the concert ended in a real triumph.
Isadora was invited by Anna Pavlova to the rehearsal. Where Isadora saw perfection in front of her. Anna seemed to be at the same time flexible, but at the same time made of steel. Slightly built, she had strong muscles and supernatural stamina. Her inexhaustible energy was the real energy of a genius.
“What a proud and at the same time defenseless creature,” thought Isadora. “It must be that an angel lives in her soul, and she tremblingly guards him.”
Then Isadora and Anna visited the Imperial Ballet School, where Duncan saw little girls standing in a row and repeating the same painful exercises. They stood on their pointe shoes for hours, like the victims of a brutal inquisition. Huge empty dance halls with the only decoration on the walls in the form of a royal portrait did not inspire creative inspiration at all.
There Isadora came to realize that the teaching style at the Imperial Ballet School was hostile to nature and art.
But the week of the St. Petersburg tour came to an end. Isadora went to the next city of her dance tour - Moscow.
Unexpected, sunny, colorful and noisy Moscow...
“This is a fairy tale ... a sunny, frivolous and absolutely not terrible fairy tale, which only Russian people all over the world could come up with. Isadora took a deep breath of the frosty air. - Russia ... Here, it turns out, what it is!
Concert halls, crowded with an enthusiastic audience, greeted Isadora with a joyful understanding of her art. After the performance, she was sincerely applauded by well-known representatives of the artistic world of Moscow, among whom was Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky .
Having returned from Russia inspired, filled with quivering joy of life and the desire to finally turn his dream of creating a dance school into reality. All household members enthusiastically accepted
I want to create a school so that children grow up imbued with my art and spread it around the world as it was intended. An adult can't handle this. My art must enter into the soul of a child.
The very next day there was a flurry of activity. Not far from Berlin, in the town of Grunwald, a large villa was rented, which gradually began to take on the form of a dance school and an orphanage.
“First of all, we bought forty cribs with white muslin curtains tied with blue ribbons and started to turn the villa into an orphanage. In the vestibule we hung a copy of a painting depicting a Greek figure twice the size of a human being, in the large dance hall, the bas-reliefs of Lucca del Robia and the dancing children of Donatello, and in the nursery, an image of the Madonna and Child, in blue and white. On all the bas-reliefs, sculptures, books and paintings, dancing little children were depicted exactly in the form in which they were presented to the imagination of artists and sculptors of all ages. Greek vases depicting dancing children personified the exultant world of childhood. All figures had a common grace of forms and movements, as if children of different centuries met through the centuries and held out their hands to each other. The children of my school, moving and dancing among these works of art, should involuntarily become like them. This is the first step to beauty, the first step to a new dance.”
Finally, after careful preliminary preparations, an advertisement was given in the newspaper for the admission of talented children to a new dance school.
This announcement was received with great enthusiasm. When, after the morning concert, Isadora drove up to her house, she saw a stunning picture. The street was filled with parents with children who, instead of cheerful ruddy faces, had emaciated pale faces, and they looked, on the whole, extremely sickly.
Isadora was taken aback at first, but the desire to start working as soon as possible and pity for these little creatures deprived her of the opportunity to think sensibly, and she began to accept children, guided only by their sweet smile and beautiful eyes, without thinking about whether they are capable of becoming future dancers.
Isadora sent for a doctor. She asked Augustine to bring her the famous pediatric surgeon Goff. All members of the Duncan family took care of the children all day long, feeding them all kinds of delicacies, the existence of which they did not suspect.
Finally, the time has come when it became possible to deal not only with children's health problems. It's time for learning.
“In order to achieve the harmony that I dreamed of, the students had to do a number of special exercises every day, selected in such a way that they combined as best as possible with childish spontaneity, due to which these exercises were performed willingly and cheerfully.”
In her work with children, Isadora tried to fully adhere to the recommendations of Rousseau, conducting classes in games and fun fun. By jumping and running, children have learned to express themselves in movement as easily as others express themselves in words or song. Every particle of their flexible bodies echoed the song of nature.
After one of her concerts, Isadora met an English actor Gordon Craig, he burst into her angry, but beautiful.
- What have you done, you can't even imagine what you have done! .. You stole my ideas! Where did you get my decorations from? he shouted irritably, not bothering to introduce himself.
- Excuse me, your scenery? - stammering, tried to explain Isadora. - These are my own blue curtains. I came up with them when I was five years old, and since then I have always danced in front of them. I started dancing as soon as I learned to walk... - she tried to continue the phrases already learned in numerous interviews, but Edward Gordon Craig did not let her finish.
“Just think,” he literally cried, “she was five years old when she came up with all this ... No, you are certainly wonderful, amazing ... But do you know that I left the stage and even the career of an actor in order to think about the future theater, and you have already decided everything at the age of five ... Unbearable ... Unfair ... Grandiose ...
Then Gordon briefly disappeared from Isadora's life, but soon he returned again ... Isadora ended up in Craig's studio. It was an empty room: no sofa, no chair, no table, not even a chair. She spent days and nights in this studio, forgetting about school, work and relatives. And all this time, Isadora was unable to tear her admiring gaze from Craig.
“Do you want me to tell you how I first saw you and how shocked I was by what I saw? - said Gordon. - You came out from behind the wretched curtain and went to where the musician was sitting behind the piano, with his back to us; he had barely finished playing a short melody by Chopin, when you came out and, having taken a few steps, was already standing at the piano completely motionless, as if listening to the rumble of the last notes. In the ensuing silence it was possible to count to five or even to eight, after which the sounds of Chopin were heard again; the next prelude was softly sung and was already coming to an end, and you didn't move. Then one step back, and you began to move, now catching up, then ahead of the music that began to sound again. Just move, without making any pirouettes or other tricks that we are used to seeing and that some Taglioni or Fanny Elsler would definitely show. You spoke your own language, not echoing any of the ballet masters. Having danced, you again froze in immobility. No bows, no smiles, nothing. Then the music resumed, and you ran away from it, and then the sounds caught up with you, because you were ahead of them.
Do we, the audience, understand what you want to say with your dance? Yes, we understand. It's impossible to explain; however, your performance does not cause even a moment of misunderstanding in anyone. You gave us a miracle, and it plunged us into an extraordinary state of delight.”
“I am trying to create a dance of the future - it is a dance of the distant past, which has always been and will forever remain unchanged. Waves, winds and the globe move in unchanging eternal harmony. And we don’t go to the ocean, we don’t ask him how he moved in the past, how he will move in the future - we feel that his movements correspond to the nature of his water and will forever correspond to it.
But still, two weeks later, Isadora had to return home. Relatives, in order to avoid a scandal due to disrupted concerts, advertised in the newspaper about the disease. But these precautions did not help. Dirty rumors spread throughout Berlin.
Over time, life went back to normal, but the strained, insincere atmosphere in the house remained. Isadora's patience was overwhelmed by the statement of the committee of high-ranking ladies, organized by her sister Elizabeth, which contained reproaches against the head of the children's dance school. The statement stated that she had a very vague idea of morality, in connection with which ladies from a decent society categorically refused to remain patronesses of the school and stopped its funding.
Isadora decides to speak at the Philharmonic Hall and put an end to these conversations. The Philharmonic Hall was packed. Here gathered supporters and opponents of Isadora, as well as those who longed for a scandal.
Isadora gave a lecture on dance as an art of liberation, and concluded with a speech on a woman's right to love without looking back at society.
The lecture caused a huge scandal. But among those present were those who supported Isadora.
Gradually, the passions around Isadora subsided. She freed herself from the interference of society in her private life and thereby won the right to love and be proud of her free love. Every moment of her life was now filled with immeasurable, unrestrained happiness.
She tried not to part with Craig even for a minute. And at first, such an opportunity was provided to them quite often. For a while, Craig had to earn his daily bread as an administrator for the troupe of Isadora Duncan. Touring trips to different cities and countries, interesting trips and meetings filled the life of Isadora and Gordon with new impressions. Unfortunately, the joint tour soon ceased. Craig was invited to Germany to stage and design the play. However, Craig returned much earlier than expected. He was sad.
After arriving from Germany, Craig began to retire for a long time in his room.
Isadora, with great difficulty, but still sometimes managed to pull him out of his reclusive shelter. Sometimes they attended school together. Well-dressed girls greeted their appearance with joyful exclamations. Isadora's natural qualities - femininity combined with the echoes of a naive childhood, the complete absence of any signs of aggressiveness in her character - gave her the opportunity, without making any special effort, to win over these little hearts.
Isadora began her classes, and Craig sat aside and watched them with a pencil in his hand. The girls were wearing clothes that did not constrain movements. Their bare feet with tender toes were simply adorable.
Isadora settled down on the couch in a relaxed pose. She gave her students the task of various tasks, for example, to come up with and perform a dance to the verses of William Blake "Lily of the Valley". Music began to play, and she began to recite poetry.
The girls indulged in their dance fantasies. Craig was once again convinced that professional ballerinas are only a pathetic parody of the magical performance of the dance by Isadora's successors. An inspiration of a thousand volts came from them. Isadora, too, was pleased with the occupation.
“My group learned the dance with such success and achieved such a magnificent performance that only strengthened my faith in the correctness of my undertaking. The goal was to create an "orchestra" of dancers, an "orchestra" that would represent to the visual perception the same that the greatest symphonic works represent to the ear.
I taught my students to dance, during the performance of which they became like the cupids of Pompeian frescoes, then the young graces of Donatello, then, finally, the airy retinue of Titania. Every day their bodies became stronger and more flexible, and the light of inspiration, the light of divine music shone in their young hearts. The sight of these dancing children was so beautiful that it aroused the delight of artists and poets.
The first performance of Isadora Duncan's group took place at the Kroll Opera in Berlin. It went off with great success. Isadora, having performed her own dances, turned to the wings and called the little students to her, so that with the same small jumps and running around they would please the audience. So they did, and when she stood in front, it was already impossible to resist the charm of the whole group. Probably, there were people who, even at that moment, opposed Isadora's idea. The rest wept and laughed with joy.
Isadora often touched on the topic of co-production, but Craig, who appreciated her ability to awaken creative forces, was afraid of her appearing on stage next to other actors, because it was precisely this property of the dancing Isadora that became in Craig's eyes an insurmountable obstacle to co-production. In response to her requests, he refused. Plans for a joint production were rejected not only by Krag, but also by fate itself. One fine day, Isadora realized that a new life had been born in her. The happiest of women, she broke the news to Craig, but he took it without much joy.
Ahead of Isadora were touring in Denmark and Sweden. The tours were incredibly tiring. After each dance, Isadora ran backstage and sniffed ammonia. Then she pulled herself together and went out to the beginning of a new dance. But in the end, such a state came that the tour had to be interrupted.
Isadora settled in the small village of Norvig on the North Sea near The Hague with her nurse, who soon became her close friend.
At the age of 29, the dancer received her first award in her life - she had a daughter, Didra, which means “sorrow” in Celtic. Soon Isadora and her daughter returned to Grunewald, and Craig, condescendingly accepting the appearance of his next child, left for Florence, where he was invited by the famous actress Eleonora Duse to design the play "Rosmersholm" based on Ibsen's play. Only numerous letters brightened up their separation, which was very difficult for both. Isadora, unable to bear the separation, goes to Florence with her daughter and nanny. By the time they arrived, Craig's work was in full swing. Gordon ordered that Duse not be allowed into the theater. Craig protested so categorically, demanded that Duse not appear in the theater until the production was completed, because he himself decided to arrange the performance in accordance with his own idea. Duse, on the other hand, sought to follow Ibsen's plan and solve the decorative design in a traditional realistic manner.
Duse, on the other hand, was burning with a desire to see what was happening within the walls of the theater, and Isadora had the duty to keep her from this, trying at the same time not to offend. The day was approaching when Eleanor was to see the scene completed. Oh, how to describe what appeared to surprised and enthusiastic eyes? Duse embraced Crag, and such a stream of Italian praise flowed from her lips that I did not have time to translate them.
One fine morning, Craig learned that his scenery had been cut and was now destined for a new stage in the theater of Nice. When he saw his artistic creation mutilated and destroyed, he had one of the biggest fits of rage to which he was sometimes subject. After breaking up with Eleonora Duse, Craig became irritable beyond recognition.
As a result, their life together turned into hell. A bitter war broke out between Gordon Craig's genius and her art.
Isadora could not work, could not dance. She was not at all interested in whether the public liked her or not. Duncan realized that this state of affairs must come to an end. Or Krag's art - or her own - but she knew that it was unthinkable to give up art: Isadora would be weary, she would die of grief.
And yet the great dancer made a disappointing conclusion for herself: love and marriage do not always go hand in hand, and love itself cannot be eternal.
Chapter 2
Dream of creating a school.
1.2 Shadow of tragedy.
Isadora had her own powerful cure for mental anguish - an inexorably melting bank account. The money that she earned on her own went to the maintenance of her twenty students in Grunewald and twenty students in a new dance school she organized in Paris. These schools took the lion's share of her income.
Isadora goes on tour to Amsterdam. Her impresario managed to conclude a very lucrative contract in Holland. Isadora was forced to tear her child from her breast. Filled with unbearable longing, she went on tour.
The audience of Amsterdam enthusiastically met their favorite. But this state of affairs took a new, tragic turn. Once Isadora fell right on the stage. Milk fever has begun. When Isadora's condition improved, she was transferred to Nice, where her daughter was at that time. As soon as Isadora felt strong in herself, she returned to Holland and resumed her interrupted tour. In Holland, Isadora's life changed completely unexpectedly. The reason for this was a meeting with a young man, his name was Pym. The presence of the pima breathed new life into Isadora, restored vigor and frivolity. She forgot her grief, lived only in the present, was carefree and happy.
With Pym, Isadora was finally able to satisfy her healthy selfish need for serene happiness. As a result, life at her concerts was in full swing, and it was then that she composed "Musical Moments" - it was Pim's dance.
Soon Isadora, Pim and her twenty students went on tour to St. Petersburg. In Russia, Isadora hoped to find a government that could evaluate her child-rearing system and enable her to continue the experiment on a larger scale.
From Russia, the group went to London, which was also fascinated by the pupils of Isadora and at the same time completely inactive. Isadora returned to Grunewald. In 1908, she signed a contract and for the first time went to her native America already as a famous actress.
This tour of America was undoubtedly one of the happiest periods in the life of Isadora.
In Washington, Isadora was in for a little trouble. Some ministers vigorously objected to my dancing. And suddenly, to everyone's surprise, President Theodore Roosevelt himself appeared at the morning performance. He, apparently, was pleased with the performance and was the first to applaud each number of the program. In general, the whole trip was successful and happy.
Tours in America lasted six months.
In Paris, Isadora was met by twenty of her lovely students in elegant tunics, headed by Elizabeth, her mother and her daughter, who had grown a little during this time. Isadora saw that while she was away, the students not only did not lose their skills, but also acquired new, slightly perceptible nuances in their dance compositions. But of course, most of all she liked Dirdre's dances - the way her still childishly disproportionate body moved smoothly and naturally. This girl was born with the plasticity of her mother. Isadora saw this coming dancer. A bright, quiet joy was born in her soul. The girls circled among the many snow-white bouquets of flowers, Isadora took one of the bouquets and immediately came up with a new composition - “Light pouring on white flowers”. This dance wonderfully conveyed their whiteness. School life returned to normal. Isadora studied a lot in the dance class with her pupils. But the inability to properly spend the money she earned on tour trips had a strong impact on her bank account.
All her attempts to get even the slightest support from one of the governments ended in failure. She did not have the strength to go on long tours again and leave her daughter and her pupils.
But at this stage of her life, Isadora met a handsome rich man. Paris Eugene Singer. Paris invites Isadora, along with her school, to go to the Riviera, where all the necessary conditions would be provided for creating new dances and relaxing on the Mediterranean coast. Isadora accepted the offer with great joy and gratitude.
Paris was absent most of the time and rarely appeared at the villa. On the days when he appeared at the villa, Isadora's ensemble showed him their new dances. Girls in blue tunics with bouquets of flowers in their hands literally glided among the orange trees. Summer was already coming to an end. The tanned and strengthened girls returned to Paris, and there their life flowed according to its own laws. Lessons, rehearsals, concerts...
Quite unexpectedly, "Sacred" art broke into Paris from Russia. Sergei Diaghilev brought "his barbarians, Scythians" to the capital of the world and triumphantly spent the Russian Seasons. Paris was captivated by the frenzy of their dances, the naive Russian enthusiasm, the luxury of decoration.
Isadora tried not to miss a single performance. In addition to her, among the enthusiastic spectators were Camille Saint-Saens, Auguste Rodin, Maurice Ravel and many other art lovers.
Saint-Saens was so shocked by Anna Pavlova, who was dancing his "Swan", that, having come to her backstage, he could only say one phrase: "Madame, only now I realized that I wrote wonderful music!"
But the real sensation was made by Cleopatra. The Queen of Egypt in the person of Ida Rubinstein eclipsed even Chaliapin.
In Scheherazade, blue light streamed through the lattice windows of the harem garden, in which half-naked dancers entertained the Sultan's gaze with their flexible, voluptuous movements.
Isadora was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected courage of the Russian ballerinas, who bravely cast aside puritanical restrictions.
“How quickly the new century is changing all ideas! Just recently, I had to give up the dream of dancing Wagner's music because of some awkward conflict associated with the need to wear a vile wrinkled salmon-colored leotard, and today Russian ballerinas are teaching Parisians a lesson in courage in exposing a beautiful human body.
Paris was shocked. Russian actors gave him the joy of a pagan unbridled holiday, which Europe had already forgotten about. And this was Diaghilev's greatest merit. He showed the French, if not all, then very much of what is talented, beautiful, instructive and picturesque in the Russian theater. He made it felt that the country, about the art of which the majority knows very little, contains a whole temple of aesthetic joys.
And again, Isadora has a long way to go. Driving the distance to Moscow is not an easy test. In her thoughts, she was already far away, because in Russia she was to meet with old friends, including Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky and Gordon Craig, who ended up in Moscow, in the Art Theater thanks to her.
Russia for her was no longer a country of vast snow-covered expanses, but a spiritual space where good friends and like-minded people were waiting for her.
The writer and philosopher V. Rozanov accepted her art and understood its very essence. “Duncan, through a happy thought, a happy guess, and then through painstaking and, obviously, many years of study, finally, through persistent exercises in the “English character”, brought to the light of God, to some extent, the “focus” of ancient life, this dance of hers, in which, after all, in in fact, a person is reflected, the whole civilization lives, its plasticity, its music ... everything is its! and it is impossible not to admire. These beautiful raised hands imitating playing the flute, playing the strings, these hands splashing in the air, this long strong neck ... - I wanted to bow to all this with a living classical bow! Here is Duncan and the work she did!”
The poet Andrei Bely was also shocked by her work. “Oh, she came in light, joyful, with a childish face. And I realized that all of it is in the inexpressible. There was a dawn in her smile. In the movements of the body - the aroma of a green meadow. The folds of her tunic, as if murmuring, beat in gentle streams when she gave herself up to a dance, free and clean. I remember the young face, happy, although the music was filled with cries of despair. But in agony she tore her soul to pieces, gave her pure body to be crucified in front of the eyes of a thousand-strong crowd. And rushed to immortality. Through the fire she flew away into the coolness, but her face, overshadowed by the Spirit, flickered with cold fire - a new, quiet, immortal face. Yes, she shone, she shone with a name acquired forever, showing under the mask of ancient Greece the image of a new future life of a happy person, indulging in quiet dances in green meadows.
Isadora returned to Paris. In Paris, everything went on as usual: rehearsals, performances, school, entertainment and, of course, Singer's love. Isadora realized that a new life had been born in her again, given to her by her dearly beloved Paris. She was confused.
Singer was incredibly happy, his tenderness and love knew no bounds. Isadora rejected the proposal to marry and give birth to a legitimate heir.
Isadora has a son Patrick .
Time passed, and Isadora repeatedly proved to Singer
, that she was not born for family life, and in the fall, sad and wise by experience, she left for America to fulfill her obligations under the third contract.
Tours in America ended with the complete triumph of Isadora, after which a blessed time came for her - she was finally able to retire to Neuilly with her beloved children and students.
It seemed that complete peace descended on the life of Isadora. But suddenly, quite unexpectedly, at one of the concerts, she asked her faithful, deeply devoted friend and pianist Gener Skin to play Chopin's funeral march. Skin was somewhat surprised - this work was not planned in today's program, but, accustomed to Isadora's frequent improvisations, he immediately complied with her request.
“In my dance, I depicted how a man, with slow, halting steps, carries his dead child in his arms to the place of his last rest. When I finished and the curtain fell, there was an amazing silence. I looked at Skin. He was deathly pale and trembling. He took my hands in his. They were cold as ice.
Don't ever ask me to play this again, he pleaded. - I felt death.
In the hall, after a blessed silence caused by fear, the audience erupted into wild applause. The state of others bordered on hysterical. We were both shocked, and it seemed to me that this evening some kind of spirit instilled in us a premonition of what was to come.
Isadora promised Skin never to repeat her request, but nevertheless, after a while, she again asked him to perform the funeral march. And again he had to endure an unbearable test.
Since then, mystical forebodings began to torment Isadora that she had to invite a doctor. He diagnosed him with nervous exhaustion. As always, the concluded contracts demanded their unquestioning execution. And Isadora decided to go to Versailles, the way from which to Paris was short, and the rest was wonderful.
But there, Isadora suffered a terrible event - her children died. On the Seine embankment, the car suddenly lost control on slippery asphalt, broke through the fence and, in front of numerous witnesses, fell into the unusually dark waters of the river. Huge black waves momentarily swept over the car, and soon it disappeared under the water. The Seine flowed calmly and indifferently into the distance.
All Paris was shocked by what had happened ... Isadora behaved amazingly - she was extremely calm and tried to console everyone who came to her woeful house.
Unbearable oppressive melancholy and bouts of black melancholy did not allow her to stay in one place and drove her across Europe from city to city. She traveled long distances every day. A variety of pictures swept past her gaze, turned to one point, which lay on the canvas of her consciousness as color spots of new, and so necessary for her, impressions, and the feeling of incredible speed lulled the suffering soul a little.
With the approach of autumn, Isadora moved to Rome. Rome, with its majestic ruins, tombs and marvelous statues, witnesses of so many gone generations, imperceptibly softened the pain.
Isadora received an invitation from Eleonora Duse, and immediately agreed.
“I could perform several plastic movements in front of Eleanor, but it seemed impossible for me to perform again in front of the public - my whole being, haunted by one thought of children, was so exhausted and exhausted. In the company of Eleanor, I calmed down a little, but I spent the nights in an empty villa, in the gloomy rooms of which only an echo could be heard, I spent, waiting for the dawn to come. Then I got up and walked to the sea. I wanted to swim so far that there was no strength left to return, but the body did not obey and itself turned to the shore - such is the thirst for life in a young creature.
Once on the shore, Isadora had a vision, she saw Didra and Patrick, holding hands, they went into the water. Isadora fell to the ground and sobbed, she was reassured by a guy passing by ... She prayed to heaven with a request to give her a child. Their meetings did not last long. Isadora became his lover, but she had a completely different feeling. She seemed to herself a little defenseless girl, constantly protected by warm mother's hands. Unbearable despair let go of her soul a little. In addition, she felt - a new life was born in her, which gave hope. And Isadora plunged into dreams of the birth of an unborn child.
Isadora again found the courage to teach and plunged headlong into this bubbling life. The students learned her lessons with astonishing speed. Already three months after the opening of the school, they achieved such mastery that they surprised and delighted all the artists who came to see them. Saturday was dedicated to artists. In the morning, from eleven to one, a public lesson was held, after which the table was laid with usual generosity for Lohengrin. In good weather, breakfast was held in the garden, and then music began to play, to which poetry was read and danced.
“In July we had a party at the Trocadero. I sat in the box and looked at my students. During the performance, wild applause broke out several times. It seems to me that this indescribable delight in the dances of children who were neither professionals nor artists was only an expression of hope for the emergence of a new trend, which I vaguely foresaw. These were the movements predicted by Nietzsche: “Zarathustra is a dancer. Zarathustra, airy, alluring with wings, ready to fly, calling for birds, always ready, blissful, light spirit ... "
This is exactly what the future dances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony will look like."
For several hours, Isadora studied with her students and sometimes, tired to the point that she could not stand, she lay down on the couch and taught them hand movements. Her teaching ability was truly miraculous. I had only to stretch out my hands to the children - and they began to dance. It seemed that I was not teaching them, but simply opening the way for the spirit of dance to enter them.
A painful gloomy lull hung over Paris. Isadora, tired and exhausted, wandered around the deserted Bellevue. The children went with Lohengrin to Devonshire for the summer holidays, and she remained in Paris, expecting the birth of the child from day to day.
A boy was born, but died shortly after birth.
This time, Paris did not notice the tragedy at Bellevue. He had a lot of unsolvable problems of his own. The first wounded came from the front, and they had to be placed somewhere. The element of devastation was not slow to sweep through the rooms and halls of the Bellevue.
As soon as Isadora felt strong in herself, she decided to go to the sea with her friend Mary Desty.
But there she was expected to meet with the same doctor who was trying to save her children, and then by mistake Isadora received a chest with the things of Didra and Patrick. In just a few days, she changed so much that hardly any of her former fans would recognize her.
Mary packed her luggage and André took Isadora to Liverpool. From there, on a large ocean steamer, the world-famous dancer left Europe, thus opening a new stage of endless wanderings.
When their ship landed in the port of New York and she stepped off the ladder, Augustine and Elizabeth, who met her, barely recognized their sister in this haggard figure. When they reached the studio, girls in light tunics with bouquets of flowers poured out to meet them, surrounded Isadora and joyfully, each in their own way, greeted her. Then the girls showed their dances in a large sunny hall, where her favorite blue curtains swayed from a light breeze. At that moment, she realized that the old world again attracted her and she would have the strength to return to the world of musical fantasies and dance - to a world that never betrayed her and always supported her in the most difficult moments of her life.
She was jarred by the picture of general satiety, and those around her seemed to her mini-factories for the processing of various material goods.
She did not understand those people who saw the purpose of their lives in the satisfaction of material needs. She could not forgive them for their worldview, which led them away from the natural feeling of freedom, because here material goods were exchanged for the ability to sympathize. During this period, Isadora could not compromise. Therefore, one day, at a concert at the Metropolitan Opera, which was of an entertaining nature, she could not stand it and quite unexpectedly, both for the public and for herself, asked to perform the revolutionary French anthem "La Marseillaise". Wrapping herself in a red shawl, for the first time in a long period of time, Isadora went to the ramp.
“No, this is unthinkable, it is impossible to go on stage again,” she thought, but the loud chords of the anthem literally threw her there. And the stage - a balm for any actor - received its great dancer.
The next day, the newspapers were enthusiastic about this performance: “Miss Isadora Duncan deserved a standing ovation by performing the Marseillaise at the end of the program. The audience rose from their seats and greeted her with loud shouts for several minutes ... She imitated the classical figures on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Her shoulders were bare, and the famous statue appeared before the audience. The audience burst into applause in honor of the noble art."
“My atelier soon became a meeting place for poets and artists. I regained my courage, and, having learned that the Century Theater was for rent, I left it behind me for a season and set about creating my Dionysius. Residents of the Eastern quarters, true connoisseurs of art in modern America, were regular visitors to the theater. I was so flattered by their sincere attention that I went there with my school and orchestra and gave a free performance at the Yiddish Theater.
Since the authorities forbade us from any further performance of the Marseillaise in New York, we all stocked up on small French flags that the children hid in their sleeves. I ordered that when the whistle blew and the steamer left the pier, everyone, standing on deck, waved their flags in unison and sang the Marseillaise, which we did to our great pleasure and to the great excitement of all the representatives of the administration who were standing on the pier. And so, to the singing of the Marseillaise, we left rich, pleasure-hungry America and went with my nomadic school to Italy.
Italy met them with a blue cloudless sky and ... the final decision of the government to join the warring allies. This made Isadora look for another country for her school. We decided that Switzerland is the most acceptable option. This On the shores of Lake Geneva, Isadora rented the building of a former restaurant as a studio. Here she, with rapture, filled with some kind of peace unknown to her before, was engaged in dancing with her girls.
Not for long Isadora serenely enjoyed the company of her beloved students. It soon became clear that all her money was not enough to pay off her debts. Swiss moneylenders took fifty percent per annum!
Isadora decided to take a desperate step in order to save the school: she signed a contract and again went across the ocean to Latin America. The tour got off to a good start. In a student cabaret in Buenos Aires, among swarthy young boys and girls, Isadora danced the tango for the first time in a long time.
Then the students asked Isadora to perform that night in the city square in honor of the Freedom Day. She agreed with great pleasure. Somewhere they got a national flag, and Isadora, wrapped in it, tried to portray the suffering of the once enslaved colony and its liberation from the tyrant's yoke.
The grandiose success on the square aroused the furious anger of the impresario and the displeasure of high society. All tickets were returned to the box office, and the contract was terminated. The tour without an impresario was held with varying degrees of success. The cold, heavy on the rise of the audience was replaced by an enthusiastic, full of enthusiasm, and then again indifferent and disinterested. In the end, Isadora realized that she needed to go to New York, since she was unable to earn money not only for school, but also for a third-class ticket. Singer rescued her from this position.
Isadora returned to New York, where she resumed concerts at the Metropolitan Opera.
On the day when the news of the Russian revolution became known, all the admirers of freedom were seized with joyful hope, and that evening I danced the Marseillaise in that real original revolutionary spirit in which it was written. Following her, I performed the "Slavic March", in which the sounds of the imperial anthem were heard, and depicted an oppressed slave, bent under the blow of a scourge. This dissonance, or rather the divergence of the gesture from the music, caused a storm in the public.
Isadora is forced to sign a contract to tour in California.
There
Isadora visited her mother. On that day, Isadora spent several hours with her mother, but, it must be confessed, their communication was not easy.
The tour in her hometown was successful, but Isadora expected more. She wanted to stage her performances at the Greek Theatre, but the entrepreneur failed to reach an agreement with the authorities. The city did not respond to the call to support the idea of the future school.
Life in America soon bored Isadora, and she was irresistibly drawn to Europe.
Paris met Isadora with gloomy streets. Isadora could not find a place for herself. She did not find her friends and students - someone was in exile, there were also those who died. Soon the war ended.
Isadora was again inflamed with the desire to set about creating a school, and for this purpose she telegraphed her students to America. Upon their arrival, I gathered around me the most faithful friends and said: “Let's go together to Athens, admire the Acropolis and think about whether it is possible to found a school in Greece.”
Circumstances developed in the most favorable way. Isadora, along with her students, was invited to a solemn manifestation in honor of the coronation at the Stadium in Athens. The king was delighted with what he saw.
The authorities changed, and Isadora and the whole school soon had to leave Greece. Dreams of establishing a school in Greece were shattered. There was nothing left but to sail on the next steamer to France.
The students were forced to leave her. The government of post-war France was unable to finance the school, and Isadora herself had no savings at all.
Isadora was completely devastated.
One day, an old friend of Marie Desti's came to visit. And they went to the party together. The party was a success. Isadora literally blossomed. She could dance again. The yellow bird on her shawl soared and soared up relentlessly. But when she returned home, Isadora became sad again.
And suddenly an incredible, unexpected news came that answered all the questions posed by life, though without fail to identify new and even more complex ones. Isadora received an invitation from the Soviet government to come to Russia and organize a school there for the children of workers.
1.2 Russian period
“I have days when, remembering my life, I feel only disgust and complete emptiness in myself. The past seems to me a series of catastrophes, the future is a heavy duty, and my school is a hallucination generated by the brain of a madman. But there are also other days when it seems to me that my life is a wondrous legend, decorated with sparkling jewels, a flowering field, a radiant morning, crowning every hour with love and happiness, when I cannot find words to express the joy of life, and when my idea School seems to me ingenious. After being invited to Russia, I had the feeling that the soul, separated after death, was making its way to a new world. It seemed to me that I would forever leave all forms of European life. Disillusioned with trying to achieve anything in Europe, I was ready to enter the state of communism. I didn't bring any dresses with me. I imagined that I would spend the rest of my life in a beautiful flannel blouse among comrades dressed with the same simplicity and filled with brotherly love. From now on, I will only be a comrade among comrades. Farewell, inequality, injustice and animal rudeness of the old world, which made my school unrealizable. Here it is, the new world that has already been created!”
Isadora was delighted with the invitation received and began a stormy gathering in Russia. Together with Isadora, her student, Irma, agreed to go. Irma became the adopted daughter of a dancer and received a proud surname - Duncan.
Many tried to stop Isadora. But no arguments could shake Isadora's decision to make her dream come true for a single moment.
Isadora arrived, but no one met her. Isadora stood on the platform in complete confusion. But in the end, a short, elderly woman came out of this pitch hell to meet her. She immediately spoke to her. True, she did not make welcoming speeches, but only told them which hotel they were going to, and took the luggage receipts. Foreign women themselves had to get to the hotel, where they were very surprised by the atmosphere and meager food and close proximity to rats.
This is how Moscow met them in 1921.
At this time, Lunacharsky was deciding how to deal with Isadora, who suddenly arrived ahead of schedule, in the future, he suggested that Ilya Ilyich Schneider become the director of Isadora's future school and take care of her temporary home - an apartment that had left on tour, Geltzer.
At this time in Moscow there was a stuffy dusty summer. Day after day, Isadora spent in conversations with the newly-minted officials, who absolutely could not do anything.
The “Land of the Future” was already under Isadora’s feet, she walked on the hot stones of her history and sincerely wanted only one thing: to help Russia, take her children to her home, warm them up and teach them to enjoy the gift of life. Ilya Ilyich, who became Isadora's faithful friend and translator, accompanied her on all her wanderings around the offices, and in the evenings tried to do something to cheer up Isadora and her companions to some extent.
The most active part in the organization of the school was taken, of course, by the People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky.
The attitude towards opera and ballet as something extremely secondary and essentially unnecessary for the working masses was in many official instructions. The same opinion was formed by the intelligentsia.
Finally, Isadora was given the mansion of the ballerina Balashova, which was sealed after her departure abroad. The guests arrived. Isadora was bored. The school already had a large staff of sixty people and a whole "organizing committee" that met in one room or another, but things never got off the ground.
Having advertised in the newspaper, Isadora and Irma set to work on the interior, hung sky-blue cloths in the “Napoleonic Hall”, and laid a smooth blue carpet on the parquet floor.
Isadora plunged into her work. One hundred and fifty children came to class every day. Of these, forty were to be selected. One and a half hundred children, who went to school every day for preliminary classes, fell in love with Isadora, fell in love with dancing. Isadora extended her lessons by rehearsing The Internationale with the children, with which she decided to end her first performance, scheduled for November 7, 1921.
The decisive day has come. The lesson began, as usual, with a quiet march to the music of Schubert. From time to time, Isadora called one of the children to her and gave a red or green ticket, after which they ran into the next room, where they were assigned accordingly by the leaders.
These tickets make it even harder for me, Isadora complained, they grab both green and red with such joy! Finally, on December 3, 1921, the selection was over.
This day became School Day, and its anniversary was celebrated by all studio participants, wherever they were at that time.
Forty children were already living in the school, but the school itself did not yet exist. The daily routine developed by Isadora was poorly followed. General education, provided then in the amount of seven years, was carried out chaotically. But nevertheless, everything gradually settled down, and the school of the great dancer, which began its existence in 1921, stopped it only in 1949, already being called the school named after Isadora Duncan.
The artist Georgy Yakulov invited Isadora to a party. Isadora was very happy with this proposal. Isadora carefully prepared for the party. She wore a long dancing tunic and golden sandals, and a golden gauze scarf over her head. She painted her lips with bright red lipstick, and made her eyes more expressive with black mascara. The appearance of the great dancer first caused a slight pause. But everyone quickly got used to it. And suddenly music began to sound, sensual, restless, eccentric. Isadora listens to the tune, then goes to the hanger, takes off someone's jacket and cap, puts them on and immediately transforms into a French Apache hooligan. A half-smoked cigarette in his mouth and an impudent look complete the image. The dance begins, where the apache is Isadora, and the scarf is a woman.
Everyone was shocked. At that moment, the door to the studio swung open, and a young man literally flew in. It was Sergey Yesenin .
That evening they met. At night, in a light cab, the three of them went circling around Moscow. No one paid attention to the road, and only Ilya Ilyich noticed that they were already going around the church for the umpteenth time.
Since that time, two strong feelings have settled in the mansion on Prechistenka: a passion for Yesenin and a reverent love for children - small, thin, shorn creatures.
Isadora came to the cold classroom every day and taught a lesson. At first things didn't go well. Frozen and neglected children did not understand well what this woman wanted from them, who did not speak a word in Russian. The children were sometimes shy and timid, sometimes unrestrainedly cheerful, and then incredible efforts were required to appease them.
“Isadora asks the pianist to play Scriabin's etude and, through the translator, tries to find out from the children what associations this piece of music evoked in them. They answer in chorus: "Fight." What to do, because all their little life experience was too primitive. “No, not a fight,” Isadora remarks ruefully, “not a fight, but a struggle, a struggle between good and evil.” She says these words in a quiet voice, her smile shines with maternal tenderness.
Isadora published a pamphlet with a picture of a woman dancing in a whirlwind on the cover. In this short article, translated into Russian, she was able to explain the essence of her system of education in poetic language.
“When educators ask me about my school's curriculum, I answer:
- First of all, we will teach young children to breathe, move, feel correctly ... Let's help them merge with the general harmony and movement of nature. First, let's create a beautiful human being - a dancing child.
Nietzsche said: "Consider a lost day without dancing."
In the field of dance, there are creators of three directions: some see the gymnastics of impersonal and graceful arabesques in dance, others, appealing to reason, give a theme - the rhythm of desired emotions. And, finally, the latter regenerate the human body into a radiant fluid, subjecting it to the power of spiritual experiences.
The goal of my school is to lead the soul of the child to the source of light.”
In her performances, Isadora used the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and, as a rule, ended the concert with a performance of the Internationale.
The anniversary of the October Revolution came unnoticed. Isadora was offered to perform at the Bolshoi Theater after the ceremonial meeting.
“The curtain has gone up. The scene depicted the hemisphere of the Earth. In the center lay a chained slave. His role was played by Isadora herself. She skillfully conveyed the suffering of a slave tormented by the shackles. Suddenly, the melody of the hated hymn "God Save the Tsar..." sounded. He wanted to tear the slave to pieces. The royal anthem rumbled louder and louder. But the slave bravely resisted. In every movement, in every gesture and expressive facial expressions of Isadora, all the tension of the unequal struggle was reflected. But here, under the bravura sounds of the Marseillaise, the slave managed, freeing one hand from the chains, to grab the double-headed eagle. And then the Marseillaise was replaced by the majestic motive of the Internationale. The slave dropped the rest of the chains. The dancer's face lit up with joy. She swept across the stage like a whirlwind in a jubilant dance of liberation.
Sergei Yesenin did not miss a single concert, he brought his friends there. He shone with happiness and pride: his love, his woman - the great Isadora Duncan.
Yesenin often brought friends to the house, throwing noisy parties. Peace in the house is over.
The introduction of NEP somewhat changed the face of Moscow. Many poetic cafes appeared in Moscow, within the walls of which representatives of various creative directions fought furiously.
Sergei Yesenin was at the very center of the seething poetic fraternity. Pushing back his famous shiny top hat, he read Confessions of a Hooligan:
Isadora often visited Yesenin in poetic disputes, sometimes she came with him to the Pegasus Stall cafe.
Things at Isadora's school were getting better and better. While she could not afford to increase the number of students, but those forty little men who began to study first were already making great strides. Isadora prepared with them a program of dances to the music of Russian revolutionary songs.
An invitation came from Petrograd. When Sergei was offered to go on tour with Isadora, he happily agreed. Isadora refused to rehearse on stage. It was terrible to imagine how she would perform in such a cold in her thin tunic.
Isadora felt great love for her children.
“My dears, I see that you have succeeded amazingly, and I can’t wait to start working with you on Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony ... - Isadora sat comfortably on a velvet couch and continued: - Now we will hear this music, and I will try to tell you what she is about. The Sixth Symphony is the life of mankind. At the dawn of his existence, when a person began to awaken spiritually, he explored the world around him with interest, he was frightened by the elements of nature, the brilliance of water, the movements of the stars. He comprehended this world, in which he faced an eternal struggle. As a harbinger of the coming sufferings of mankind, a mournful leitmotif sounds in the first part of the symphony ... The second part is spring, love, the flowering of the soul of mankind. In this melody, heartbeats are clearly heard. The third part, the scherzo, is the struggle that goes through the whole history of mankind, and, finally, death.
Isadora had been planning a trip to Europe for a long time. She wanted to show Yesenin another world and open him to this world; she sought to enjoy the benefits of civilization and dreamed of bringing her school to Europe and America. But this question remained open for the time being - the Soviet government did not dare to release the children because of their infancy. Yesenin received permission to travel.
Isadora and Sergei decided to enter into a family union. Soviet laws for the bride and groom did not provide for any mutually binding contracts, and therefore Isadora considered it possible for herself to enter into this marriage.
On a May morning in 1922, Isadora, Yesenin and Ilya Ilyich went to the registry office of the Khamovnichesky district of Moscow.
The newlyweds wished to bear a double surname - "Duncan-Yesenin". So they wrote down in their marriage certificate and in their passports.
The arrival of the famous dancer from Soviet Russia with her husband, a Bolshevik poet, became a sensation for journalists. Isadora planned to combine a trip across Europe with her concerts. Enjoying the benefits of civilization, Yesenin could not get rid of the feeling that he was cut off from society. Everyone around him was talking and laughing, but for him everything that happened remained meaningless gibberish. So, Isadora was talking with might and main, and Yesenin was silent. Between themselves, they spoke in broken English, often resorting to sign language.
Therefore, Yesenin was very fond of performing in front of a Russian-speaking audience. His first concert took place at the Café Leon in Berlin, where he recited his poetry. The poet came there alone. Hall became alert, froze. The voice sounded intense and inspirational. The audience applauded.
For two months, Isadora traveled in a car around Europe with Yesenin, Kusikov and her personal secretary. She wanted to show Sergei the world, and the world - Sergei, but just as Yesenin especially did not need the world, so the world did not need Yesenin with his purely Russian poems. Several months flew by on a trip to Europe, a trip to America was planned, but the Russian school Duncan did not manage to cross the border of the Soviet state. I had to go to America without students.
Isadora was in despair. Without wanting it herself, she plunged Yesenin into a terrible abyss of longing. Their position was hopeless. Isadora later recounted with tears in her eyes:
Isadora gave several concerts in New York, and now she had a tour of almost all the states. She was upset by the fact that the beginning of the journey would have to be done by train, and when they went to the station, she was no less annoyed than Yesenin, who did not want to go anywhere at all. Isadora's repertoire, along with classical works and ancient Greek idylls, included fiery revolutionary dances. She ended almost every performance with the performance of the Internationale, after which a police carriage of any state invariably took the dancer to the station, where Isadora gave a written statement that this would not happen again, but in the future she never kept her promises and again left the next performance, accompanied by guardians of order.
In fact, neither Isadora herself nor her companions counted the money. Yesenin's incredible longing entailed high costs.
Life went upside down. It seemed like they both failed. Isadora, despite the fact that she performed a lot in America, was never able to earn money to maintain the Moscow school. Sergei, tormented by longing and loneliness, wrote very little. Although several of Yesenin's collections were translated and even published abroad, neither Europe nor America at that time recognized him as a poet of genius. Isadora was devastated by lack of money, scandals and failed love.
Eventually they returned to Russia.
Together with her pupils, Isadora decided to take about a hundred more children of workers to school. The meeting took place in the big arena of the Red Stadium under the leadership of Comrade Podvoisky. With his help, classes were organized, and every day forty brave little ones, who had already passed the initial training, taught the beginners to dance. Children who came to the first classes pale and weak, at first they marched with difficulty, raised their hands or jumped, - under the influence of air, sunlight, music and the joyful atmosphere that reigned around them, they gradually changed.
So, Isadora had enough time to work, but it must be admitted that she no longer had enough strength - her health deteriorated, and there was no need to talk about the financial situation of the school.
In the meantime, Ilya Ilyich came up with a seemingly excellent compromise solution, which made it possible to both improve his health and earn money. He organized a tour of the Crimea.
Then it was decided to go with the students to Kyiv and give several concerts there.
In these performances, in the first part, Isadora presented her usual Wagnerian compositions, and in the second part, Irma and the girls performed the waltzes of Brahms and Schubert. After a two-week stay in Kyiv, it turned out that the financial situation of the school had not improved at all. Most of the money was spent paying for the orchestra and hotel bills.
With the funds borrowed from the GPU, Isadora sent the students, along with Irma, back to Moscow, and then, hoping to earn money, began negotiations with her impresario Zinoviev about the possibility of continuing the tour alone. She planned to take only an accompanist with her and perform in the Volga region, Turkestan, the Urals and, perhaps, in Siberia and China. On paper, this treaty seemed promising.
In fact, everything happened differently. Isadora, pianist Mark Metchik and her manager Zinoviev went from misfortune to misfortune on their unsuccessful tour.
In mid-August 1924, Isadora returned to Moscow after a terrible tour. Completely exhausted, she was incredibly happy to meet the children and the comfort of the mansion on Prechistenka. The desire to see the "violent Yesenin" no longer arose. She did not seek to meet him.
But Sergey, as before, tried not to miss her concerts. Once he came to a concert with his friend Anatoly Mariengof. Soon she signed a contract for a tour of Germany and began to get ready for the road. But getting an exit visa was not so easy. Abroad, she, as Yesenin's wife, was entered in his passport, and he remained with her husband. Ilya Ilyich called Sergei, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not find him. The ill-fated passport, apparently, was lost in numerous moves to different apartments.
It's good that Isadora had previously applied for the citizenship of the Soviet Union. On this basis, she was issued a document confirming the receipt of such a certificate. With this document, she flew away.
But she was not destined to visit Russia again.
Berlin met Isadora warily. The capital of the defeated state did not recognize its former idol - Saint Isadora. Apparently, the dancer was right when she said in despair: “My art was the color of the era, but this era has died ...”
The Berlin critics skillfully prepared the failure, and despite the fact that her longtime fans applauded furiously in the hall, they were unable to drown out the whistle of a generation embittered by the war. The unsuccessful performance in Berlin was the first and the last, but in those days Isadora did not yet know about it, which is why she was very saddened by what happened. Previously, she was greeted enthusiastically - now as an enemy.
Due to the terrible situation in Berlin, Isadora was forced to interrupt the tour. She left for Paris, hoping to return to her possessions in Neuilly. But this turned out to be impossible, since it turned out that someone to whom she thoroughly owed money was claiming her property. Isadora found herself in a distressed situation: she had no home, no family, no financial independence. There were moments when I had to almost starve, but one of the old friends always helped out. Sometimes her solo concerts were also arranged, which were held with constant success. At one of them, she met a young Russian pianist who became another lover of an aging prima donna.
Relations with the Russian pianist were very difficult.
And then one day, in a fit of despair, Isadora tightly wrapped herself in a purple velvet cape and entered the sea, not intending to return back. When the waves were already touching her lips, a certain Captain Patterson, who lost his leg in the war, still managed to swim to her and, almost unconscious, carried her ashore.
The next day all the newspapers reported the incident. Mary Desty, having learned from the press about what had happened, tried as much as possible to expedite her move from America to Paris. And she didn't regret it. Isadora met her devastated. She had to be saved.
Until late in the evening, the friends talked heart to heart.
Soon Isadora began to work on memoirs. She placed on the writing table several sheets of bluish paper on which she had written in Chinese ink, and began to cover them with rapid lines of her strange handwriting, with letters now horizontally, now vertically elongated.
She spent several days at her desk, often forgetting about food and drink. Unexpectedly, she received an invitation to a grand ball, and work was interrupted for a while. The holiday was organized by the Marquise Cosetti, the famous beauty of sunny Italy, in honor of her purchase of one of the most charming castles in France.
Isadora was delighted with the upcoming fun and, despite the eternal lack of money, found an opportunity to purchase expensive outfits for herself and for Mary; in addition, she fulfilled another necessary condition - they arrived at the "Castle of Roses" in a chic open car.
All the elite of Paris gathered at this ball. Isadora was magnificent, and all those present, her former friends who had not seen her after her trip to Russia, were glad to meet her again. This ball was conceived as something fabulous. Many were dressed as astrologers, and in one of the salons a very famous lady was guessing. In the midst of the holiday, Mary convinced Isadora to leave. This was to strengthen her good reputation in high society, and the next morning Isadora was forced to admit that their demarche was a success. However, she was very sorry that she paid such a high price for a good opinion and missed a great opportunity to have fun.
The next day, Isadora began writing the book again. But, not distinguished by particular perseverance, she constantly tried to run somewhere, spent evenings in restaurants and cafes, and then suddenly suddenly rushed in a car to the other end of France. The desire to change places in her was insatiable. Nevertheless, she took her manuscript with her, and gradually the pile of scribbled sheets of paper became thicker.
Day 28 December 1925 brought Isadora another tragedy. Sergei Yesenin committed suicide in Russia. The tragedy occurred in Leningrad and resounded with unbearable pain in Paris. When Isadora was asked what period in her life was the happiest, she exclaimed: “Russia, Russia, only Russia! Three years spent in Russia, with all the suffering, cost the rest of my life. Nothing is impossible in this great country."
Isadora dreamed of returning to Russia. But she didn't succeed. In France, she could not afford to organize her own school and was very homesick. Only occasionally were her concerts, and the last of them, in Paris, made a splash.
“The curtain slowly opened, and Isadora came out - like a long mysterious sound of music, like the soul itself. There was dead silence throughout the dance. Never in her life had there been such success, such ecstasy, even in the days of her youth she had not captured the public so much. There was something mystical and sacred about it. When she danced to "Ave Maria", the audience wept; it seemed that everyone: critics, dancers, artists, musicians, stage workers - could hardly hold back their sobs. The general enthusiasm was insane. Before she could finish, the whole hall, as if one person, rose, applauding and crying. Oh God, how wonderful that she was given the opportunity to experience this last triumph - a glorious farewell to Paris, stage, dance.
Shortly after this performance, Isadora left for Nice with Mary.
However, soon “the gods smiled at them again. The idle life began again: feasts, visits, restaurants, nightclubs that only millionaires could afford.
Every day, Isadora found a few hours to work in the studio, and the rest of the time she had unbridled fun. However, these were the last days of her life. September 14, 1927, in Nice, Isadora Duncan got into a sports car. It was cool, but she refused to put on a coat, tying a long scarf around her neck. The car pulled away, but did not drive even a hundred meters. The end of the scarlet scarf was pulled into the spokes of the wheel by a gust of wind. The fifty-year-old dancer's head dropped sharply. The scarlet scarf strangled her.
In the Parisian studio, Raymond covered the floor with Isadora's blue dance carpets, and her favorite blue curtains were hung on the walls. Everything felt the atmosphere of a studio in Nice. All the outstanding people of Paris: painters, sculptors, musicians, actors and actresses, diplomats, editors - came to pay Isadora their last debt. Since it was the Day of the American Legion in Paris, great celebrations were held there, and the funeral cortege had to go in a roundabout way, through all the mysterious quarters of the city. How would Isadora like that! Thousands of people lined the streets and most of them saw her performance. The Parisians adored Isadora, so many cried. When we got to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, there were already more than ten thousand people. Entire cordons of police tried to clear the way for the cortege. Mothers raised their children to remember the funeral of the great dancer, the great Isadora Duncan. They spoke in whispers about the misfortune that had befallen her children. The students of the Academy of Arts were crying loudly. The young soldiers stood with bowed heads. The cortege had to make its way through the cemetery for a long time. At last we reached the steps leading to the crematorium.
Édouard Moselin sang "Ave Maria", which was full of hopeless sadness, and outside the walls of the crematorium, the crowd looked at the plume of gray, then whitened smoke, dispersed into the clouds. The ashes of Isadora were placed next to the ashes of her children and mother.
Conclusion
Isadora Duncan was not just an artist and dancer. Her aspirations went much beyond the mere improvement of performing skills. She, like her like-minded people, dreamed of creating a new person for whom dancing would be more than a natural thing. Nietzsche had a special influence on Duncan, as on her entire generation. In response to his philosophy, Duncan wrote the book Dance of the Future. Like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, the people described in the book saw themselves as prophets of the future; this future they imagined in iridescent colors.
« I was asked to speak about the dance of the future. But how can I do it? It seems to me that my time has not yet come; at the age of fifty I may be able to say something on this subject. Besides, I can't imagine what I can say about my dancing. People who sympathize with my activities, it is true, understand better than I myself what I really want, what I aspire to; and those who sympathize with her, I am sure, know better than me why. Once a lady asked me why I dance barefoot, I answered her: “It is because I feel reverence for the beauty of the human foot.” The lady noticed that she had not experienced this feeling. I said, "But, madam, it is necessary to feel it, because the shape and plasticity of the human foot is a great victory in the history of human development." - "I do not believe in the development of man," objected the lady. “I’m silent,” I said, “all I can do is send you to my venerable teachers Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel.” “Yes, I,” said the lady, “I don’t believe either Charles Darwin or Ernst Haeckel.” . I couldn't find what to say to her. You see, I am not at all able to convince people, and it would be better for me not to speak at all. I was taken out of the loneliness of my workroom in the name of charity, and here I stand before you, timid and stuttering, about to give you a report on the dance of the future.
The dance of the future, if we turn to the primary source of any dance, is in nature, it is a dance of the distant past, it is a dance that has been and will forever remain unchanged. Waves, winds and the globe move in unchanging eternal harmony. And we do not go to the sea, we do not ask the ocean how it moved in the past, how it will move in the future; we feel that its movements correspond to the nature of its waters, have always corresponded to it, and always will correspond to it.
And the movements of animals, while they are free, are always only a necessary consequence of their existence and the connection in which their life stands to the life of the earth. On the other hand, as soon as people tame the beast and transfer it from the will into the narrow confines of civilization, it loses the ability to move in complete harmony with the great nature, and its movements become unnatural and ugly.
The movements of the savage, who lived in freedom in close connection with nature, were spontaneous, natural and beautiful. Only a naked body can be natural in its movements. And, having reached the pinnacle of civilization, man will return to nakedness; but it will no longer be the unconscious involuntary nakedness of a savage. No, it will be the conscious voluntary nakedness of a mature person, whose body will be a harmonious expression of his spiritual being. The movements of this person will be natural and beautiful, like the movements of a savage, like the movements of a free beast.
When the movement of the universe is concentrated in the individual body, it manifests itself as will. For example, the movement of the Earth as the focus of the forces surrounding it is its will. And earthly beings, who in turn experience and concentrate in themselves the influence of these forces, embodied and inherited by their ancestors and conditioned by their relationship to the earth, develop in themselves their individual movement, which we call their will.
And true dance should be precisely this natural gravitation of the will of the individual, which in itself is no more and no less than the gravitation of the Universe, transferred to the personality of a person.
You have noticed, of course, that I adhere to the views of Schopenhauer and speak in his terms; In his words, I really can best express what I wanted to say.
Sung by many poets of the world, immortalized in sculptures and paintings, ridiculed by revelers and inhabitants of all parts of the world, ascended in a stone statue on the facade of the Champs-Elysées Theater, she mercifully looks at us from there and tries to tell us something... Shall we hear?.. Will we understand?
List of used literature:
Isadora Duncan. My life // Circle, 1992
Alyasheva N. Isadora Duncan. Documentary evidence and fantasies//Ural LTD, 2001
Isadora Duncan, Collection, publishing house Kiev-"Muse" Ltd. 1994
Isadora Duncan in Soviet Russia // Sov. ballet. 1987.
Andreev A. Yesenin. - M.: Mosk. worker, 1973.
Duncan A. My confession. - Riga, 1928.
Duncan A. Dance of the future. // Ed. Ya. Matskevich. - 1907.
Blair F. Isadora. Portrait of a woman and an actress. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1997.
(From the series "Woman-myth").
Vertsman I. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. - M.: Artist. lit., 1976.
Desti M. Untold stories. - M.: Polit, lit., 1992.
Duncan I. Russian Days of Isadora Duncan // Ballet. 1992.
Craig G. Memoirs, articles, letters. - M.: Art, 1988.
Stanislavsky K. My life in art. - M.: Art, 1983.
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 tunic. 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 Eugen 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 lives of babies 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 failure.
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 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.
The main dates of the life and work of Isadora Duncan
1895 - debuts in a pantomime performance at the Augustine Daly Theatre.
1898 - As a result of a fire at the Windsor Hotel in New York, Isadora is left without stage dresses. He travels to London with his family.
1900 - in Paris at the World Exhibition, he meets the sculptor Auguste Rodin.
1902 - enters into a contract with the impresario Alexander Gross, who organizes her performances in Budapest, Berlin, Vienna. Meeting with actor Oscar Berezhi (Romeo), who played on the stage of the Royal National Theatre.
1903 - Takes a pilgrimage to Greece with his family. Selects ten boys for the choir, which accompanies the singing of her performance.
1905 - a trip to St. Petersburg. Acquaintance with the ballerina Pavlova, artists Bakst and A. Benois. A trip to Moscow, where he met with K. S. Stanislavsky. Founds a dance school in Germany. Meeting in Berlin with reformist director Gordon Craig, son of famous actress Ellen Terry.
1906 - At the invitation of the actress Eleonora Duse, together with Craig, he goes to Florence to stage Ibsen's Rosmersholm. Birth of Dirdre's daughter.
1908 - purchase of a studio in Neuilly (Paris), where she works and lives with her children.
1909 - a meeting with Paris Singer, who subsequently bears all the expenses for the maintenance of Isadora's dance school.
1910 Birth of son Patrick
1913 - a tour of Russia together with a friend and musician Gener Skene.
April- the death of children in Paris.
1914 - a trip to Corfu. Travel in Italy. Birth and death of a son.
1916 - signs a contract for performances in South America.
1917 - performs at the Metropolitan Opera.
1921 July- At the invitation of A.V. Lunacharsky, he comes to Soviet Russia. Organizes a studio in Moscow.
November- performs at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in honor of the fourth anniversary of the revolution - V. I. Lenin and A. V. Lunacharsky are present at the concert.
December- Opening of the A. Duncan State School in Russia.
June- travel with Sergei Yesenin in Germany.
August- takes a trip to Italy (Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence).
October- America tour. Performance at Carnegie Hall.
September- arrival in Moscow. A trip to Kislovodsk for treatment. Tours in the Caucasus.
1924 - break with Sergei Yesenin.
1927, September 14 Isadora Duncan tragically died in Nice. She was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
From the book of Hasek author Pytlik RadkoThe main dates of life and work 1883, April 30 - Yaroslav Gashek was born in Prague. 1893 - admitted to the gymnasium on Zhitnaya Street. 1898, February 12 - leaves the gymnasium. 1899 - enters the Prague Commercial School. 1900, summer - wandering around Slovakia. 1901 , January 26 - in the newspaper "Parody sheets"
From the book Vysotsky author Novikov Vladimir IvanovichThe main dates of life and work 1938, January 25 - was born at 9:40 in the maternity hospital on Third Meshchanskaya Street, 61/2. Mother, Nina Maksimovna Vysotskaya (before the marriage of Seregina), is a referent-translator. Father, Semyon Vladimirovich Vysotsky, - military signalman. 1941 - together with his mother
From the book Folk Masters author Rogov Anatoly PetrovichMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND WORK OF AA MEZRINA 1853 - was born in the settlement of Dymkovo in the family of blacksmith AL Nikulin. 1896 - participation in the All-Russian exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. 1900 - participation in the World Exhibition in Paris. 1908 - acquaintance with A. I. Denshin. 1917 - exit
From Merab Mamardashvili's book in 90 minutes author Sklyarenko ElenaMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1930, September 15 - Merab Konstantinovich Mamardashvili was born in Georgia, in the city of Gori. 1934 - The Mamardashvili family moves to Russia: Mera-ba's father, Konstantin Nikolayevich, is sent to study at the Leningrad Military-Political Academy. 1938 -
From the book by Arkady Raikin author Uvarova Elizaveta DmitrievnaMAIN DATES OF AI RAIKIN'S LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1911, October 11 (24) - in Riga, in the family of the port grader of the construction timber Isaac Davidovich Raikin and his wife Elizaveta Borisovna, the first-born son Arkady was born. 1914 - sister Sophia was born. 1916 - sister was born Bella.1917, summer -
From the book Viktor Astafiev author Rostovtsev Yury AlekseevichMAIN DATES OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF V.P. ASTAFYEV 1924, May 1 - in the village of Ovsyanka, Krasnoyarsk Territory, the son Victor was born in the family of Pyotr Pavlovich and Lidia Ilyinichna Astafyev. 1931 - rural millers Yakov Maksimovich and Pavel Yakovlevich Astafyev - great-grandfather and grandfather
From Michelangelo's book author Dzhivelegov Alexey KarpovichMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1475, March 6 - In the family of Lodovico Buonarroti in Caprese (in the Casentino region), not far from Florence, Michelangelo was born. 1488, April - 1492 - Given by his father to study the famous Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. From him in a year
From the book Ivan Bunin author Roshchin Mikhail MikhailovichMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1870, November 10 (October 23 old style) - was born in the city of Voronezh, in the family of a small estate nobleman Alexei Nikolaevich Bunin and Lyudmila Alexandrovna, nee Princess Chubarova. Childhood - in one of the family estates, on the farm of Butyrka, Yeletsky
From the book of the Potters author Loshchits Yury MikhailovichMAIN DATES OF THE LIFE AND CREATIVITY OF IA GONCHAROV Dates are given according to the old style. 1812, June 6 - In the family of the Simbirsk merchant Alexander Ivanovich Goncharov and his wife Avdotya Matveevna, nee Shakhtorina, the son Ivan was born. 1819, September 10 - Death of A. I. Goncharov. 1820–1822 -
From the book by Salvador Dali. Divine and multifarious author Petryakov Alexander MikhailovichThe main dates of life and work May 1904-11 in Figueres, Spain, was born Salvador Jacinto Felipe Dali Cusi Farres. 1914 - The first pictorial experiments in the Pichotov estate. 1918 - Passion for impressionism. First participation in an exhibition in Figueres. "Portrait of Lucia", "Cadaques". 1919 - First
From the book of Modigliani author Parisot ChristianMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1884 July 12: Amedeo Clemente Modigliani is born into a Jewish family of educated Livorne bourgeois, where he becomes the youngest of the four children of Flaminio Modigliani and Eugenia Garcin. He gets the nickname Dedo. Other children: Giuseppe Emanuele
From the book Konstantin Vasiliev author Doronin Anatoly IvanovichMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1942, September 3rd. In the city of Maykop, during the occupation, in the family of Alexei Alekseevich Vasiliev, the chief engineer of the plant, who became one of the leaders of the partisan movement, and Claudia Parmenovna Shishkina, a son was born - Konstantin. 1949. Family
From the book Pavel Fedotov the author Kuznetsov ErastMAIN DATES OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF PA FEDOTOV 1815, July 4 - was born in Moscow. Father - titular adviser, retired lieutenant Andrei Illarionovich Fedotov, mother - Natalia Alekseevna, nee Grigorieva, by previous marriage - Kalashnikova. 1819 - Moscow noble
From the book Li Bo: The Earthly Destiny of the Celestial author Toroptsev Sergey ArkadievichMAIN DATES OF THE LIFE AND CREATIVITY OF LI BO 701 - Li Bo was born in the city of Suyab (Suye) of the Turkic Khaganate (near the modern city of Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan). There is a version that this happened already in Shu (modern Sichuan province). 705 - the family moved to inner China, to the Shu region,
From Franco's book author Khinkulov Leonid FedorovichMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY 1856, August 27 - Ivan Yakovlevich Franko was born in the village of Naguevichi, Drogobych district, in the family of a rural blacksmith.
From the book by Valentin Serov author Smirnova-Rakitina Vera AlekseevnaMAIN DATES OF LIFE AND CREATIVITY V. A. SEROV 1865, January 7 (9) was born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a composer. 1871 - Death of his father. 1871–1872 - Life in Nikolskoye with the Koganovs. Classes with the artist Koepping. 1874–1875 - Paris. Classes with I. E. Repin. 1875, summer - Abramtsevo.
