Duncan << DUHNG kuhn >>, Isadora (1877-1927), an American dancer, greatly influenced dancing in the 1900’s. She rebelled against the rigid, formal training of classical ballet and created an individual form of expression. Influenced by the art of Greece, she often danced barefoot in a loose, flowing tunic. Duncan’s dancing was inspired mainly by literature and classical music. She based her first dances on poetry. Duncan also used images and forms taken from painting and sculpture. She found further inspiration in nature, and she used dance to mirror natural forms such as waves.
Dora Angela Duncan was born on May 26, 1877, in San Francisco. She gained great success in Europe, where she first performed in 1899. She lived abroad during most of her career and established schools of dance for children in France, Germany, and Russia. Duncan’s ideas inspired later generations to seek their own forms of dance expression. She died on Sept. 14, 1927, when a scarf she was wearing caught in a wheel of the automobile in which she was riding, and her neck was broken.
See also Dance (Modern dance).
