Isadora Duncan

Topping the list of the best American dancers is Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), known as the "Mother of Modern Dance," was born in San Francisco and went on to liberate dance from the restrictions of the ballet of her time, eschewing the usage of slippers and corsets in favor of using simple, natural movement combined with lively musicality. She searched for a movement language that would expose the human spirit and its link to nature, and she was the first to choreograph to music that was not designed for dance, such as Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and Scriabin's works. Duncan's career was marred by controversy, since her bare limbs and daring movement offended American spectators.

She was driven to achieve and traveled to Europe and Russia with her unlimited spirit, where she met and inspired some of history's greatest artists. Isadora and her family moved to London in May 1899, looking for opportunities to learn more about art history and its connections to dance. Isadora Duncan studied Greek and Roman antiquities at the British Museum, spending hours in front of the works of art, wondering how they would move. She met and performed for famous Londoners here, dancing the Orpheus mythology to Gluck's music. Isadora Duncan identified herself in The Art of the Dance as the "spirit of the music," not the storyteller or the character of the mythology she danced. She danced as a soloist but always imagined herself to be the Greek Chorus reflecting the voices of nature and humanity.

Isadora accompanied her brother Raymond to Paris the following year, when he sketched and she examined the Louvre's Greece vase collection. Isadora was invited to perform her own program in Budapest, Hungary (1902), after a tour with Loie Fuller's company. She danced to sold-out audiences with a full orchestra. The Blue Danube was her well-known encore. Following that, performances were held in Berlin, Vienna, and Munich. Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, Peter Berger, Robert Henri, August Rodin, Jose Clara (see image above), Jules Grandjouan, Valentine Lecomte, and Abraham Walkowitz were among the many visual artists who captured her exuberant movement.

• Born: May 26, 1877[a]San Francisco, California, U.S.
• Died: September 14, 1927 (aged 50)[a]Nice, France
• Nationality: American, French, Soviet
• Known for: Dance and choreography