Editing Isadora Duncan (section)

== Work ==
[[File:Isadora Duncan (grayscale).jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.85|Photo by [[Arnold Genthe]] of Duncan performing [[barefoot]] during her 1915–1918 American tour]]
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Isadora Duncan 29 - Abraham Walkowitz.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|[[Abraham Walkowitz]]'s ''Isadora Duncan #29'', one of many works of art she inspired]]

Duncan's novel approach to dance had been evident since the classes she had taught as a teenager, where she "followed [her] fantasy and improvised, teaching any pretty thing that came into [her] head".<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 21</ref> A desire to travel brought her to Chicago, where she auditioned for many theater companies, finally finding a place in Augustin Daly's company. This took her to New York City where her unique vision of dance clashed with the popular pantomimes of theater companies.<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 31</ref> While in New York, Duncan also took some classes with [[Marie Bonfanti]] but was quickly disappointed by ballet routine.

Feeling unhappy and unappreciated in America, Duncan moved to London in 1898. She performed in the drawing rooms of the wealthy, taking inspiration from the Greek vases and bas-reliefs in the [[British Museum]].<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 55</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isadora-Duncan|title=Isadora Duncan {{!}} Biography, Dances, Technique, & Facts|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en}}</ref> The earnings from these engagements enabled her to rent a studio, allowing her to develop her work and create larger performances for the stage.<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 58</ref> From London, she traveled to Paris, where she was inspired by the [[Louvre]] and the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle of 1900]] and danced in the salons of [[Marguerite de Saint-Marceaux]] and [[Winnaretta Singer|Princesse Edmond de Polignac]].<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 69</ref> In France, as elsewhere, Duncan delighted her audience.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Done into dance : Isadora Duncan in America|last=Daly|first=Ann|date=2002|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|isbn=0-8195-6560-1|edition= Wesleyan|location=Middletown, Conn.|oclc=726747550}}</ref>

In 1902, [[Loie Fuller]] invited Duncan to tour with her. This took Duncan all over Europe as she created new works using her innovative technique,<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 94</ref> which emphasized natural movement in contrast to the rigidity of traditional ballet.<ref>[[Deborah Jowitt|Jowitt, Deborah]]. ''Time and the Dancing Image''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. p. 71</ref> She spent most of the rest of her life touring Europe and the Americas in this fashion.<ref>Kurth (2001), p. 155</ref> Despite mixed reaction from critics, Duncan became quite popular for her distinctive style and inspired many visual artists, such as [[Antoine Bourdelle]], [[Laura Knight|Dame Laura Knight]], [[Auguste Rodin]], [[Arnold Rönnebeck]], [[André Dunoyer de Segonzac]], and [[Abraham Walkowitz]], to create works based on her.<ref>Setzer, Dawn. [http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Isadora-Duncan-6970.aspx?RelNum=6970 "UCLA Library Acquires Isadora Duncan Collection"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222165638/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Isadora-Duncan-6970.aspx?RelNum=6970 |date=2014-02-22 }}, UCLA Newsroom, last modified April 21, 2006</ref>

In 1910, Duncan met the occultist [[Aleister Crowley]] at a party, an episode recounted by Crowley in his ''Confessions''.{{Refn|Abridged ed, p. 676.}} He refers to Duncan as "Lavinia King", and used the same invented name for her in his 1929 novel ''[[Moonchild (novel)|Moonchild]]'' (written in 1917). Crowley wrote of Duncan that she "has this gift of gesture in a very high degree. Let the reader study her dancing, if possible in private than in public, and learn the superb 'unconsciousness'&nbsp;– which is magical consciousness&nbsp;– with which she suits the action to the melody."<ref>Aleister Crowley, ''Magick: Liber ABA: Book 4: Parts 1–4'' 2nd revised ed. York Beach, ME, 1997, p. 197</ref> Crowley was, in fact, more attracted to Duncan's bohemian companion Mary Dempsey ({{Aka}} Mary D'Este or Desti), with whom he had an affair. Desti had come to Paris in 1901 where she soon met Duncan, and the two became inseparable. Desti, who also appeared in ''Moonchild'' (as "Lisa la Giuffria") and became a member of Crowley's occult order,{{efn|Desti helped Crowley write his magnum opus ''[[Magick (Book 4)]]'' under her magical name of "Soror Virakam", and also co-edited four numbers of his journal ''[[The Equinox]]'', and contributed several collaborative plays.}} later wrote a memoir of her experiences with Duncan.{{Refn|''The Untold Story: The Life of Isadora Duncan 1921–1927'' (1929).}}

In 1911, the French fashion designer [[Paul Poiret]] rented a mansion&nbsp;– [[Pavillon du Butard]] in [[La Celle-Saint-Cloud]]&nbsp;– and threw lavish parties, including one of the more famous ''grandes fêtes'', ''La fête de Bacchus'' on June 20, 1912, re-creating the [[Bacchanalia]] hosted by [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] at Versailles. Isadora Duncan, wearing a Greek evening gown designed by Poiret,<ref name="Aydt">{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1625930,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625105232/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1625930,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 25, 2007|title=Rediscovered|last=Aydt|first=Rachel|date=May 29, 2007|magazine=Time|access-date=2017-09-14|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> danced on tables among 300 guests; 900 bottles of champagne were consumed until the first light of day.<ref name="Aydt" />

[[File:Portrait photograph of Isadora Duncan.jpg|thumb|Duncan {{Circa|1916}}–1918]]
===Opening schools of dance===
Duncan disliked the commercial aspects of public performance, such as touring and contracts, because she felt they distracted her from her real mission, namely the creation of beauty and the education of the young.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} To achieve her mission, she opened schools to teach young girls her philosophy of dance. The first was established in 1904 in Berlin-[[Grunewald (locality)|Grunewald]], Germany. This institution was in existence for three years and was the birthplace of the "[[Isadorables]]" (Anna, Maria-Theresa, Irma, Liesel, Gretel, and Erika<ref>Sturges (1990), p. 39</ref>), Duncan optimistically dreamed her school would train “thousands of young dancing maidens” in non-professional community dance.<ref>Kurth (2001), p. 168</ref> It was a boarding school that in addition to a regular education, also taught dance but the students were not expected or even encouraged to be professional dancers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duncan |first=Irma |title=Duncan Dancer: An Autobiography |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |year=1966 |isbn=9780819577931 |pages=163–186}}</ref> Duncan did not legally adopt all six girls as is commonly believed.<ref name=":0">Kurth (2001), p. 392</ref> Nevertheless, three of them (Irma, Anna and Lisa) would use the Duncan surname for the rest of their lives.<ref>Kurth (2001), pp. 365, 392</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Kisselgoff |first=Anna |date=1977-09-22 |title=IRMA DUNCAN DEAD; DISCIPLE OF ISADORA (Published 1977) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/22/archives/irma-duncan-dead-disciple-of-isadora-foster-daughter-of-dancer-was.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408001146/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/22/archives/irma-duncan-dead-disciple-of-isadora-foster-daughter-of-dancer-was.html |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |access-date=2024-03-06 |work=[[The New York Times]] |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref> After about a decade in Berlin, Duncan established a school in Paris that soon closed because of the outbreak of [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/isadora-duncan-1877-1927-the-mother-of-modern-dance-101714348/114147.html|title=Isadora Duncan, 1877–1927: The Mother of Modern Dance|work=VOA|access-date=2018-02-16|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Paul Swan - Portrait of Isadora Duncan, wearing a blue dress, with a beaded necklace, 1922.jpg|thumb|upright|A portrait of Duncan in 1922 by dancer [[Paul Swan (dancer)|Paul Swan]].]]

In 1914, Duncan moved to the United States and transferred her school there. A townhouse on [[Gramercy Park]] in New York was provided for its use, and its studio was nearby, on the northeast corner of [[23rd Street (Manhattan)|23rd Street]] and [[Park Avenue|Fourth Avenue]] (now Park Avenue South).<ref>Sturges (1990), p. 120</ref> [[Otto Hermann Kahn|Otto Kahn]], the head of [[Kuhn, Loeb & Co.]], gave Duncan use of the very modern Century Theatre at [[List of numbered streets in Manhattan|West 60th Street]] and [[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)#Central Park West|Central Park West]] for her performances and productions, which included a staging of ''[[Oedipus Rex]]'' that involved almost all of Duncan's extended entourage and friends.<ref>Sturges (1990), pp. 121–124</ref> During her time in New York, Duncan posed for studies by the photographer [[Arnold Genthe]].

Duncan had planned to leave the United States in 1915 aboard the [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']] on its ill-fated voyage, but historians believe her financial situation at the time drove her to choose a more modest crossing.<ref>{{cite magazine| title= 8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania| author= Greg Daugherty| magazine=Smithsonian Magazine| url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/8-Famous-People-Who-Missed-the-Lusitania-205849981.html|date=2 May 2013}}</ref> In 1921, Duncan's leftist sympathies took her to the [[Soviet Union]], where she founded a school in Moscow. However, the Soviet government's failure to follow through on promises to support her work caused her to return{{when?|date=December 2021}} to the West and leave the school to her protégée Irma.<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 422</ref> In 1924, Duncan composed a dance routine called ''Varshavianka'' to the tune of the Polish revolutionary song known in English as ''[[Whirlwinds of Danger]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ZJkVZBbjM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/87ZJkVZBbjM| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Varshavianka (1924)|last=Aaron Greer|date=7 March 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>