Editing Isadora Duncan

{{short description|American dancer and choreographer (1877–1927)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Isadora Duncan
| image = Isadora Duncan portrait cropped.jpg
| caption = Duncan {{circa|1906–1912}}
| birth_name = Angela Isadora Duncan
| birth_date = {{birth date|1877|5|26}}{{efn|name="birthdate"|group=notes|While Duncan's birth date is widely given as May 27, 1878, her posthumously discovered baptismal certificate records May 26, 1877. Any corroborating documents that might have existed were likely destroyed in the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Stokes|first1=Sewell|title=Isadora Duncan|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/173622/Isadora-Duncan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=28 May 2015}}</ref>}}
| birth_place = [[San Francisco]], California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date|1927|9|14}} (aged 50){{efn|name="birthdate"}}
| death_place = [[Nice]], France
| citizenship = American, French, Soviet
| movement = [[Modern dance|Modern/contemporary dance]]
| field = [[Dance]] and [[choreography]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Sergei Yesenin]]|May 2, 1922|May 1923|end=sep}}
| partner = [[Edward Gordon Craig]]<br />[[Paris Singer]]<br />[[Romano Romanelli]]<br />[[Mercedes de Acosta]]
|children= 3
| relatives = [[Raymond Duncan (dancer)|Raymond Duncan]] (brother)
| signature= Signature d'Isadora Duncan.jpg 
}}

'''Angela Isadora Duncan''' (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878{{efn|name="birthdate"}} – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Born and raised in California, she lived and danced in Western Europe, the U.S., and [[Soviet Russia]] from the age of 22. She died when her scarf became entangled in the wheel and axle of the car in which she was travelling in [[Nice]], France.<ref name="Craine">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance|last1=Craine|first1=Debra|last2=Mackrell|first2=Judith|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-19-860106-7|edition= First|location=Oxford [England]|pages=152|oclc=45663394}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Angela Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco, the youngest of the four children of Joseph Charles Duncan (1819–1898), a banker, [[mining engineering|mining engineer]] and connoisseur of the arts, and Mary Isadora Gray (1849–1922). Her brothers were [[Augustin Duncan]] and [[Raymond Duncan (dancer)|Raymond Duncan]];<ref name="Jowitt1989" /> her sister, [[Elizabeth Duncan (dancer)|Elizabeth Duncan]], was also a [[dance]]r.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/agc1996000096/PP/|title=Elizabeth Duncan dancer|last=Genthe|first=Arnold (photographer)|website=Library of Congress|access-date=2017-10-07}}</ref><ref name="KarinaKant2004">{{cite book|author1=Lilian Karina|author2=Marion Kant|title=Hitler's Dancers: German Modern Dance and the Third Reich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8f_bKK2fnEC&pg=PA11|date=January 2004|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-57181-688-7|pages=11}}</ref> Soon after Isadora's birth, her father was investigated and charged following the collapse of the family’s bank, which coincided with a larger reorganization of San Francisco’s finances, a period of crushing reversals and closing of silver mines.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kurth |first=Peter |title=Isadora: A Sensational Life |publisher=Little Brown |year=2001 |isbn=978-0316057134 |pages=11-13}}</ref> Although the jury voted for his acquittal,<ref name=":4" /> Isadora's mother (angered over his infidelities as well as the financial scandal) divorced him, and from then on the family struggled with poverty.<ref name="Jowitt1989">{{cite book|author=Deborah Jowitt|title=Time and the Dancing Image|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaECpiO__W8C&pg=PA75|year=1989|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06627-4|pages=75}}</ref> Joseph Duncan, along with his third wife and their daughter, died in 1898 when the British passenger steamer [[SS Mohegan|SS ''Mohegan'']] ran aground off the coast of [[Cornwall]].<ref>Ean Wood, ''Headlong Through Life: The Story of Isadora Duncan'' (2006), p. 27: "They...would all be drowned, along with 104 others, when the S.S. Mohegan, en route from London to New York, ran aground on the Manacle Rocks off Falmouth, in Cornwall."</ref>

After her parents' divorce,<ref name=":3">Duncan (1927), p. 17<!-- Sources disagree, but her autobiography states "my mother had divorced my father when I was a babe in arms". --></ref> Isadora's mother moved with her family to [[Oakland, California]], where she worked as a seamstress and piano teacher. Isadora attended school from the ages of six to ten, but she dropped out, having found it constricting. She and her three siblings earned money by teaching dance to local children.<ref name="Jowitt1989" />

In 1896, Duncan became part of [[Augustin Daly]]'s theater company in New York, but she soon became disillusioned with the form and craved a different environment with less of a hierarchy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalenc0000unse_q4s8|title=International encyclopedia of dance : a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc.|date=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920–2005., Dance Perspectives Foundation.|isbn=978-0-19-517369-7|edition=1st paperback|location=New York|oclc=57374499|url-access=registration}}</ref>

== 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>

== Philosophy and technique ==
[[File:Isadora Duncan 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|left|Duncan in a Greek-inspired pose and wearing her signature Greek tunic. She took inspiration from the classical Greek arts and combined them with an American athleticism to form a new philosophy of dance, in opposition to the rigidity of traditional ballet.]]

Breaking with convention, Duncan imagined she had traced dance to its roots as a sacred art.<ref>Stewart J, Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance, 2000. p. 122.</ref> She developed from this notion a style of free and natural movements inspired by the classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, nature, and natural forces, as well as an approach to the new American athleticism which included skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and tossing.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Dancing the Future, Performing the Past: Isadora Duncan and Wagnerism in the American Imagination|last=Simonson|first=Mary|date=2012|journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society|volume=65|issue=2|pages=511-555,624|url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/dancing-future-performing-past-isadora-duncan/docview/1095738713/se-2}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} Duncan wrote of American dancing: "let them come forth with great strides, leaps and bounds, with lifted forehead and far-spread arms, to dance."<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 343</ref> Her focus on natural movement emphasized steps, such as skipping, outside of codified ballet technique.

Duncan also cited the sea as an early inspiration for her movement,<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 10</ref> and she believed movement originated from the [[solar plexus]].<ref name="Duncan, 75"/> Duncan placed an emphasis on "evolutionary" dance motion, insisting that each movement was born from the one that preceded it, that each movement gave rise to the next, and so on in organic succession. It is this philosophy and new dance technique that garnered Duncan the title of the creator of modern dance.

Duncan's philosophy of dance moved away from rigid [[ballet technique]] and towards what she perceived as natural movement. She said that in order to restore dance to a high art form instead of merely entertainment, she strove to connect emotions and movement: "I spent long days and nights in the studio seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body's movement."<ref name="Duncan, 75">Duncan (1927), p. 75</ref> She believed dance was meant to encircle all that life had to offer—joy and sadness. Duncan took inspiration from ancient Greece and combined it with a passion for freedom of movement. This is exemplified in her revolutionary costume of a white Greek tunic and bare feet. Inspired by Greek forms, her tunics also allowed a freedom of movement that corseted ballet costumes and [[pointe shoe]]s did not.<ref>Kurth (2001), p. 57</ref> Costumes were not the only inspiration Duncan took from Greece: she was also inspired by ancient [[Greek art]], and utilized some of its forms in her movement (as shown on photos).<ref>Duncan (1927), p. 45</ref>

== Personal life ==

===Children===
[[File:Isadora Duncan and her children.jpg|thumb|left|Duncan with her children Deirdre and Patrick, in 1913]]
Duncan bore three children, all out of wedlock. Deirdre Beatrice was born September 24, 1906. Her father was theatre designer [[Edward Gordon Craig|Gordon Craig]]. Patrick Augustus was born May 1, 1910,<ref name=kurthbook>Kurth (2001)</ref> fathered by [[Paris Singer]], one of the many sons of [[sewing machine]] magnate [[Isaac Singer]]. Deirdre and Patrick both died by drowning in 1913; while out on a car ride with their nanny, the automobile accidentally went into the [[Seine|River Seine]].<ref name=kurthbook /> Following this tragedy, Duncan spent several months on the Greek island of [[Corfu]] with her brother and sister, then several weeks at the [[Viareggio]] seaside resort in [[Italy]] with actress [[Eleonora Duse]].

In her autobiography, Duncan relates that in her deep despair over the deaths of her children, she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor [[Romano Romanelli]], to sleep with her because she was desperate for another child.<ref>Gavin, Eileen A. and Siderits, Mary Anne, ''Women of vision: their psychology, circumstances, and success'' (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2LQfmHb64CgC&q=Romanelli+%22Isadora+Duncan%22&pg=PA267 p. 267]</ref> She gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914, but he died shortly after birth.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.darklanecreative.com/blog/isadora-duncan-and-paris-singer|title=Isadora Duncan and Paris Singer|date=2013-07-03|work=Dark Lane Creative|access-date=2018-04-17|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gerrie-thefriendlyghost.blogspot.com/2014/09/isadora-duncan-taste-for-life.html|title=The Linosaurus: Isadora Duncan: a taste for life|last=Gerrie|date=2014-09-24|website=The Linosaurus|access-date=2018-04-17}}</ref>

===Relationships===
[[File:1923. Esen duncan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Duncan and [[Sergei Yesenin]] in 1923]]
When Duncan stayed at the Viareggio seaside resort with Eleonora Duse, Duse had just left a relationship with the rebellious and epicene young [[feminist]] [[Lina Poletti]]. This fueled speculation as to the nature of Duncan and Duse's relationship, but there has never been any indication that the two were involved romantically.

Duncan was loving by nature and was close to her mother, siblings and all of her male and female friends.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.glbtq.com/arts/duse_e.html |title=Duse, Eleanora (1859–1924) |encyclopedia=glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture |date=2006-09-10 |access-date=2007-07-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703160440/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/duse_e.html |archive-date=2007-07-03 }}</ref> Later on, in 1921, after the end of the Russian Revolution, Duncan moved to Moscow, where she met the poet [[Sergei Yesenin]], who was eighteen years her junior. On May 2, 1922, they married, and Yesenin accompanied her on a tour of Europe and the United States. However, the marriage was brief as they grew apart while getting to know each other. In May 1923, Yesenin returned to Moscow. Two years later, on December 28, 1925, he was found dead in his room in the [[Hotel Angleterre]] in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] (formerly St Petersburg and Petrograd), in an apparent suicide.<ref name="chronology">[https://serge-esenin.jimdo.com/биография/хронологическая-канва-жизни-и-творчества-с-а-есенина/ S.A. Yesenin. Life and Work Chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918055525/http://serge-esenin.jimdo.com/%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%8F/%D1%85%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D1%81-%D0%B0-%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0/ |date=2016-09-18 }}. The Complete Works by S.A. Yesenin in 7 Volumes. Nauka Publishers, 2002 // Хронологическая канва жизни и творчества. Есенин С. А. Полное собрание сочинений: В 7 т. – М.: Наука; Голос, 1995–2002.</ref>

Duncan also had a relationship with the poet and playwright [[Mercedes de Acosta]], as documented in numerous revealing letters they wrote to each other.<ref>Hugo Vickers, ''Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, and Mercedes de Acosta'', Random House, 1994.</ref> In one, Duncan wrote, "Mercedes, lead me with your little strong hands and I will follow you – to the top of a mountain. To the end of the world. Wherever you wish."<ref>Schanke (2006)</ref>

However, the claim of a purported relationship made after Duncan’s death by de Acosta (a controversial figure for her alleged relations) is in dispute.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnett |first=David |date=2024-03-02 |title=Mercedes de Acosta: The poet who had affairs with the 20th century's most famous women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/02/mercedes-de-acosta-the-poet-who-had-affairs-with-the-20th-centurys-most-famous-women |access-date=2024-10-15 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=GarboForever - Garbo's letters to Mercedes de Acosta |url=http://www.garboforever.com/Letters_to_or_by_Garbo-5.htm |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=www.garboforever.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Salter |first=Stephanie |date=April 20, 2000 |title=The proof is in Garbo's letters: The best is silence |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/the-proof-is-in-garbo-s-letters-the-best-is-3064454.php |access-date=October 15, 2024 |website=SFGate.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite video|title=Greta Garbo: A Lone Star|year=2001|author=Cole, Steve (director)|publisher=[[American Movie Classics]]|medium=Television production|minutes=39.98–40.5}}</ref> Friends and relatives of Duncan believed her claim is false based on forged letters and done for publicity’s sake.<ref name=":2" /> In addition, Lily Dikovskaya, one of Duncan’s students from her Moscow School, wrote in ''In Isadora’s Steps'' that Duncan “was focused on higher things”.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Dikovskaya |first=Lily |title=In Isadora's Steps: The Story of Isadora Duncan's School in Moscow, Told By Her Favourite Pupil |publisher=Book Guild Ltd |year=2008 |isbn=978-1846241864 |pages=25, 39, 48}}</ref>{{clear left}}

=== Later years ===
By the late 1920s, Duncan, in her late 40s, was depressed by the deaths of her three young children. She spent her final years financially struggling, moving between Paris and the Mediterranean, running up debts at hotels. Her autobiography ''My Life'' was published in 1927 shortly after her death. The Australian composer [[Percy Grainger]] called it a "life-enriching masterpiece."<ref>{{cite book| editor-last1= Gillies  | editor-first1= Malcolm | editor-last2= Pear | editor-first2= David | editor-last3= Carroll | editor-first3= Mark | title= Self Portrait of Percy Grainger | publisher= Oxford University Press | year= 2006 |page= 116}}</ref> 

In his book ''Isadora, An Intimate Portrait'', [[Sewell Stokes]], who met Duncan in the last years of her life, described her extravagant waywardness. In a reminiscent sketch, [[Zelda Fitzgerald]] wrote how she and her husband, author [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], sat in a Paris cafe watching a somewhat drunken Duncan. He would speak of how memorable it was, but all that Zelda recalled was that while all eyes were watching Duncan, she was able to steal the salt and pepper shakers from the table.<ref>{{cite book| last= Milford | first= Nancy | title= Zelda: A Biography |place= New York | publisher= HarperCollins| year= 1983 |page= 118| isbn=}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:AX Isadora Duncan Tomb crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Duncan's tomb at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]]]
On September 14, 1927, in [[Nice]], France, Duncan was a passenger in an [[Amilcar CGSS]] automobile owned by {{ill|Benoît Falchetto|fr}}, a French-Italian mechanic. She wore a long, flowing, hand-painted silk scarf, created by the Russian-born artist [[Roman Chatov]], a gift from her friend Mary Desti, the mother of American filmmaker [[Preston Sturges]]. Desti, who saw Duncan off, had asked her to wear a cape in the open-air vehicle because of the cold weather, but she would agree to wear only the scarf.<ref name=sturges2>Sturges (1990), pp. 227–230</ref> As they departed, she reportedly said to Desti and some companions, "{{lang|fr|Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire!}} " ("Farewell, my friends. I go to glory!"); but according to the American novelist [[Glenway Wescott]], Desti later told him that Duncan's actual parting words were, {{lang|fr|"Je vais à l'amour"}} ("I am off to love"). Desti considered this embarrassing, as it suggested that she and Falchetto were going to her hotel for a tryst.<ref>{{cite web|title=DEATH By Flowing Scarf – Isadora Duncan, USA|url=http://death.stkittsthegreat.com/death-by-flowing-scarf-isadora-duncan-usa/|website=True Stories of Strange Deaths|access-date=18 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506061126/http://death.stkittsthegreat.com/death-by-flowing-scarf-isadora-duncan-usa/|archive-date=6 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Isadora Duncan Meets Fate|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-isadora-duncan-19270915-story.html|access-date=18 May 2016|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Isadora Duncan killed in Paris under wheels of car she was buying|url=http://clickamericana.com/eras/1920s/dancer-isadora-duncan-killed-in-bizarre-accident-1927|access-date=18 May 2016|publisher=Sandusky Star Journal|date=September 15, 1927}}</ref>

Her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled in the wheel well around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, pulling her from the open car and breaking her neck.<ref name="Craine" /> Desti said she called out to warn Duncan about the scarf almost immediately after the car left. Desti took Duncan to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.<ref name=sturges2 />

As ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted in its obituary, Duncan "met a tragic death at Nice on the [[Riviera]]". "According to dispatches from Nice, Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C10F9355F17738DDDAC0994D1405B878EF1D3|title=Isadora Duncan, Dragged by Scarf from Auto, Killed; Dancer Is Thrown to Road While Riding at Nice and Her Neck Is Broken|date=1927-09-15|work=The New York Times|access-date=2007-07-02|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other sources noted that she was almost decapitated by the sudden tightening of the scarf around her neck.<ref>{{Citation|author=Janet Flanner|title=Episode 179, Season 6|date = 1972-06-16 | work = [[The Dick Cavett Show]]}}</ref> The accident gave rise to [[Gertrude Stein]]'s remark that "affectations can be dangerous".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.threehundredwords.com/2009/07/affectations-can-be-dangerous.html|title=Affectations Can Be Dangerous|website=Three Hundred Words|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010172857/http://www.threehundredwords.com/2009/07/affectations-can-be-dangerous.html|archive-date=2013-10-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time of her death, Duncan was a Soviet citizen. Her will was the first of a Soviet citizen to undergo [[probate]] in the U.S.<ref name=Petrucelli>{{cite book|last1=Petrucelli|first1=Alan|title=Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous|date=2009}}</ref>

Duncan was cremated, and her ashes were placed next to those of her children<ref name="wound magazine">{{Cite journal|author=Kavanagh, Nicola|date=May 2008|title=Decline and Fall|journal=Wound Magazine|issue=3|page=113|location=London|issn=1755-800X}}</ref> in the [[columbarium]] at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mmK5QwkzfTMC&dq=isadora+duncan+columbarium&pg=PA144 ''Hemingway: The Homecoming'']</ref> On the headstone of her grave is inscribed ''École du Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris'' ("Ballet School of the Opera of Paris").

== Works ==
* Duncan, Isadora (1927) ''"My Life"'' [[New York City]]: [[Boni & Liveright]]  {{oclc | 738636 }}
** [[Project Gutenberg Canada]] #941 <!-- http://gutenberg.ca/index.html --> [http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/duncani-mylife/duncani-mylife-00-h-dir/duncani-mylife-00-h.html HTML] [http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/duncani-mylife/duncani-mylife-00-h-dir.zip HTML zipped] [http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/duncani-mylife/duncani-mylife-00-t.txt Text] [http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/duncani-mylife/duncani-mylife-00-t.zip Text zipped] [http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/duncani-mylife/duncani-mylife-00-e.epub EPUB]<!--
::principal source of the 1968 film, ''[[Isadora]]''
::preface by [[Horace Liveright]], her publisher
::photographs by the Munich studio [[HofatelierElvira|Atelier Elvira]] founded by [[Anita Augspurg]] and Sophia Goudstikker ([[:de:Sophia Goudstikker|de]])
::photographs by Parisian photographer Paul Berger,
::photographs by [[Arnold Genthe]]
::photographs by [http://rittsel.weebly.com/otto-wegener.html Otto Wegener (1849–1922)
::photographs by Jacob Schloss (1857–1938),
::photographs by [[Edward Steichen]] (1879–1973) -->
** {{FadedPage|id=20120502|name=My Life}} : [[Text file|text]], [[HTML]], [[EPUB]], [[Comparison of e-book formats#Mobipocket|.mobi]], [[PDF]], HTML [[ZIP (file format)|.zip]]
* Duncan, Isadora; Cheney, Sheldon (ed.) ''The Art of the Dance''. New York: Theater Arts, 1928. {{ISBN|0-87830-005-8}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Duncan, Isadora|name=Isadora Duncan|author=yes}}
* {{OL author|287324A}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:Isadora Duncan - first fairy.jpg|thumb|Duncan as a fairy in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', 1896]]
Duncan is known as "The Mother of Dance". While her schools in Europe did not last long, Duncan's work had an impact on the art and her style is still danced based upon the instruction of [[Maria-Theresa Duncan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Maria+Theresa+Duncan&sp=1&st=list&co=agc&sg=false&fi=all&op=AND&va=all|title=Search Results: "Maria Theresa Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Anna Duncan,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Anna+Duncan&sp=1&st=list&co=agc&sg=false&fi=all&op=AND&va=all|title=Search Results: "Anna Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog |website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> and Irma Duncan,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Irma+Duncan&sp=1&st=list&co=agc&sg=false&fi=all&op=AND&va=all|title=Search Results: "Irma Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> three of her six pupils.  Through her sister, Elizabeth, Duncan's approach was adopted by [[Jarmila Jeřábková]] from Prague where her legacy persists.<ref name=kb>{{cite web|url=http://www.czechdance.info/newsaj/100-year-birth-anniversary-of-jarmila-jerabkova-dancer-choreographer-and-teacher/|title=100-year birth anniversary of Jarmila Jeřábková – dancer, choreographer and teacher|author=Kateřina Boková|publisher=Czech Dance Info|access-date=5 March 2014 }}</ref> By 1913 she was already being celebrated. When the [[Théâtre des Champs-Élysées]] was built, Duncan's likeness was carved in its ''[[bas-relief]]'' over the entrance by sculptor [[Antoine Bourdelle]] and included in painted [[murals]] of the nine [[muses]] by [[Maurice Denis]] in the auditorium. In 1987, she was inducted into the [[National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame]].

Anna, Lisa,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Lisa+Duncan&sp=1&st=list&co=agc&sg=false&fi=all&op=AND&va=all|title=Search Results: "Lisa Duncan" – Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Theresa and Irma, pupils of Isadora Duncan's first school, carried on the aesthetic and pedagogical principles of Isadora's work in New York and Paris. Choreographer and dancer [[Julia Levien]] was also instrumental in furthering Duncan's work through the formation of the Duncan Dance Guild in the 1950s and the establishment of the Duncan Centenary Company in 1977.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/obituaries/09levien.html?_r=0|title=Julia Levien, 94, Authority on the Dances of Isadora Duncan, Dies|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= September 9, 2006|author=Jennifer Dunning|author-link=Jennifer Dunning}}</ref>

Another means by which Duncan's dance techniques were carried forth was in the formation of the Isadora Duncan Heritage Society, by Mignon Garland, who had been taught dance by two of Duncan's key students. Garland was such a fan that she later lived in a building erected at the same site and address as Duncan, attached a commemorative plaque near the entrance, which is still there {{as of|2016|lc=y}}. Garland also succeeded in having San Francisco rename an alley on the same block from Adelaide Place to Isadora Duncan Lane.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kisselgoff|first1=Anna|title=Mignon Garland Dies at 91; Disciple of Isadora Duncan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/24/arts/mignon-garland-dies-at-91-disciple-of-isadora-duncan.html|access-date=18 May 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 24, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Journal of proceedings, Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco|url=https://archive.org/stream/journalofjanaprproceed83sanfrich#page/88/mode/2up|website=The Wayback Machine|publisher=Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco|access-date=19 May 2016|page=89|date=January 25, 1988}}</ref>

In medicine, the Isadora Duncan Syndrome refers to injury or death consequent to entanglement of neckwear with a wheel or other machinery.<ref name="pmid12835372">{{cite journal | vauthors = Gowens PA, Davenport RJ, Kerr J, Sanderson RJ, Marsden AK | title = Survival from accidental strangulation from a scarf resulting in laryngeal rupture and carotid artery stenosis: the "Isadora Duncan syndrome". A case report and review of literature | journal = Emerg Med J | volume = 20 | issue = 4 | pages = 391–3 | date = July 2003 | pmid = 12835372 | pmc = 1726156 | doi = 10.1136/emj.20.4.391}}</ref>

== Photo gallery ==
<gallery class="center" widths="225" heights="250" caption="Photographic studies of Isadora Duncan made in New York by [[Arnold Genthe]] during her visits to America in 1915–1918" classes="center">
File:Isadora Duncan studies 1.jpg|
File:Isadora Duncan studies 4.jpg|
File:Isadora Duncan studies 5.jpg|
</gallery>

== In popular culture ==
<!-- Please do not include items without citing a secondary source (not the source itself) verifying the information -->
Duncan has attracted literary and artistic attention from the 1920s to the present, in novels, film, ballet, theatre, music, and poetry.

<!--In literature-->
In literature, Duncan is portrayed in:
* [[Aleister Crowley]]'s ''[[Moonchild (novel)|Moonchild]]'' (as 'Lavinia King'), published in 1923.<ref name="Churton2012">{{cite book|author=Tobias Churton|title=Aleister Crowley: The Biography: Spiritual Revolutionary, Romantic Explorer, Occult Master – and Spy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFw8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|date=1 January 2012|publisher=Watkins Media Limited|isbn=978-1-78028-134-6|pages=135}}</ref>
* [[Upton Sinclair]]'s [[World's End (Sinclair novel)|''World's End'']] (1940) and [[Between Two Worlds (novel)|''Between Two Worlds'']] (1941), the first two novels in his Pulitzer Prize winning [[Lanny Budd]] series.<ref name="Sinclair2001">{{cite book|author=Upton Sinclair|title=Between Two Worlds I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXBXiMXCn8EC&pg=PA172|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Simon Publications LLC|isbn=978-1-931313-02-5|page=172}}</ref>
* [[Amelia Gray]]'s novel ''Isadora'' (2017).<ref name="NPR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/25/528842969/a-dancer-is-unstrung-by-grief-in-isadora|title=A Dancer is Unstrung By Grief in 'Isadora'|work=NPR|date=25 May 2017|last1=Schaub|first1=Michael}}</ref>
* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)|A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'', in which two characters are named after her, [[Isadora Quagmire]] and [[Duncan Quagmire]].<ref name="NPR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/6253438/a-series-of-unfortunate-literary-allusions|title=A Series Of Unfortunate Literary Allusions|work=NPR|date=12 October 2006|last1=Kramer|first1=Melody Joy}}</ref>
* The poem ''Fever 103'' by [[Sylvia Plath]], in which the speaker alludes to Isadora's scarves.<ref name="Brain2014">{{cite book|author=Dr Tracy Brain|title=The Other Sylvia Plath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B14SBAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA15|date=22 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-88160-5|pages=1–}}</ref>

<!--In film-->
Among the films and television shows featuring Duncan are:
* In 1965, a youthful Isadora Duncan was portrayed by Kathy Garver in the television show ''[[Death Valley Days]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Garver | first=K. | title=Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood | publisher=Globe Pequot | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-63076-116-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AACJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 | access-date=July 26, 2024 | page=3}}</ref>
* The 1966 [[BBC]] [[biopic]] by Kenneth Russell, ''[[Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World]]'', which was introduced by Duncan's biographer, [[Sewell Stokes]], Duncan was played by [[Vivian Pickles]].<ref name="Daly2010">{{cite book|author=Ann Daly|title=Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8EK4UqQq2cC&pg=PT31|date=1 March 2010|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|isbn=978-0-8195-7096-3|page=221}}</ref>
* The 1968 film ''[[Isadora (film)|Isadora]]'', nominated for the ''[[Palme d'Or]]'' at [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]], stars [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Duncan. The film was based in part of Duncan's autobiography. Redgrave was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance as Duncan.<ref name="Daly2010" /><ref>{{IMDb title|0063141|Isadora}}</ref>
* In 1976, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' parodied Isadora Duncan in a ''Great Moments in Herstory'' sketch during Season 1, Episode 15. Hosted by [[Jill Clayburgh]], the skit featured Clayburgh as Duncan and [[Gilda Radner]] in a comedic retelling of the dancer’s tragic demise, exaggerating the absurdity of her fatal scarf accident.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jill Clayburgh {{!}} Actress, Soundtrack |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001049/?ref_=nm_rvi_t_1 |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Archival footage of Duncan was used in the 1985 popular documentary ''[[That's Dancing!]]''.<ref name="ClineWeiner2010">{{cite book|author1=John Cline|author2=Robert G. Weiner|title=From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKhqh3HFH8AC&pg=PA241|date=17 July 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7655-2|pages=241}}</ref><ref name=name>{{IMDb name|0241984|Isadora Duncan}}</ref>
* A 1989 documentary, ''Isadora Duncan: Movement from the Soul'', was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1989 [[Sundance Film Festival]].<ref name="Lust2012">{{cite book|author=Annette Lust|title=Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen: Expressive Movement for Performers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4b2lrWxMEzsC&pg=PA314|year=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8212-6|page=314}}</ref>
* In 2016, [[Lily-Rose Depp]] portrayed Duncan in ''[[The Dancer (2016 film)|The Dancer]]'', a French biographical musical drama of dancer [[Loie Fuller]].<ref name="Sep2015V">{{cite news |last1=Keslassy |first1=Elsa |date=September 24, 2015 |title=Lily-Rose Depp to Star as Isadora Duncan in 'The Dancer' |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/global/lily-rose-depp-to-star-as-isadora-duncan-in-the-dancer-1201601820/ |access-date=December 29, 2015}}</ref>

<!--In ballet-->
Ballets based on Duncan include:
* In 1976 [[Frederick Ashton]] created a short ballet entitled ''[[Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan]]'' on [[Lynn Seymour]], in which "Ashton fused Duncan's style with an imprint of his own"; [[Marie Rambert]] claimed after seeing it that it was exactly as she remembered Duncan dancing.<ref name="Kav">Kavanagh J. ''Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton.'' Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1996, p543.</ref>
* In 1981, she was the subject of a [[ballet]], ''[[Isadora (ballet)|Isadora]]'', written and [[Choreography|choreographed]] by the [[Royal Ballet]]'s [[Kenneth MacMillan]], and performed at [[Covent Garden]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050311060501/http://www.barry-kay-archive.org/NOTES_TEXTS/NT_IS_Spencer.html "''Isadora'' (1981 ballet)"] on the ''Barry Kay Archive'' website. Retrieved: April 6, 2008</ref>

<!--In theatre-->
On the theatre stage, Duncan is portrayed in:
* A 1991 stage play ''When She Danced'' by [[Martin Sherman (dramatist)|Martin Sherman]] about Duncan's later years, won the [[Evening Standard Awards|Evening Standard Award]] for [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Best Actress.<ref>{{cite book|author=Carrie J. Preston|title=Modernisms Mythic Pose: Gender, Genre, Solo Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfVoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA293|date=2011-08-08|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-987744-7|pages=293–294}}</ref>

<!--In music-->
Duncan is featured in music in:
* [[Celia Cruz]] recorded a track titled Isadora Duncan with the [[Fania All-Stars]] for the album ''Cross Over'' released in 1979.<ref name="Rivera1989">{{cite book|author=Angel G. Quintero Rivera|title=Music, Social Classes, and the National Question of Puerto Rico|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBMoAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|page=34}}</ref>
* Rock musician [[Vic Chesnutt]] included a song about Duncan on his debut album ''Little''.<ref name="Buckley2003">{{cite book|author=Peter Buckley|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT195|year=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-105-0|page=195}}</ref>
*[[The Magnetic Fields]] song "Jeremy" on their second album ''[[The Wayward Bus (album)|The Wayward Bus]]'' refers to Duncan and her "impossibly long white scarves."<ref name="Genius 1992 d779">{{cite web | title= The Magnetic Fields - Jeremy | website=Genius | date=1992-01-01 | url=https://genius.com/The-magnetic-fields-jeremy-lyrics | access-date=2023-07-14}}</ref>
* Post-hardcore band [[Burden of a Day]]'s 2009 album Oneonethousand features a track titled "Isadora Duncan". The lyrics include references to a letter Duncan wrote to poet Mercedes de Acosta and her reported last words of "Je vais à l'amour."

== See also ==
* ''[[Dancer in a Café]]''—Painting by  Jean Metzinger
* [[Isidora]], sometimes spelled Isadora
* [[List of barefooters]]
* [[List of dancers]]
* [[Women in dance]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist|group=notes}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* De Fina, Pamela. ''Maria Theresa: Divine Being, Guided by a Higher Order''. Pittsburgh: Dorrance, 2003. {{ISBN|0-8059-4960-7}}
** About Duncan's adopted daughter; Pamela De Fina, student and protégée of Maria Theresa Duncan from 1979 to 1987 in New York City, received original choreography, which is held at the [[New York Library for the Performing Arts]] at [[Lincoln Center]].
* Duncan, Anna. ''Anna Duncan: In the footsteps of Isadora''. Stockholm: Dansmuseet, 1995. {{ISBN|91-630-3782-3}}
* Duncan, Doralee; Pratl, Carol and Splatt, Cynthia (eds.) ''Life Into Art. Isadora Duncan and Her World''. Foreword by [[Agnes de Mille]]. Text by Cynthia Splatt. Hardcover. 199 pages. W. W. Norton & Company, 1993. {{ISBN|0-393-03507-7}}
* Duncan, Irma. ''The Technique of Isadora Duncan''. Illustrated. Photographs by Hans V. Briesex. Posed by Isadora, Irma and the Duncan pupils. Austria: Karl Piller, 1937. {{ISBN|0-87127-028-5}}
* Kurth, Peter. ''Isadora: A Sensational Life''. Little Brown, 2001. {{ISBN|0-316-50726-1}}
* Levien, Julia. ''Duncan Dance: A Guide for Young People Ages Six to Sixteen''. Illustrated. Dance Horizons, 1994. {{ISBN|0-87127-198-2}}
* Peter, Frank-Manuel (ed.) ''Isadora & Elizabeth Duncan in Germany''. Cologne: Wienand Verlag, 2000. {{ISBN|3-87909-645-7}}
* Savinio, Alberto. ''Isadora Duncan'', in ''Narrate, uomini, la vostra storia''. Bompiani,1942, Adelphi, 1984.
* Schanke, Robert ''That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta''. Carbondale, Ill: Southern Illinois Press, 2003.
* Stokes, Sewell. ''Isadora, an Intimate Portrait''. New York: Brentanno's Ltd, 1928.
* {{cite sturges}}

== Further reading ==
* Daly, Ann. ''Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.
* {{cite web| url = http://forums.atlasf1.com/printthread.php?threadid=9925 | title = Atlas F1 historical research forum about the Amilcar debate | work = The AUTOSPORT Forums | date = 2002-07-21 | access-date = 2007-07-02 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171720/http://forums.atlasf1.com/printthread.php?threadid=9925 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2016-03-03}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons-inline}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{cite web|title=Isadora Duncan's Birthplace|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGW84_Isadora_Duncans_Birthplace_San_Francisco_CA|website=Waymarking.com}}, 501 Taylor, San Francisco

'''Archival collections'''
* [http://isadoraduncan.orchesis-portal.org/The Isadora Duncan pandect – Everything on the greatest dancer of the 20th century.]{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Dora Stratou Dance Theater, Athens, Greece.
* The [http://www.isadoraduncanarchive.org Isadora Duncan Archive]- a repository of historical and scholarly reference materials; artistic and archival collections; repertory lists with music; and videos of Duncan choreography. Created by Duncan practitioners, the IDA envisions many dancers, researchers, scholars, students and artists will greatly benefit from this continually expanding and non-commercial resource.
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt400025fn/ Finding Aid for the Howard Holtzman Collection on Isadora Duncan ca. 1878–1990 (Collection 1729)] UCLA Library Special Collections, Los Angeles, California.
* Digitized manuscripts from the [http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0008c2pw Howard Holtzman Collection on Isadora Duncan, ca 1878–1990 (Collection 1729)] hosted by the UCLA Digital Library.
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf8h4nb5d5 Guide to the Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera.] Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf8z09p28z Guide to the Mary Desti Collection on Isadora Duncan, 1901–1930.] Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

'''Other'''
* [http://www.dancesbyisadora.com/ Dances By Isadora, Inc.]
* [http://www.dancevisionsny.org/ Dance Visions NY, Inc.]
* [http://www.isadoraduncan.org/ Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, Inc.]
* [http://www.duncandance.org/idhsj/ Isadora Duncan Heritage Society Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319193532/http://www.duncandance.org/idhsj/ |date=2012-03-19 }}
* [http://www.isadoraduncan.net/ Isadora Duncan International Institute, Inc.]
* [https://www.duncansymposium.com/ Isadora Duncan International Symposium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603211216/https://www.duncansymposium.com/ |date=2019-06-03 }}
* [http://www.isadoranow.org/ isadoraNOW Foundation]
* {{NYPL Digital Gallery keyword|Isadora Duncan}} and [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=isadora%20duncan&sg=true Library of Congress] image galleries
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060525205346/http://www.peterkurth.com/ISADORA.htm Modern Duncan biographer, Peter Kurth's Isadora Duncan page]}}
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzlemaster/5441773366/in/pool-vintage_photos_wild_women_by_nyctreeman%7Cpuzzlemaster/ 1921 passport photo] (flickr.com)
* [http://rbth.ru/arts/2014/02/01/isadora_duncan_dancing_with_russians_33731.html Isadora Duncan: Dancing with Russians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219083038/http://rbth.ru/arts/2014/02/01/isadora_duncan_dancing_with_russians_33731.html |date=2014-02-19 }}
* [http://www.peacehost.net/DiabloDanceTheater/Dwyer_bio_of_ID.htm ISADORA DUNCAN (1877–1927)]
{{Modernism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Isadora}}
[[Category:1870s births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century atheists]]
[[Category:20th-century American dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century atheists]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in France]]
[[Category:American bisexual artists]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:American women choreographers]]
[[Category:American choreographers]]
[[Category:American communists]]
[[Category:American emigrants to France]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:American female dancers]]
[[Category:Artists from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Bisexual women artists]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Communist women writers]]
[[Category:Dancers from California]]
[[Category:Free and improvised dance]]
[[Category:LGBTQ choreographers]]
[[Category:Bisexual dancers]]
[[Category:French LGBTQ dancers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ dancers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from California]]
[[Category:American modern dancers]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in France]]
[[Category:Writers about the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:American women autobiographers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ female dancers]]