In the late 1700s, early 1800s, ballet, and classical music were iconic across the world. Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It is a very technical, rigid dance full with grace and intricate footwork. Its vocabulary is based in French and Italian, with a philosophy that is historically recognizable by almost all. Ballet requires years of training, which is often expensive. Most people who went to see ballet performances were wealthy middle and upper-class citizens. Isadora Duncan believed dance should correspond to the human form and resemble all the gifts and woes of nature. She thought dance should be improvised, free flowing, and liberating.
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“Early in Isadora’s career, sculptor Laredo Taft had described her as “Poetry personified. She is not the tenth muse but all nine muses in one.” (About Isadora Duncan) Scholars scrutinize Isadora Duncan’s use of Greek ideals, as an excuse to idolize freedom and nature, through nakedness and other non-Victorian values. According to Duncan’s dance technique bible, The Art of the Dance, she refutes this notion with:
It is clear from Duncan’s own writings, public statements and documented accounts, that she understood her reference to the Greek world not as a rarification of their ideals, but more as a matrix that provided her with a conceptual framework from which to explore her art, her politics and her lifestyle: To bring to life again the ancient ideal! I do not mean to say, copy it, imitate it; but to breathe its life, to recreate it in one’s self, with personal inspiration: to start from its beauty and then go toward the future (Duncan …show more content…
Socially, she was a nonconformist in the sense that she defied Victorian ideals. She did not wear the clothing, Puritanism or believe in their institution of marriage. Politically and economically, she did not believe in big government and was a Communist and Darwinist. She promoted freedom of choice and feminism. People believed she was too risqué and ironically, her best-known successor was the legendary spy, Mata Hari. The main reason she is so iconic is because she broke from ballet and other dances publically performed before the late 1800s and early
“Early in Isadora’s career, sculptor Laredo Taft had described her as “Poetry personified. She is not the tenth muse but all nine muses in one.” (About Isadora Duncan) Scholars scrutinize Isadora Duncan’s use of Greek ideals, as an excuse to idolize freedom and nature, through nakedness and other non-Victorian values. According to Duncan’s dance technique bible, The Art of the Dance, she refutes this notion with:
It is clear from Duncan’s own writings, public statements and documented accounts, that she understood her reference to the Greek world not as a rarification of their ideals, but more as a matrix that provided her with a conceptual framework from which to explore her art, her politics and her lifestyle: To bring to life again the ancient ideal! I do not mean to say, copy it, imitate it; but to breathe its life, to recreate it in one’s self, with personal inspiration: to start from its beauty and then go toward the future (Duncan …show more content…
Socially, she was a nonconformist in the sense that she defied Victorian ideals. She did not wear the clothing, Puritanism or believe in their institution of marriage. Politically and economically, she did not believe in big government and was a Communist and Darwinist. She promoted freedom of choice and feminism. People believed she was too risqué and ironically, her best-known successor was the legendary spy, Mata Hari. The main reason she is so iconic is because she broke from ballet and other dances publically performed before the late 1800s and early