Isadora : A Sensational Life - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349116199 ISBN 13: 9780349116198

Publisher: Abacus

Synopsis

Known by many as the greatest dancer of her time, Isadora Duncan was the matriarch of creative self-expression. A pioneer in the dance world and the women's movement, her name is synonymous with originality, spontaneity, and intrigue. She was the first woman to break simultaneously the barriers of art, love, fashion, sex, religion and marriage. Dorothy Parker christened her 'Duncan disorderly', praising her as 'magnificent, generous, gallant and fated'. Finally, here is a biography that does justice to the life of this unforgettable and exceptional woman. Hers was a life marked by tragedy - she never recovered from the accidental drowning of her two small children and was plagued by alcoholism. She died in a car accident in 1927; her scarf became entangled in the wheel of her car during a joy ride on the French Riviera and she was strangled.Never before has the life of Isadora Duncan been given such thorough and sweeping treatment.

About this title

Review:

It's a bit of a stretch to suggest, as Peter Kurth does in his biography of the expatriate artist, that Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) single-handedly invented modern dance, a claim that Vaslav Nijinsky and George Balanchine, among others, would almost certainly contest.

But Kurth has that claim on good authority, namely Duncan herself, who recalled, "I was possessed by the dream of Promethean creation that, at my call, might spring from the Earth, descend from the Heavens, such dancing figures as the world had never seen." Never shy of self-promotion, Duncan captivated audiences wherever she took the stage, earning a following--but also stirring controversy--in her native United States, and even greater exaltation and stormier criticism in Europe, where she made her home for most of her adult life. There she emerged as a textbook bohemian, avidly practicing and preaching free love and other convention-flouting doctrines, breaking hearts, taking up with political radicals and some of the great artists of the day, and drinking far too much. She also defined the figure of the artist as celebrity, living each day, as one Russian critic remarked, "as though bewitched by music" and unconcerned by the mundane. She even died spectacularly, done in by a fashion accessory and bad timing.

Toward the end of her life Duncan remarked, "I am not a dancer. I have never danced a step in my life." She was a dancer, of course, and one whose influence has endured. She was also an original, self-aware and certain of her greatness. Kurth tells her story well in this vivid biography, one of value to students of modern dance and the history of the Lost Generation. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Peter Kurth has written for VANITY FAIR, THE NEW YORKER etc. ISADORA has taken him 10 years to write.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abacus
• ISBN 10: 0349116199
• ISBN 13: 9780349116198
• Binding: Paperback