Isadora Duncan's Contribution To Dance

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Isadora Duncan was born in California in 1877. As a child she studied ballet, and skirt dancing. Her mother was an accomplished pianist, and her music later inspired the genius of Duncan’s contributions to dance. Duncan began her professional career in Chicago in 1896, and joined a professional touring company; within the company she starred in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Geisha.” Duncan, however, soon left the company to begin performing solo dances at the homes of wealthy patrons. Influenced by Americanized Delsarte movement, the dances were not widely noticed by press. Duncan’s talents were appreciated by her family when she was young, but her revolutionary ideas on dance were not well accepted in America. Thus, Duncan moved to Europe to pursue her dance career; however, her funds were not sufficient to support her and her family. After Duncan’s move to Europe, her dance philosophy changed drastically. She stopped dancing to recitations and began to use the music of Chopin and Beethoven for inspiration. While in Europe, she was introduced to the philosophy of Frederick ...

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