

Basically, a male dancer’s role was merely to frame the female body, support it, and aid in its contortion. Even male dancing in Romantic ballets was tailored to please male audiences. Pointe shoes were invented by Marie Taglioni in 1827 to heighten the lithe look, and Romantic ballets starred fairies and nymphs. Additionally, as a reaction against the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution, an “ethereal” aesthetic became popular. Victorian corsets were donned by young “gamines,” who pranced around for the bourgeoisie. The ballet theater had been nearly reduced to a peep show in Paris by 1850, as is reflected in the art of Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and others. She has inspired artists, thinkers, and idealists everywhere."Ĭheck out isadoraduncan.In the mid-19th century, dance was ready for a revolution. Her influence upon the development of progressive ideas and culture from her time to our own has yet to be measured. Many saw a glorious vision for the future in Isadora’s choreography. Isadora was a champion in the struggle for women‘s rights.

Shocking some audience members and inspiring others, Isadora posed a challenge to the prevailing orthodoxies of her time. She was determined to “dance a different dance,” telling her own life story through abstract, universal expressions of the human condition. Her dances were born of the impulse to embrace life’s bittersweet challenges, meeting destiny and fate head-on in her own whirlwind journey, filled with both tragedy and ecstasy. Stepping out of the dance studio with a vision of the dance of the future, Isadora embraced artists, philosophers, and writers as her teachers and guides.Īccording to Isadora, the development of her dance was a natural phenomenon – not an invention, but a rediscovery of the classical principles of beauty, motion, and form. Duncan shed the restrictive corsets of the Victorian era and broke away from the vocabulary of the ballet. Isadora elevated the dance to a high place among the arts, returning the discipline to its roots as a sacred art. With free-flowing costumes, bare feet, and loose hair, she took to the stage inspired by the ancient Greeks, the music of classical composers, the wind and the sea.
ISADORA DUNCAN CONTEMPORARY DANCE FREE
She brought into being a totally new way to dance.ĭancer, adventurer, and ardent defender of the free spirit, Isadora Duncan is one of the most enduring influences on contemporary culture and can be credited with inventing what came to be known as Modern Dance. Her style of dancing eschewed the rigidity of ballet and she championed the notion of free-spiritedness coupled with the high ideals of ancient Greece: beauty, philosophy, and humanity. Known as the “Mother of Modern Dance,” Isadora Duncan was a self-styled revolutionary whose influence spread from American to Europe and Russia, creating a sensation everywhere she performed. " Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) was an American pioneer of dance and is an important figure in both the arts and history. producers, presenters, and curators of dance working in every aspect of movement, dance, and performance art. private philanthropists, agencies, and foundations who support dance ħ. those who contribute to dance with the goal of community service Ħ. dance writers, critics, reviewers, and journalists ĥ. dance educators, scholars, historians, and dance department faculty members ģ. dancers, choreographers, and other dance artists including visual, musical, and sound collaborators and other technical personnel active in dance Ģ. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards recognizes that the Bay Area dance ecosystem includes but is not limited to:ġ.

continue the ongoing work to cultivate a more equitable future in dance. view and attend dance events in the Bay Area from every tradition, genre, and culture.ĥ. celebrate the highest levels of artistic capacity and expression in order to contribute to fostering an environment where we acknowledge that systemic racism, settler colonialism, heteropatriarchy, and associated aesthetic biases exist in our society and in the dance field at large.Ĥ. acknowledge the role of visiting artists in enriching our community through their collaborations with resident artists.ģ. honor and enhance the visibility of a diverse range of Bay Area dance artists and practices.Ģ. To accomplish this mission, the Awards seek to:ġ. The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards celebrates the unique richness, diversity, and excellence of Bay Area Dance, to foster a supportive environment for its growth and development.
