Every Day Is Special: Duncan

Showing posts with label Duncan. Show all posts

March 28 – Happy Birthday, Abraham Walkowitz

Posted on March 28, 2019

In the 1880s, Jews in Russia faced pogroms (violent government-incited riots) that killed many and ran off many others. Perhaps that's why the very young Abraham Walkowitz (born on this date in 1878) and his mother left Siberia, Russia, and came to the U.S.

Walkowitz always loved to draw. As a child he drew all over the floors and "everything" with chalk.

Later he studied art in Europe, and it was there - specifically in France - that he met a dancer who was also from the U.S.; Isadora Duncan had grown up in California, but she lived most of her life in Europe and the Soviet Union.

Like many other artists and thinkers of the time, Walkowitz was impressed by the way that Isadora Duncan shrugged off the "rules" of dance, created her own never-before-seen style, and portrayed freedom and beauty with her movements. Duncan is considered the Mother of Modern Dance, and Walkowitz was inspired by her creativity.

How inspired was Walkowitz?

He created more than 5,000 drawings of Isadora Duncan. These drawings, which capture the fluidity and freedom of Duncan's movements, are considered by some to be his most significant achievement.

Also on this date:

Something on a Stick Day

Barnum and Bailey Day

Teachers' Day in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Weed Appreciation Day

What's in a Name Day

Ragnar Lodbrok Day in Scandinavia

Mule Day in Columbia, Tennessee

Anniversary of Robert Goddard's first successful use of gyroscopes to control a rocket

Birthday of artist Raphael

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

May 27 – Happy Birthday to the “Mother of Modern Dance”

Posted on May 27, 2014

Although the world-famous dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan was born in America – in my home state of California, actually – she lived most of her adult life in Europe and the Soviet Union.

Duncan (born on this date in 1877, according to some sources) grew up very poor, in a “broken home” (her parents divorced, so her mom raised her and her two brothers and sister). Her mom was a piano teacher who was passionate about the arts, and Isadora discovered an early passion, too, in dance. She began to teach “movement” to neighborhood children when she was just six years old. By the time she was ten, her classes had become pretty large, and she and her older sister dropped out of school to work teaching dance for pay.

When Duncan first went to Europe, she studied Greek mythology, and she fell in love with flowing tunics worn by the Ancient Greeks. She learned about the ancient rituals surrounding dance, and she developed a unique style that she carried into her own work as a dancer and choreographer.

For example, she often dressed like this when she danced:

At the time that Duncan was introducing dancing barefoot in loose, flowing tunics, everyone else was into rigid ballet technique, corseted costumes, and painful-to-wear pointe shoes. Duncan combined her love of Ancient Greece with Americans' love of freedom as she introduced natural movements such as skipping, plus “great strides, leaps and bounds, with lifted forehead and far-spread arms.”

Duncan was a maverick off the dance floor, too, but she faced great tragedies in her life. She had three children, but they all died in childhood. Her husband was mentally ill and committed suicide. Isadora Duncan herself died earlier than she should have – at age 50 – when her long, flowing scarf tangled in the spokes of the automobile she rode in, and her neck was broken.

The world always loves a good, gossipy story, and Duncan's life allowed plenty of such stories. But the world mostly remembers her as a dancer who earned fame and acclaim in Europe, and as a pioneer whose work led to an entirely new, much freer form: modern dance.

To this day, there is a dance company
carrying on Duncan's work.

Here is a sample of some of this natural, modern movement. Note: this is a pretty old video, but I'm sure it was filmed decades after Duncan died.

This video clip, I believe, offers some very early motion picture footage of Duncan herself.