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Isadora Duncan Isadora Duncan is the created a form of dance that left numerous audiences in awe and in a strange trance of reality. Unlike ballet her style showed natural movements with flexed feet rather than pointed toes and strong emotions. Her style still lives on and has influenced such great dancers such as the late Martha Graham of the Martha Graham Company in New York. Born Angela Duncan on May 26, 1877, in San Francisco, Calif., she cast aside, even as a child, the rigidity of the classical ballet. She had changed her name to Isadora by 1894. In Chicago and New York City, her first public appearances were not successful, and she left for Europe at age 21 to seek recognition overseas. She was the first Western dancer to perform barefoot and without tights, choosing a see through, loose-fitting gown. Duncan opened dance schools in France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Her dance style had more of improvised movements than of strictly defined ones, therefore, they were not used very often. She danced to the music of the master composers, which was at first criticized but later appreciated. Her significant effect on modern dance happened mostly after her death. Isadora Duncan had 2 children, both of whom died in a car accident in 1913. In 1922 she married a Russian poet 17 years younger than she. She lived the last years of her life in Nice, France. She died there on Sept. 14, 1927. As said before the realism expressed in Isadora’s dance is still remembered today and has left a lasting impression on the world of dance. Millions of modern dancers worldwide owe the creation of their art to this woman.
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