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Article: Barefoot contessas. (modern dance pioneers Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham) (The Creators) (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- August 31, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dance, sometimes called the original art, is also the universal art, for man has always carried it with him. Ballet, which transformed dancing into a controlled dramatic art, arose out of the lavish efforts of the Italian Renaissance court to entertain itself. By the beginning of the 20th century, American pioneers of modern dance were declaring independence from the ballet. Their prophet was Isadora Duncan (1878-1927), who at age 6 was teaching neighborhood infants how to wave their arms gracefully, explaining to her mother that she was running a dancing school.
Born in San Francisco, the fourth child of a reckless businessman who abandoned the family, Isadora ...