Dora Angela Duncan was born in 1877 in San Francisco, USA. Her father was a banker, but immediately after Dora was born he went bankrupt and the family became poor. The Duncan children had to grow up early and start working. From the age of ten, after dropping out of school, Dora taught neighboring children to dance, and as a teenager, her thirst for travel led her first to Chicago and then to New York. There she performed in various nightclubs, soon becoming disillusioned with classical ballet.
Europe
Feeling unrecognized in America, young Dora went to London in 1898, where she danced in the living rooms of the aristocrats there. Then, by the will of fate, she ended up in Greece and became interested in ancient art. Her dance numbers, performed barefoot and in a Greek chiton, captivated the audience, and in subsequent years she traveled almost all of Europe with performances. Isadora Duncan toured Russia several times, where she gained a huge number of fans and students and won the heart of K. Stanislavsky himself.
Gordon Craig
Isadora Duncan's first serious romance happened when she was 27 years old. Her chosen one was the famous theater director Edward Gordon Craig. At first the couple was very happy and they had a daughter. However, over time, Craig increasingly began to express dissatisfaction with Isadora's dance career, suggesting that she leave the stage and become an ordinary housewife. Perhaps the reason for this was that his lover was doing much better than Craig himself. At that time, the name of Isadora Duncan was already on the lips of all of Europe, she was called nothing less than the “brilliant sandal,” and her sincere manner of expressing her momentary feelings and desires in dance became for many of her followers a new reference point in dance art. Of course, the freedom-loving and artistic Duncan had completely different plans, and the union fell apart.
Singer
Forget the grievances caused to her ex-lover, Dora was helped by new love relationship with a person far from the world of art.
The son of the famous inventor of sewing machines, Paris Eugene Singer, and the famous artist met in Paris, where they then lived together. The scion of one of the richest families in Europe surrounded his beloved woman with luxury, but was extremely jealous. They had a son, and Singer proposed marriage to Isadora. However, she chose a career and freedom, and one day one of the constant quarrels over open dancing and flirting with other men ended in separation for the couple.
Then Isadora left to perform in Russia, and the children remained in Paris. But these tours did not bring joy to the dancer, she had nightmares all the time, and the feeling of imminent loss did not leave her. Exhausted from her experiences, Duncan arrived in Paris, where the family was reunited. Warmth and mutual affection reappeared in the relationship. However, the idyll was soon broken, and the same nightmarish visions that haunted the actress in Russia came true. One day, returning from a walk, Isadora’s children tragically died. She fell into apathy and even planned to commit suicide.
Yesenin, Moscow
Return to normal life Isadora's work helped. In 1921, at the suggestion and with the support of the leadership of the RSFSR, she opened her own children's dance school in Moscow. Active and purposeful, Duncan was inspired and made grandiose plans for the future.
Soon fate brought her together with Sergei Yesenin, and a short but very difficult relationship between the 43-year-old artist and the 28-year-old poet began. Surprisingly quickly, the couple began to live together, and when Isadora decided to go on tour with Yesenin in 1922, they got married. Their performances in Europe and the USA were not very successful. The public greeted Duncan coldly, and Yesenin was perceived everywhere as the husband of a famous wife. The couple often quarreled, and upon returning to Russia, Isadora went on tour again, and Yesenin remained in Moscow. Soon he sent her a telegram saying that he had fallen in love with someone else and was incredibly happy. Then Duncan finally left Russia and moved to Paris.
Death, Paris
There she met her last love, young pianist Viktor Serov, who emigrated from the USSR and was almost half her age. Having experienced many losses and disappointments, the already middle-aged and tired Isadora Duncan felt the approach of old age, tormented her young lover with jealousy and suffered from melancholy and depression. She could no longer dance, her former grace disappeared, and the dance schools that she opened did not exist for long and were closed due to lack of funds. She even once again decided to voluntarily leave this life, but fate had its own way. On September 14, 1927, the great dancer went for a walk in an open car with a casual acquaintance. She tied her favorite scarlet scarf around her neck, which, wrapped around a wheel, strangled Isadora Duncan. Unfortunately, it was not possible to help her; she died instantly.
Biography of this famous woman was full of ups and downs, her style of dancing gave impetus to the development modern dance, her personal life is connected with names famous men of its time, and the death caused a lot of prejudice and speculation.
American dancer, considered the founder of free dance. Isadora Duncan (née Dora Angela Duncan) was born on May 27, 1877 in San Francisco, USA. Her father, Joseph Duncan, went bankrupt and ran away from his mother before her, leaving his wife with four children in his arms.
At the age of 13, Isadora left school and took up music and dancing seriously. At the age of 18, Duncan came to conquer Chicago and almost married her admirer. It was a red-haired, bearded forty-five-year-old Pole, Ivan Mirosky. But he was married. He only broke the girl's heart. Isadora immersed herself in her work and devoted herself entirely to the dance.
She believed that dance should be a natural extension of human movement, reflecting the emotions and character of the performer. The dancer's performances began with social parties. Isadora danced barefoot, which shocked the audience.
In 1900, she decided to conquer Paris, where she met the great sculptor Rodin. In Paris, everyone was crazy about the World Exhibition, where she saw Auguste Rodin for the first time. And I fell in love with his genius. The desire to see the sculptor was great. She mustered up her resolve and showed up at his workshop without an invitation. They talked for a long time: the old, tired master taught the young, full of strength dancer to live in art - not to lose heart from failures and unfair criticism, to listen carefully to different opinions, but to believe only in herself, her mind and intuition, and not immediately count on large number supporters.
In 1903 she first performed with concert program in Budapest. The tour significantly improved Duncan's financial situation, and in 1903 she and her family made a pilgrimage to Greece. Dressed in tunics and sandals, the eccentric foreigners caused quite a stir in the streets. modern Athens. Travelers did not limit themselves simple study culture of their beloved country, they decided to make their contribution by building a temple on Kopanos Hill with a magnificent view of the Saronic Gulf. Today this temple, located on the border of the Athenian municipalities of Vyronas and Immitos, has become a choreographic school bearing the name of Isadora. In addition, Isadora selected 10 boys for the choir, which accompanied her performances with singing. With this Greek choir, Isadora toured in Vienna, Munich, and Berlin.
Isadora gave birth to a girl, Didra, whose birth she so dreamed of. The great dancer was 29 years old. But the girl's father married someone else.
At the end of 1907, Duncan gave several concerts in St. Petersburg. At this time she became friends with Stanislavsky.
One day, when she was sitting in the theater dressing room, a man, stately and confident, came in to her. “Paris Eugene Singer,” he introduced himself. A wealthy admirer came in very handy. He was the son of one of the inventors of the sewing machine, and inherited an impressive fortune. They traveled a lot together, he gave her expensive gifts and surrounded her with the most tender care. Their son Patrick was born, and she felt almost happy. But Singer was very jealous. One day they had a serious quarrel, and, as always, when her love affairs began to crack, she completely immersed herself in work.
In January 1913, Duncan went on tour to Russia. It was at this time that she began to have visions: she either heard a funeral march, or had a premonition. She calmed down a little only when she met the children and took them to Paris. Singer was glad to see his son and Diedra.
After meeting with their parents, the children and their governess were sent to Versailles. On the way, the engine stalled, and the driver came out to check it, the engine suddenly started and... the heavy car rolled into the Seine. The children could not be saved.
Duncan became seriously ill. She never recovered from this loss.
One day, while walking along the shore, she saw her children: they, holding hands, slowly went into the water and disappeared. Isadora threw herself on the ground and sobbed. A young man leaned over her. “Save me... Save my sanity. Give me a child,” Duncan whispered. The young Italian was engaged and their relationship was short. The child born after this relationship lived only a few days.
In 1921, Lunacharsky officially invited the dancer to open a school in Moscow, promising financial support. However, the promises of the Soviet government did not last long; Duncan was faced with a choice - to leave school and go to Europe or earn money by going on tour. And just at that moment she met Sergei Yesenin. When she saw him, she gasped. This fair-haired young man had the same blue eyes as her son.
Yesenin’s friend, poet and fiction writer Anatoly Mariengof, who was at their first meeting, describes her appearance and what followed: “A red tunic flowing in soft folds; red hair with hints of copper; a large body walking softly and lightly. She looked around the room, looking like saucers made of blue faience, and stopped them on Yesenin. The small, gentle mouth smiled at him.
Isadora lay down on the sofa, and Yesenin was at her feet. She plunged her hand into his curls and said: “Golden head!” It was unexpected that she, who knew no more than a dozen Russian words, knew exactly these two. Then she kissed him on the lips. And again her mouth, small and red, like a wound from a bullet, pleasantly broke the Russian letters: “Angel!” She kissed me again and said: “Tshort!” At four o'clock in the morning Isadora Duncan and Yesenin left..."
She is 43, he is 27, a golden-haired poet, and... A few days after they met, he moved in with her at 20 Prechistenka. In 1922, Duncan married Sergei Yesenin and accepted Russian citizenship. In 1924 she returned to the USA.
Recently, the memoirs of Alexander Tarasov Rodionov, a writer and friend of Yesenin, were extracted from the archives. He recorded his last conversation with the poet in December 1925, literally on the eve of Yesenin’s fatal departure to Leningrad. The meeting took place at Gosizdat, where Yesenin came to collect his fee. Tarasov Rodionov began to reproach Yesenin in a friendly manner for his frivolous attitude towards women. Sergei Alexandrovich made excuses: “And Sofya Andreevna... No, I didn’t love her... I made a mistake and now I’ve completely broken up with her. But I didn’t sell myself... But I loved Duncan, loved him dearly, loved him dearly. I have only loved two women in my life. This is Zinaida Reich and Duncan. And the rest... This is my whole tragedy with the women. No matter how much I swore mad love to anyone, no matter how much I assured myself of the same thing - all this, in essence, is a huge and fatal mistake. There is something that I love above all women, above any woman, and that I would not exchange for any kindness or love. This is art. You understand this well.”
The marriage with Yesenin was strange for everyone around him, if only because the spouses communicated through an interpreter, not understanding each other’s language. It is difficult to judge the true relationship of this couple. Yesenin was subject to frequent changes of mood, sometimes something came over him, and he began to shout at Isadora, call her names, beat her, at times he became thoughtfully gentle and very attentive. Abroad, Yesenin could not cope with the fact that he was perceived as the young husband of the great Isadora; this was also the cause of constant scandals. It couldn't go on like this for long. “I had passion, great passion. This lasted a whole year... My God, how blind I was!.. Now I don’t feel anything for Duncan.” The result of Yesenin’s thoughts was a telegram: “I love someone else, married, happy.” They were divorced.
In 1925, when Isadora learned about Yesenin’s death, she contacted Parisian newspapers with by next letter: “News about tragic death Yesenin caused me deepest pain. He had youth, beauty, genius. Dissatisfied with all these gifts, his daring spirit strove for the unattainable, and he wanted the Philistines to fall on their faces before him. He destroyed his youth and beautiful body, but his spirit will forever live in the soul of the Russian people and in the soul of everyone who loves poetry. I categorically protest against the frivolous and inaccurate statements published by the American press in Paris. There were never any quarrels between Yesenin and me, and we were never divorced. I mourn his death with pain and despair. Isadora Duncan."
Two Isadora Duncans were published in Russia: “The Dance of the Future” (M., 1907) and “My Life” (M., 1930). They were written under the influence of Nietzsche's philosophy. Like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, the people described in the book saw themselves as prophets of the future; they imagined this future in rosy colors. Duncan wrote that new woman will have a greater intellectual and physical level.
She danced the way she herself came up with - barefoot, without a bodice or tights. Her everyday clothes were also very loose-fitting, which greatly influenced the fashion of her period. With her dance she restored the harmony of soul and body. Duncan's work was appreciated, her contemporaries loved and appreciated her talent.
Her last lover was the young Russian pianist Viktor Serov. In addition to their common love of music, they were brought together by the fact that he was one of the few people she liked with whom she could talk about her life in Russia. She was over 40, he was 25. Uncertainty about his attitude towards her and jealousy drove Duncan to attempt suicide.
On September 14, 1927, in Nice, Duncan tied her red scarf and went for a car ride; Having refused the offered coat, she said that the scarf was warm enough. The car started moving, then suddenly stopped, and those around them saw that Isadora’s head fell sharply onto the edge of the door. The scarf hit the wheel axle and was pulled around her neck.
She was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
American dancer Isadora Duncan is the founder of a new category of dance - free, she developed unique system, which was based on the plastic traditions of ancient Hellas. As she wrote about herself, she began dancing in her mother’s womb. We invite you to get acquainted with the biography and life of Isadora Duncan and find out several mystical coincidences that foreshadowed her fatal death.
Early years
Dora Angela Duncan was born in 1877, May 27 (according to the horoscopes of Gemini and Ox), in San Francisco, California. Childhood was spent in an atmosphere of poverty and humiliation, since the father of the future celebrity abandoned his pregnant wife with three children already born and ran away, having first committed an illegal bank fraud.
For the mother, this was extreme stress, which she struggled with in a very unique manner - she could not take any other food besides oysters, which she washed down with champagne. After the birth of Dora, it became even harder for the unfortunate woman - caring for four babies and constant “battles” with her husband’s deceived creditors fell on her fragile shoulders.
Mary Dora Gray Duncan turned out to be a very strong and strong-willed woman. A musician by profession, she gave huge amount private lessons, and spent the money she earned on raising and educating her children.
First hardships
Unfortunately, due to her excessive busyness, the mother could not pay due attention to Dora, the youngest of her children, so the girl was enrolled in school at the age of 5, having previously been assigned a couple of years of age. The little girl felt lonely and uncomfortable among classmates who were much older; she would retain this melancholy throughout her life and would later be able to express it in dance.
However, in the evenings the mother returned home, sat down at the piano and played for her beloved children. best works world classics. Since childhood, all Duncan children were distinguished by good taste and education; their mother, despite her constant employment, managed to raise them as intelligent people.
Love for life
From an early age, Isadora Duncan, whose photo is presented below, was distinguished by her flexibility, musicality and plasticity, and at the age of only 6 years she began to pass on her knowledge to neighboring children, teaching them to dance. At 10 years old your first money in the future world celebrity earned money precisely with her unique lessons, in which she constantly invented new movements. Before one of these lessons there was a fire, all the girl’s outfits were destroyed in the fire, but she was not at a loss - tying a sheet under her chest, she began to dance in such a loose robe. Subsequently, this will become her style.
But studying at a regular school progressed with great difficulty, science seemed boring and useless to the young dancer, she could hardly sit at her desk, waiting for the end of classes.
Soon the little girl felt in love for the first time, a young pharmacist's assistant became her chosen one, Dora's courtship was so persistent that the man had to resort to a trick and say that he was engaged and the wedding was just around the corner. The girl will soon forget this man, but dancing, eternal love will remain with her forever.
Major changes
At the age of 13, Dora dropped out of school and decided to take up dancing seriously, for this she ended up with the then famous Loie Fuller, an actress and dancer in the modern style. This meeting became fateful; Isadora managed to conquer her mentor and began to perform with her on equal terms. At the age of 18, dancer Isadora Duncan goes to Chicago, where she begins performing her memorable routines in nightclubs.
A young girl performed barefoot, wearing a simple short chiton in the manner of performers Ancient Hellas, so she very quickly won over the public, her numbers were perceived as something outlandish and unusual. She deliberately did not want to put on pointe shoes and a tutu, and refused to move classical ballet in favor of our own, flexible and light. All this was innovation for that time. Isadora began to be called the dancing sandal.
It never occurred to anyone to call the flexible dancer in a light robe vulgar or obscene; her dance was a magical, mesmerizing spectacle. It was at this time that changes occurred in the personal life of Isadora Duncan; Ivan Mirotsky, an emigrant artist who was much older than the successful dancer, fell madly in love with the girl. Their romance was permeated with notes of romance, the lovers walked under the moon, kissed in the silence of the forest. And it seemed that things were heading towards marriage. However, the girl soon learned the harsh truth - the artist is married, his wife lives in Europe, and all this time he was involved with both of them. This breakup greatly affected Isadora; she expressed her pain and resentment through dance.
Worldwide success
The first performances allowed the girl to save enough money to go on a real tour of Europe.
In 1904, 27-year-old Duncan successfully performed in Munich, Berlin, Vienna and quickly won the love of the public in these cities, and also visited St. Petersburg, where there were a huge number of admirers of her talent.
Duncan famously said about dance:
If my art is symbolic, then this symbol is only one: the freedom of women and her emancipation from the ossified conventions that underlie Puritanism.
Despite her success, Isadora was unable to save an impressive amount of money. Everything she managed to earn, she spent on opening dance schools.
Novels
Isadora was creative personality, during her short life she managed to experience love in all its manifestations; the list of her lovers is quite impressive. There are both grown men and young inexperienced boys in it. The dancer longed for love, in which she found inspiration. She was always in love. It is known that her relationship with actor Oscar Berezhi almost ended in marriage, but the dancer’s chosen one exchanged the relationship with her for a lucrative contract and left for Spain. Duncan was unlucky in love.
Her next chosen one, Gordon Craig, even became the father of her daughter Deirdre, but abandoned the dancer and threw in his lot with his old friend. This plunged Isadora into depressive state, she believed that all men are traitors and deceivers. This was followed by a painful relationship with Paris Eugene Singer, the heir to an empire specializing in the production of sewing machines; he very persistently sought her affection, but also did not marry, although the dancer gave birth to his son Patrick.
Tragedy
In 1913, something happened in Isadora’s life terrible tragedy, V car accident Both of her children died; before that, for several weeks the woman had been haunted by a bad feeling, but could not interpret it correctly. Despite the pain and despair, the mother, who had lost the most valuable thing, came out in defense of the driver, believing that in the tragedy that occurred he was only a pawn in the hands of fate and could not do anything against evil fate.
Out of pain and despair, the woman entered into a relationship with a young Italian man, from whom she became pregnant, but the baby died just a few days after his birth.
Here's how the woman felt about life's losses:
Life is like a pendulum: the more you suffer, the crazier your happiness; the deeper the sadness, the brighter the joy will be.
Love of my life
The story of Yesenin and Isadora Duncan began almost immediately after this. The Russian poet became the dancer’s only husband and the greatest and brightest love of her life. It is noteworthy that Sergei was 18 years younger than his chosen one and there is a version that Duncan’s maternal instinct leaped into her, because at that time she had no living children.
The relationship was strange, the lovers traveled around Europe, enjoyed passion and were happy, but soon reality intervened in their idyll: Yesenin did not speak English at all, and Isadora spoke Russian poorly. Abroad, everyone perceived the young poet as a “page” to the great Duncan, which could not help but hurt his pride. The passion subsided and was replaced by the pain of disappointment.
The poet returned to Russia, the dancer remained in Europe, they were not faithful to each other. Very soon Yesenin’s life was tragically interrupted.
Death
Let's find out how Isadora Duncan died. Her whole life was filled with tragic omens and premonitions, so a close friend of the dancer was sure that the celebrity’s death would be related to cars, and so it happened. It is interesting that before the tragic incident that took her life, Isadora could have died in car accidents many times, but she managed to avoid death.
This happened on September 14, 1927. Hurrying to meet her lover in Nice, Isadora got into the car, losing sight of the fact that the end of her long shawl got under the rear wheel vehicle. When the car started moving, the shawl pulled tight and broke the dancer’s neck. The path ended so absurdly great woman, who managed to forever write her name in world history.
Having considered life and creative path Isadora Duncan, we suggest in conclusion to get acquainted with some interesting facts from her life:
- It is generally accepted that it was largely thanks to her that women of the last century abandoned uncomfortable corsets that caused health problems. The dancer inspired designer Paul Poiret to create a collection of tunics and loose shirt dresses.
- Paris Eugene Singer, one of Duncan's lovers, helped her financially and even took over the maintenance of one of Isadora's schools in Gruneveld, where 40 children studied the art of dance.
- The dancer was an ardent opponent official marriage, believing that he is depriving a woman of her freedom.
- Having received an invitation from the Soviet authorities to open a dance school in Russia, Isadora agreed without hesitation.
She had no followers left, since the dancer did not create an integral system of movements; she always expressed in dance what was in her soul, and this was much more than just steps, it was the very perception of life. It is impossible to imitate this, since the delightful dance came from the depths of Isadora’s soul.
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) - the famous American innovative dancer, was the founder of free dance. She was responsible for the development of an entire system and movement associated with ancient Greek dances. Duncan has been repeatedly voted the greatest dancer in the world in polls.
Isadora is also known for being the wife of the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
Childhood
Isadora was born on May 27, 1877. This happened in the American state of California, in the city of San Francisco on Giri Street. Her real name is Dora Angela Duncan.
Her father, Joseph Charles Duncan, pulled off a major banking scam, after which he took all the money and fled, leaving his pregnant wife and three children without a livelihood.
The mother of the future dancer, Mary Dora Gray Duncan, experienced this tragedy in her own way; she could not eat anything except oysters, which she washed down with cold champagne. Subsequently, when journalists asked Isadora the question at what age she first started dancing, the woman jokingly replied that, probably, even in the womb, this is how champagne and oysters made themselves felt.
The girl's childhood cannot be called happy. The mother could barely carry four children on her shoulders and for a long time fought off the depositors deceived by their father, who every now and then rallied under their windows.
We must pay tribute to Isadora’s mother, the woman was not broken by such troubles and troubles. She promised herself that she would raise her children, provide them with everything they needed and make them good people. My mother was a musician by profession, and in order to support her family, she had to work very hard, giving private lessons. Because of this, she simply physically could not pay due attention to her children, especially the little Dora.
In order not to leave the baby at home alone for a long time, she was sent to school at the age of five, while hiding the girl’s real age. Those unpleasant memories and feelings from childhood, when she felt uncomfortable and lonely among older, prosperous classmates, remained forever in Isadora’s heart and memory.
But the girls had good moments in their childhood, although they were rare. In the evenings, the selfless mother belonged only to her children; she played them the works of Beethoven and other great composers, read William Shakespeare, early years instilling a love of art. The children, like chickens around a hen, united around their mother, forming a strong and united Duncan clan, which was ready to challenge the whole world if necessary.
Passion for dance
We can say that already at the age of six, Dora opened her first dance school. It was then that she created them all over the world, and then the little girl and her sister simply taught the neighboring children to dance, to move beautifully and gracefully. And by the age of ten, Duncan was already earning her first money by dancing. She not only taught younger children, but also came up with new ones beautiful movements. These were her first steps in creating her own style of dancing.
Very early on, Isadora became interested in representatives of the opposite sex. No, she was not a promiscuous nymphet at all, she was simply amorous from a young age. For the first time, she liked a young man, Vernon, who worked in a pharmacy warehouse. Dora was only eleven years old at that time, but she was so persistent in seeking attention to herself that Vernon had to lie, saying that he was engaged. And only when the young man assured Isadora that he would soon marry, she left him behind. The girl was still very young, her love turned out to be childishly naive, but even then it became clear that she would grow into a persistent and eccentric person.
School program was difficult for Dora. And not because she didn’t understand something; on the contrary, Duncan was very capable. Just school activities made Isadora terribly bored. The girl ran away from class many times and wandered along the seashore, listening to the music of the surf and inventing light airy sounds to the sound of the waves. dance moves.
Isadora was thirteen years old when she dropped out of school, declaring that she did not see any point in learning, considered it a useless activity, and in life she could not school education can achieve a lot. She began to seriously pay attention to music and dancing. At first, the girl educated herself. But soon she was lucky, without anyone’s patronage or recommendations, without cronyism or money: she ended up with the famous American dancer and actress Loie Fuller, who was the founder of modern dance.
Fuller took Isadora as her student, but soon young Duncan began performing with her mentor. This went on for several years, and by the age of eighteen the talented student set off to conquer Chicago.
She showed her dance routines in nightclubs, where she was presented to the public as an exotic curiosity, since Isadora performed barefoot and in a short ancient Greek chiton. The audience was shocked by Duncan's manner of performance; she danced so sensually and tenderly that it was impossible to take your eyes off her movements and rise from the chairs after the end of the dance. Such a length of a dress in those days was unthinkable even for progressive America, however, no one ever called Isadora’s dances vulgar, they were so light, graceful and free.
Isadora's performances were successful, which allowed her to improve her financial condition and set off to conquer Europe.
In 1903, she came with the entire Duncan family to Greece. Already in 1904, Isadora’s deafening performances took place in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna. In Europe she quickly gained fame.
In 1904, Isadora's first tour took place in St. Petersburg. Then she came to Russia more than once, where there were many admirers of her talent.
Despite this success, Duncan was not rich woman, she spent all the money she earned on opening new dance schools. There were times when she had no money at all, then Isadora’s friends helped her.
Personal life
After the apothecary warehouse employee Vernon, with whom Isadora fell in love at the age of eleven, for six years she was exclusively occupied with dancing, work and a career. Her early years passed without love adventures.
And starting from the age of 17, Duncan experienced all the feelings that are subject to a woman on Earth - love, disappointment, happiness, grief, pain, tragedy. She, a principled opponent of marriage, had a too turbulent personal life. Her lovers became different men: old and young, married and single, rich and poor, beautiful and talented or none at all.
When she performed in Chicago nightclubs, a Polish emigrant, artist Ivan Mirotsky, fell madly in love with Isadora. He was not considered handsome; he wore a beard, and his head of hair was a bright red color. Nevertheless, Duncan took a liking to him, even though the man was almost thirty years older. Their affair with walks in the woods, kisses, and courtship lasted a year and a half. Things began to move towards the wedding, and its date had already been set when Isadora’s brother found out that Mirotsky was married, his wife lived in Europe. Duncan suffered painfully from this breakup; it became the first serious tragedy in her life. To forget about everything, she decided to leave America.
Then the failed actor Oscar Berezhi appeared in her life. She was 25 years old, Oscar became Isadora's first man, despite the fact that she constantly moved in bohemian circles. The wedding again did not work out, since Berezhi was offered a lucrative contract, and he chose a career over Isadora, leaving for Spain.
Four years later, Duncan met theater director Gordon Craig. Isadora gave birth to a daughter from him, but Craig soon abandoned them and married his old friend.
The heir to the famous dynasty that invented sewing machines, Paris Eugene Singer is the next man in Duncan’s life. He really wanted to meet the dancer and one day after a performance he himself came to Isadora’s dressing room. She did not marry Singer, although she gave birth to a son from him.
Tragedy with children
She had a unique gift: Duncan had a presentiment when death was walking nearby. It happened more than once in her life that nature itself sent her some kind of sign, and soon after that one of Isadora’s relatives, friends or acquaintances died.
Therefore, when in 1913 she began to be tormented by terrible visions, the woman lost peace. She constantly heard funeral marches and saw small coffins. She was going crazy, worrying about her children. Duncan tried to make the kids' lives absolutely safe. WITH common-law husband and as children they moved to a quiet, cozy place called Versailles.
One day Isadora was with her children in Paris, she had urgent business there, and she sent the kids with a driver and governess home to Versailles. On the way, the car stalled, the driver got out to find out the reason. At that moment, the car drove off and fell into the Seine River; the children could not be saved.
Isadora’s depression was terrible, however, she found the strength to speak out in defense of the driver, realizing that he also had small children.
She was like a stone, did not cry and never spoke to anyone about this tragedy. But one day, while walking by the river, I saw the ghost of my little children, they were holding hands. The woman screamed and became hysterical. A young man passing by rushed to her aid. Isadora looked into his eyes and whispered: “Save... Give me a child!” From this fleeting relationship she gave birth to a baby, but he lived only a few days.
Duncan and Yesenin
In 1921, the greatest love came into her life. She met the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.
A whirlwind romance began immediately on the day we met. She fell in love with him because Sergei reminded her of her little fair son with blue eyes. The difference of eighteen years did not prevent them from becoming spouses in 1922; this was the first and only marriage in Duncan’s life.
Yesenin loved Isadora madly and admired her, they traveled around Europe and America, were happy, but not for long. He didn't know at all English language, and Isadora is Russian. But not only these difficulties in linguistic communication disrupted their idyll. Yesenin was depressed that everyone abroad perceived him only as the husband of the great Isadora Duncan. Passion has passed, and eternal love union it didn't work out. Sergei returned to Russia two years after the wedding, and Isadora continued to love him.
He died in 1925, and Duncan lost another blond, blue-eyed, and most beloved person in his life.
Death
One close friend said about Isadora that for her, moving quickly was as necessary as breathing. Duncan spent her entire life running around like crazy, stopping only to eat and drink. She had all the prerequisites to crash her car at least twenty times.
Cars became some kind of obsession in Isadora’s life and played a mystical role. Her children died in a car accident, and the dancer herself crashed more than once while driving cars across Russia. During the European trip with Yesenin, they changed four cars, because Duncan simply terrorized the drivers, demanding to drive as quickly as possible, and several times these demands of hers ended in failure.
It was as if she had been playing with cars all her life: who would win? Cars brought her pain, disappointment and tragedy, and she again sat down and raced. On September 14, 1927, the final came in Nice, Duncan lost. She had a date with her next lover, Benoit Falchetto. Isadora sat in the passenger seat of his two-seater sports car and did not notice how the edge of a long shawl was left over the side and caught on the rear wheel. Benoit gave the gas, the car moved, the shawl stretched like a string, and in an instant broke Isadora’s neck. At 9.30 pm at the Saint-Roch clinic, doctors recorded the death of the great dancer.