Isadora Duncan: the disastrous scarlet scarf. Isadora Duncan: photo, biography, personal life, cause of death and interesting facts The life and death of Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan died 90 years ago on the Promenade des Anglais.
The name of this dancer is known to almost every Russian-speaking person who is at least a little familiar with the work of Sergei Yesenin. And, of course, everyone knows the story of Isadora’s tragic death in a car. Today, September 14, marks 90 years since she got into the ill-fated convertible and drove onto the Promenade.
Successful in career and unhappy in personal life
Isadora was born in San Francisco in 1878. At the age of 13, she dropped out of school and focused exclusively on music and dancing. Five years later, the girl surprised Chicago viewers. She moved barefoot and in a Greek chiton, which shocked the conservative public. But later her dance revolutionized the world of choreography, and Isadora herself became an outstanding artist of that era.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Duncan moved to Europe, where she performed very successfully. In 1904, she gave birth to a daughter with her lover, the modernist theater director Edward Gordon Craig. Life with him did not work out for the dancer. And soon she met Paris Eugene Singer. The couple lived in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Paris. In 1910, Isadora gave Singer a son. But, unfortunately, this union also fell apart.
Three years after the birth of his son, tragedy struck in Paris. The brakes of the car, in which Isadora's two children and a nanny were located, failed. The car fell into the Seine, and the passengers were unable to get out. Only the driver survived. After the grief that befell her, Isadora devoted herself completely to work. She toured all over the world and taught.
"He is red! And me too!"
In 1921, Duncan was invited to the Soviet Union to create her own dance school. Fascinated by the October Revolution, Isadora, without hesitation, went to Russia, where she met Sergei Yesenin. Their romance flared up from the first meeting, despite the 18-year age difference. Within six months they lived together, and in 1922 they got married. A little later, the dancer went on tour to the USA, and Yesenin went with her. In America, Duncan constantly wore a red scarf, chanting: “It's red! And me too!".
This trip was the beginning of the end of a beautiful romance. Quarrels, drunkenness, assault filled their relationship, leaving crazy passion and love in the past. Duncan forgave Sergei all his antics, but his feelings cooled irrevocably. No longer embarrassed, he said in front of everyone: “Here you are!” Sticks like molasses!”
In 1923, the couple returned to Moscow, and a month later Duncan left the Soviet Union forever and alone. She arrived in Nice, where a telegram immediately arrived: “I love someone else. Married. Happy. Yesenin."
In the heart of the Cote d'Azur, she began to rebuild her life. Duncan opened a dance school on California Avenue, where she successfully taught. As local newspapers write, it was quite difficult to get into her class; there was no end to those interested. Duncan herself settled in a villa not far from the school. Like any woman, Isadora loved beautiful things. So, the dancer was partial to expensive outfits, jewelry and cars. In Nice, she became a client of Benoît Falchetto, who not only serviced her transport, but also sold interesting cars.
Death at Prom
September 14, 1927 was a warm, sunny day in Nice. Isadora went out into the yard to inspect the Amilcar, a small convertible that mechanic Benoît Falchetto had driven to her house. Her eyes lit up, she definitely wanted to ride him. Dressed in a light dress and tied with a long white scarf, the 50-year-old dancer sat in the passenger seat. The driver drove to the Promenade des Anglais, where Isadora saw her friends. She waved her scarf at them and shouted, “I’m flying off to glory!” Then something terrible happened. Not having traveled even twenty meters, Isadora found herself strangled by this very scarf. Its edges hit the spokes of the wheel. The doctors called to the scene could only confirm death.
Nice, like the entire Cote d'Azur, keeps many stories in its streets, houses and squares. Often walking along them, we do not notice or hear the echo of the distant past. But if we look closely, we will see that on some buildings there are plaques in memory of the people who made the history of our city. For example, if you stop at house number 239 on the Promenade des Anglais, you will remember that it was here that Isadora “flew to fame,” and a little further there will be a street named after the famous dancer.
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Many poetry lovers associate her name exclusively with Sergei Yesenin, believing that she was only a companion and inspirer of the great Russian poet. The Western world sees the situation from a different angle, perceiving Yesenin as the husband of a famous dancer, a real artistic revolutionary.
Contemporaries gossiped about their stormy romance, loud quarrels and reconciliations, and biographers continue to savor the details to this day. But we must not forget that these were not only passions and intoxicating attraction - it was a union of two strong creative personalities, gifted and selfless.
Today, the biography of Isadora Duncan is of interest not only to professional dancers and researchers of the work of Sergei Yesenin. For many, she has become a symbol of freedom and independence of women, and to some extent even a symbol of feminism and emancipation.
Our article will tell you about the difficult fate of Isadora Duncan, biography, personal life, creativity and the role she played in the art of dance.
Dora's childhood
Dora Angela Duncan was born in San Francisco into a wealthy family on May 26, 1877. She was her parents' fourth child. Her father Joseph Charles was a banker and mining engineer, famous as a connoisseur and connoisseur of art. But soon after Dora's birth, the family went bankrupt and lived in real poverty for some time.
When Dora was not even a year old, her parents divorced. The mother moved to Auckland with her four children and for some time earned her living by sewing and taking piano lessons.
Dance of feelings
Since childhood, not only Isadora, but also her brother and sisters were passionate about dancing. But unlike other children, little Dora always tried to find her way. She danced what she felt.
She had to quit her studies at the dance club quite early, because there simply wasn’t enough money to pay. But Isadora did not give up dancing; on the contrary, she began to teach this art to others. It was through these lessons that she earned her first money.
At the age of 18, the girl moved to Chicago, where her dream of a big stage led her. But the city did not accept her: the tests ended in refusal. Failure did not stop Isadora at all; she did not begin to doubt herself, but only realized that the world was not quite ready for her creativity.
The next attempt was New York. This time the girl was lucky, and she got a job at the John Daly Theater, famous at that time.
For some time, Isadora took ballet lessons from the famous Marie Bonfanti, but soon realized that this was not what she wanted. She became disillusioned not only with ballet, but also with America, which, in her opinion, failed to appreciate her talent.
Isadora in Europe
In 1898, the dancer came to London. This decision brought good results: Isadora began to receive invitations to speak, and her income increased significantly.
In the biography of Isadora Duncan, an interesting fact related to money deserves special attention. She didn’t know how to save and always spent the lion’s share of her earnings on opening another school, renting a studio, and financing tours. The business that gave her income was also the main source of expenses. So this time, the first thing she did was rent a dance studio, as soon as her income level began to allow it.
In 1902, she went to Paris, where she made a fateful acquaintance with Loie Fuller, the founder of the modern dance genre. The girls had similar views on art, which made them akin. They both believed that dance should not be a strict system of movements (like ballet), but a natural expression of feelings and thoughts. Soon after they met, the girls went on a tour of Europe.
Then there were other tours and tours. Isadora was finally recognized, she was expected and admired in Europe and her native America.
In 1912, couturier Paul Poiret invited Isadora to perform at a private party, the leitmotif of which was the Versailles “bacchanalia” of Louis XIV. Poiret personally made an outfit for the guest. She, barefoot and dressed only in a Greek tunic, danced on the tables among the guests. The performance created a real sensation, and the image remained with Isadora for many years: she had gone on stage barefoot before, but she couldn’t find the perfect outfit. It became a light tunic that does not restrict movement and allows you to admire the magnificent plasticity.
In 1915, another amazing story happened. Brief biographies of Isadora Duncan do not always pay attention to this event, but it was truly fateful. Due to debts, she was unable to leave the UK on time and sail to the USA on the magnificent liner Lusitania. The litigation with creditors dragged on, and as a result, Isadora quickly had to change her tickets. The Lusitania sank off the coast of Ireland, torpedoed by a German submarine. This disaster claimed 1,198 lives.
Isadora had the opportunity to dance in the USSR, and in many European countries, and in her homeland in the USA. But she herself was not enthusiastic about such activities, considering her real mission not to entertain the public, but to teach.
Dance schools
Isadora's first school began operating in 1904 in Germany, and soon another one appeared, this time in Paris. The First World War made its own adjustments: the school in France was soon closed.
On the personal front
When considering the biography of Isadora Duncan, a separate chapter is usually allocated to her personal life.
She didn’t try to advertise the details, but she didn’t make them a big secret either, so some information varies.
It is known that Isadora was an atheist and an opponent of stereotypes. She was not married to either of her children's fathers, considering paperwork useless. She was not interested in the opinion of society, and she was not afraid of condemnation for becoming a mother out of wedlock.
There is evidence about the dancer’s bisexuality, but not all sources confirm it. However, Isadora's letters to Mercedes de Costa have been preserved, to whom she wrote about tender feelings and readiness to go to the ends of the earth for the sake of love. Mercedes answered just as tenderly and soulfully.
Information about a romantic union with Lina Poletti is even more scarce. It is known that the women met on the island of Corfu and became very good friends, but it seems that information about the love affair is greatly exaggerated.
Mother's tragedy
Looking at the short biography of Isadora Duncan, you can get an idea that the dancer experienced great grief - the death of her own children.
She gave birth to her daughter Derdry Beatrice in 1906 from theater director Gordon Craig. Four years later, a son, Patrick August, was born from a union with the heir of the Swiss tycoon Paris Singer.
In 1913, a car in which children, a driver and a nanny were traveling, stalled on the road. The driver went out to check the engine, at which time the car rolled into the Seine. Amazingly, in the grief-stricken heart of the dancer there was still room for generosity: she did not blame the driver, because she knew that he also had children, and did not want to deprive them by depriving them of their father.
The terrible tragedy led to deep depression. Trying to save her wounded soul, Isadora decided to take a desperate step. In her autobiographical book, she later wrote about how she begged an unfamiliar man for one night in order to conceive a child. This man was the young Italian sculptor Romano Romanelli, and their relationship gave Isadora the desired pregnancy. However, such a long-awaited baby was not destined to console the mother’s heart: he died a few days after birth.
Isadorables
Her adopted children became her joy. She was the first to adopt six dancers whom she had trained in Germany: Maria Theresa, Anna, Irma, Gretel, Liesel, Erica. Under the tutelage of their adoptive mother and mentor, the girls continued their dancing lessons. The team was familiar to viewers from different countries under the name Isadorables (a play on words from Isadora and adorables - “charming”). The girls enjoyed enormous success and toured to full houses.
Moving to the USSR
In 1921, Isadora Duncan received an offer from A.V. Lunacharsky to open a dance school in the USSR. The government promised support, including financial support, but in fact Isadora financed the school’s activities herself.
However, if this saddened her, it was not enough to close the establishment. She was happy teaching others. The popularity of the school grew, and in the same year the first performance of students took place, which went down in history.
It was dedicated to the anniversary of the October Revolution and took place on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. The dance program, invented personally by Isadora, included, among other things, the “Warsaw Woman” dance, during which the banner that fell from the hands of the fallen soldiers was picked up by other strong hands. The action took place to the sounds of the Polish revolutionary march. This performance brought the dancer resounding success, although evil tongues complained that she was no longer as light and graceful in her tunic as she was in her youth.
The dancer lived in the USSR for 3 years, all this time devoting herself to teaching. Isadora did not live richly; as usual, she spent money mainly on school and the group, sometimes experiencing need and putting up with the lack of the most necessary things. Various troubles served as a reason to return to the United States. After Isadora’s departure, the school in the USSR was headed by her adopted daughter Irma.
Meeting Yesenin
The year 1921 was rich in events for the American dancer Isadora Duncan. In the same year, she met Yesenin, who was 18 years younger than her.
She knew almost no Russian, and he knew English even worse. But real feelings flared up between them. In May 1922, the lovers tied the knot.
Isadora received Soviet citizenship, but Russia never became her home. Yesenin, accompanying her on trips around the world, suffered from homesickness. He left his wife already in 1923 and returned home.
Researchers of the Russian poet’s work note that he did not leave any poems dedicated to Isadora, and only in the poem “The Black Man” are hints of her visible.
The married life of two creative people, separated by a language barrier and age difference, and not even being compatriots, simply could not be simple. The couple quarreled, and then just as violently reconciled. Yesenin languished from melancholy and boredom in a foreign land, seeking consolation in amusements and extravagance. He was oppressed by her feelings, in which a maternal desire to control and care was clearly visible. But when in 1925 Isadora received a letter from Irma with the news of the poet’s death, it became a real shock for her. She wrote an obituary full of despair and sorrow and stated that she sincerely mourned her lover, with whom she had always lived in harmony and understanding. Later, the dancer published memoirs about Yesenin, and donated the entire fee (more than 300 thousand francs) to his family in the USSR.
last years of life
After the poet's death, Isadora performed little. The press wrote about her promiscuity and problems with alcohol. Inspiration left her; the stage was no longer the main joy of life. Debts accumulated, former friends were lost in the whirlwind of events, beauty faded...
Scarlet scarf
It is difficult to imagine that such a bright life, full of victories and accomplishments, losses and hardships, would be ended by a trivial, quiet death... In the biography of Isadora Duncan, closely connected with the stage, the ending was also bright in its own way.
On September 14, 1927, leaving the house of friends in Nice, she got into an open Amilcar sports car and said that she was going towards fame (according to other sources, towards love).
The driver started the engine, the car took off, the air currents caught the ends of a magnificent hand-embroidered silk scarf. Its floors became entangled in the spokes of the wheel, and Isadora was thrown overboard. She died instantly from a broken cervical vertebrae.
Personal biography, the life and death of Isadora Duncan, and especially her work, still inspire poets and artists, directors and actors today. Several biographical films have been made about her, and many books have been written. The dance style she founded is still taught in many schools around the world.
Biography of Isadora Duncan. Career and dance. Husband Sergey Yesenin. Personal life, fate, children. Causes of death. Evil rock car. Quotes, photos, film.
Years of life
born May 27, 1877, died September 14, 1927
Epitaph
My heart went out like lightning,
The pain will not be dulled by the years,
Your image will be treasured forever
Always in our memory.
Biography of Isadora Duncan
Biography of Isadora Duncan - a vivid story of a talented and strong woman. She never gave up, never gave up, and no matter what, she believed in love. Even her last words before she got into that ill-fated car with her scarf wrapped around the wheel were: “I’m going to love!”
Isadora was born in America and, as she liked to joke, began dancing in the womb. At the age of thirteen, she left school and took up dancing seriously, feeling this was her destiny. At eighteen she was already performing in clubs in Chicago. The audience greeted Isadora with delight, her dance seemed so outlandish and exotic. They, however, had no idea that this girl would soon become famous throughout the world, and Isadora Duncan dance will fascinate millions of fans of her talent.
Dance of Isadora Duncan
She was considered a brilliant dancer. Critics saw Duncan as a harbinger of the future, the founder of new styles, and said that she overturned all existing ideas about dance at that time. Isadora Duncan's dance gave joy, extraordinary aesthetic pleasure, it was full of freedom- the one that was always in Isadora and which she did not want to give up.
Taking ancient Greek traditions as a basis, she created a new free dance system. Instead of a ballet costume, Duncan wore a chiton and preferred to dance barefoot rather than in pointe shoes or shoes that constrained her movements. She was not yet thirty when she created own school in Athens, and a few years later - in Russia, where she had many admirers.
Isadora and Sergei Yesenin
It was in Russia that Duncan met him - her only official husband, poet Sergei Yesenin. Their relationship was bright, passionate, sometimes scandalous, but nevertheless both had a beneficial effect on each other’s work. The marriage did not last long - two years later Yesenin returned to Moscow, and two years later he committed suicide.
But a failed marriage or unhappy romances were not the only tragedies in Duncan's life. Even before the meeting of Yesenina and Duncan the dancer lost two children- the driver of the car containing the children and their nanny got out of the car to start the engine, and the car rolled down the embankment into the Seine. A year later, Duncan had a son, but died within a few hours. After the death of the children, Duncan adopted two girls, Irma and Anna, who, like their adoptive mother, were engaged in dancing.
Cause of death
Isadora Duncan's death was instantaneous and tragic. Duncan's cause of death was strangulation by her own scarf wrapped around a car wheel.. Isadora Duncan's funeral took place in Paris; Isadora Duncan's grave (she was cremated) is located in the columbarium of the Père Lachaise cemetery.
Life line
May 27, 1877 Date of birth of Isadora Duncan (correctly Isadora Duncan, née Dora Angela Duncan).
1903 Pilgrimage to Greece, Duncan initiates the construction of a temple for dance classes.
1904 Meeting and getting in touch with director Edward Gordon Craig.
1906 Birth of daughter Derdri by Edward Craig.
1910 The birth of a son, Patrick, from businessman Paris Singer, with whom Duncan had an affair.
1914-1915 Concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, meeting Stanislavsky.
1921 Meeting Sergei Yesenin.
1922 Marriage to Sergei Yesenin.
1924 Divorce from Sergei Yesenin.
September 14, 1927 Date of death of Isadora Duncan.
Memorable places
1. San Francisco, where Isadora Duncan was born.
2. The Isadora and Raymond Duncan Center for Dance Studies in Athens, founded by Duncan and her brother.
3. Duncan House in Paris.
4. Hotel Angleterre in St. Petersburg, where Duncan lived in early 1922.
5. Isadora Duncan’s house in Moscow, where she lived with Yesenin and where the dancer’s choreographic school-studio was located.
6. Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance in New York, where the name of Isadora Duncan is inducted.
7. Père Lachaise Cemetery, where Isadora Duncan is buried.
Episodes of life
During a tour of Russia in 1913, Duncan had a strange premonition, as if she could not find a place for herself, and during her performances she heard a funeral march. One day, while walking, she saw two children’s coffins between the snowdrifts, which scared her very much. She returned to Paris, and soon her children died. Duncan could not come to her senses for several months.
Yesenin decided to break with Duncan not only because he lost interest in the woman in love with him, but also because he was tired of being in Europe he is perceived exclusively as the husband of a great dancer. He began to drink and insult Duncan. The Russian poet’s pride suffered greatly, and he returned to Russia, and soon sent Isadora a telegram in which he wrote that he loved another and was very happy, which inflicted a deep mental wound on her. But more Yesenin’s death was a tragedy for her. She even tried to commit suicide. “Poor Serezhenka, I cried so much for him that there are no more tears in my eyes,” said Duncan.
Despite the fact that Isadora Duncan toured and taught a lot, she wasn't rich. With the money she earned, she opened dance schools, and sometimes she was simply poor. She could make good money on her memoirs after Yesenin’s death, but she refused the money, wanting her fee to be transferred to Yesenin’s mother and sisters.
Shortly before Duncan's death, a girl came into her room and said that God ordered her to strangle the dancer. The girl was taken out, she turned out to be mentally ill, but after a while Duncan actually died, strangled with a scarf.
On the left is Isadora with her own children, on the right - with Sergei Yesenin and her adopted daughter Irma
Testaments and quotes
“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.”
“In my life there were only two driving forces: Love and Art, and often Love destroyed Art, and sometimes the imperious call of Art led to the tragic end of Love, for there was a constant battle between them.”
Television story about the life of Isadora Duncan
Condolences
“The image of Isadora Duncan will forever remain in my memory as if divided. One is the image of a dancer, a dazzling vision that cannot help but amaze the imagination, the other is the image of a charming woman, smart, attentive, sensitive, from whom the comfort of home emanates. Isadora's sensitivity was amazing. She could accurately capture all the shades of the interlocutor’s mood, and not only fleeting ones, but also everything or almost everything that was hidden in the soul ... "
Rurik Ivnev, Russian poet, prose writer
Isadora Duncan is a person of art, an American dancer, one of the founders (along with Loie Fuller) of the modern dance style, or free dance. This woman was also the wife of the outstanding Russian poet Sergei Yesenin. Here is the biography of Isadora Duncan, outlined briefly.
short biography
Who is this strange woman? So, Dora Angela Duncan was born in May 1877 in San Francisco, California. Her family was intelligent and creative.
In total there were four children in the family. Young Dora went to school early, but also left it early - at the age of 13, because, in her opinion, the American education system was useless for life. According to another version, this happened due to the extreme poverty of the family, and the girl was forced to earn her living by dancing lessons.
It was at this age that Isadora became seriously interested in music and dancing. Not only her - all her brothers and sisters also sang and danced well.
At the age of 18, Duncan committed a brave act that predetermined her future fate. She moved to Chicago, where she met dancer Loie Fuller. They performed together, and their style - free, plastic dance - was immediately loved by the audience. Isadora's image was truly extravagant: for example, she performed in a Greek chiton and barefoot (or in light sandals).
Isadora Duncan was familiar with such outstanding Russian figures of art and politics as:
- Konstantin Stanislavsky (theater director and teacher).
- Anatoly Lunacharsky (People's Commissar of Education).
- Sergei Yesenin (poet).
The fate of Isadora Duncan is inextricably linked with the fate of Russia. When she came here for the first time, she met Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky, the great Russian theater director and teacher.
At the same time, the young dancer met Sergei Yesenin and soon became his wife - they got married the same year. Their love story is incredibly romantic, but the marriage was not easy and lasted only three years. Yesenin and Isadora Duncan were unable to build a happy family: in 1924, the two creative people separated due to accumulated contradictions in their views.
The dancer was not destined to become a happy wife and mother. A few years after the divorce, Isadora’s ex-husband and the love of her life died, and some time after his tragic death, she followed him into Eternity. As it turns out, nationality doesn't matter in love...
Isadora Duncan had three children from different men, but they all died at an early age. But six students of the great dancer grew up and continued her work of improving the art of dance. Wikipedia has articles about several of them.
Isadora Duncan died in Nice in 1927 under rather tragic circumstances. She was driving a car, and her long, beautiful scarf got caught in the wheel axle. The great dancer died from strangulation with her own beautiful accessory. She was then only fifty years old. The death of this woman was an irreparable loss for the entire dance world.
Isadora Duncan was buried in a cemetery in Paris.
Contribution to art
The work of this great dancer preached freedom from conventions and artificial beauty. According to Isadora, dance is absolutely not true art if it does not bring heartache, dreams and spirituality. A line is not beautiful in itself - it must have a deep meaning, otherwise it is just a line.
A significant place in Duncan’s life was occupied by the fight for women’s rights, and for the freedom of a woman to be herself.
Isadora Duncan's dance largely inherits the traditions of the Greek classical school. Ancient dances attracted her from her early youth. The following can be considered the main features of this dancer’s work:
- Improvisation and freedom of movement.
- Sincere expression of thoughts and feelings.
- Lack of artificiality, flirtatiousness, falsehood.
To consolidate her ideas in the history of dance art, Isadora Duncan wrote a book, published under the title “Dance of the Future.”
In 2016, the film “Dancer” about Duncan was released, where the main roles were played by Lily Rose-Depp and Louis Garrel.
Like any great person, Isadora Duncan had something for which she was called strange, even crazy. The reader will be interested to know that the famous dancer was:
- Bisexual orientation.
- An atheist.
- An innovator.
She wholeheartedly supported the Great October Revolution, not being afraid to go to post-war Petrograd to organize a dance school. We must pay tribute to the courage that Isadora Duncan showed every day.
Some people called Isadora crazy, others called her great. Both were right, because every genius is a little crazy... But with her death, the world lost a person who was ready to throw everything on the altar of art.
Isadora Duncan can rightfully be called a great dance artist. Her contribution to contemporary art is difficult to overestimate. It is solely thanks to such dedicated masters that creative thought continues to develop, gradually leading humanity to new and new stages of development. Author: Irina Shumilova
Reading time: 5 min
Isadora Duncan is a famous American dancer, the founder of free ancient Greek dance, and also the wife of the poet Sergei Yesenin (1922-1924). Isadora, like many women, earned fame not for a famous novel, but for her work and love for music and plastic arts. Thanks to which she was recognized as the greatest dancer in the world! Once Stanislavsky asked Isadora Duncan: “Who taught you to dance!”, She proudly answered: “Terpsichore.”
Interesting facts from the biography of Isadora Duncan
At the age of 13, the future dancer dropped out of school, declaring that she considered it a useless activity; she would achieve more without it!
As contemporaries noted, Isadora danced so easily and sensually that it was impossible to get up from her chair after the end of the performance. She amazed everyone with her moves! Isadora danced barefoot, wearing a short ancient Greek tunic that exposed her knees. Such a length in those days was unthinkable even for America. At the same time, no one called her dancing vulgar; her movements were “light, free, graceful.”
Tragedy in the life of a dancer
Isadora Duncan seemed to have a presentiment of death approaching her and her loved ones. In 1913, a woman was constantly tormented by visions, she dreamed of small coffins, heard funeral marches, this lasted for several months. And then her children died.
She could not prevent the tragedy. After the visions that tormented her, Isadora began to worry about the children. Together with her husband Sieger and children, the dancer moved to the cozy place of Versailles. Once, due to urgent matters, she had to go to Paris, and Duncan was forced to send her children back to Versailles with a driver. On the way, the car stalled, the driver went out to find out the cause of the breakdown, at that moment the car rolled into the Seine, and the kids could not be saved.
The woman fell into severe depression, but spoke out in defense of the driver, because she knew that he also had children. Isadora did not cry at all and did not talk to her loved ones about the tragedy, but one day, while walking along the river, she saw her children holding hands. Isadora screamed and fell to the ground, sobbing madly, and a young man approached her. The woman whispered, looking into his eyes: “Save me... Give me a child.” But their child died after a few days of life. Isadora had no more children of her own.
An interesting fact from the dancer’s life: Duncan was involved in charity work and opened many children’s dance schools around the world. During her short life, the dancer adopted six girls, and raised more than forty children as her own mother.
Trembling love
Isadora noted that she fell in love with him because he looked like her fair-haired, blue-eyed son.
But their relationship did not last long. They traveled a lot together in Europe and the USA, but the poet was perceived only as the young husband of a great dancer. The age difference was 18 years. Yesenin noted that for the first year he loved Isadora very much and admired her, but then her excessive maternal care ruined all feelings. Yesenin became rude, could raise his hand, wrote poems about how he hated this woman. In addition, the language barrier and lack of common interests could not make this love union eternal; the passion passed. Only Isadora Duncan continued to love her Seryozha after all the troubles caused to her.
December, 1925, Isadora Duncan learns about Yesenin’s death from a letter to her daughter Irma, who lives in Moscow. The woman recalls how a couple in love stayed at the same Angleterre hotel several times during their life together, and then they were happy. Now her second beloved, fair-haired, blue-eyed, is dying... The next day, an obituary written by Isadora appears in the Parisian newspapers:
“The news of Yesenin’s tragic death caused me the deepest pain... He destroyed his young and beautiful body, but his spirit will forever live in the soul of the Russian people and in the soul of all who love poets. 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 wrote memoirs about Sergei Yesenin, which brought in a lot of money - more than 300 thousand francs. But the dancer refused them and asked to give all the proceeds from the sale of these books to the poet’s mother and sisters.
Death of Isadora Duncan
Once Duncan was on tour in Vienna, suddenly a strange girl entered her room with a candle in her hand and loudly exclaimed: “God ordered me to strangle you!” Later it turned out that the girl was mentally ill, but this incident made a terrible impression on Isadora. Or maybe this is not the case? The famous dancer soon died.
On September 14, 1927, Isadora got into the car with the words “Farewell, I’m going to glory,” in some sources: “I’m going to love.” Before this, she was asked to wear a warm coat because it was cool outside; the dancer replied that she felt more comfortable wearing her favorite red, painted scarf. But it was so long that when the woman got into the car, she did not notice how the scarf got caught on the wheel axle. The car started moving, the scarf tightened. Thus ended the life of a great dancer, innovator, strong personality and simply sensual woman.
Feature films were made about the life of Isadora Duncan “Isadora Duncan, the Greatest Dancer in the World”, directed by Ken Russell, “Isadora”, directed by Karel Reisz.
“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.” A. Duncan
