1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, how 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: much do you know about A. Zadora Duncan Well? Uh, 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: very influential in the modern dance movement. Horrifying accidental death, right, 6 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: that horrifying accidental death is what most people know about. Um. But, 7 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: as you said, like she was very influential in dance, 8 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: her life was also really full and rich and full 9 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: of ups and downs and completely fascinating in my opinion, 10 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: and all of that gets lost because her story tends 11 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: to get reduced to that freak accident that took her life. 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: So I thought this would be a good time to 13 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: talk about the woman who was often all the mother 14 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: of modern dance. You'll also see Martha Graham get that title. Um, 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: but Isadora was really the first doing some of the 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: things that she did. She had an unconventional upbringing, she 17 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: had a very unconventional life. She is in some ways 18 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: hilarious and sometimes very enchanting, occasionally frustrating, but she is 19 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: someone that's a little bit admirable because she really did 20 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: live entirely according to her own compass. She did not 21 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: care about social morai's in the least, and she also 22 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: was just immensely resilient. And I got so deep into 23 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: researching her and reading her memoir in particular, that this 24 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: became an accidental two parter. So in this first episode, 25 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about Isadora Duncan's early life, which 26 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: was full of struggle but seemed overall to be really 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: quite happy. Uh. And the second part we will get 28 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: into her life after she became famous, and that's when 29 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: things start to become plagued with tragedy. Well before that 30 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: famous end of her life, that is usually what people 31 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,919 Speaker 1: know her for. So Duncan was born Angela Isadora Duncan 32 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: in San Francisco, California, in the late eighteen seventies. Her 33 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: actual date of birth can be found listed two different 34 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: ways a year apart. One of these is May eighteen 35 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: seventy seven, that's what's listed on her baptism certificate, and 36 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: the other is May eighteen seventy eight, and that one 37 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: is largely believed to be her actual date of birth, 38 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: which Holly and I had a whole conversation about before 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: coming in here. Yeah, I mean, I just chalked it 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: up to like a priest with bad handwriting, or being 41 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: a little sloppy on the on the details. Um. Her mother, 42 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: Mary is Adora Grant, who went by Dora, was a 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: music teacher and had three other children. She was raising 44 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: them on her own, so this was not a lavish life. 45 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: Things had been different before Dora left her husband, Joseph Duncan. 46 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: Joseph was a cashier at the Bank of California, but 47 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: in his heart he was a poet. He knew a 48 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: great deal about art and music and literature, and the 49 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: home that their children were born into was one that 50 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: was filled with beautiful and valuable works of art chosen 51 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: by Joseph, who was a collector, was such a good 52 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: eye that he was often consulted by wealthy friends to 53 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,119 Speaker 1: help them develop their own collections. So is it. Dora 54 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,239 Speaker 1: wrote in her autobiography that her mother Dora, had been 55 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: ill during her pregnancy and could only eat oysters and 56 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: ice champagne. This fanciful story is uh. Something she theorized 57 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: was what made her a dancer. She said that it 58 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: probably made her dance in the womb, just the thought 59 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: of a pregnant woman being like only oysters and ice 60 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: champagne for me. Um. But there were two things that 61 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: ultimately led to the breakup of the Duncan home, which 62 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: happened when Isadora was still just a baby. For one, 63 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: there was a bit of a financial scandal with Joseph. 64 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: He was allegedly using bank money for his own investing. 65 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: For another, he fell in love with an older woman 66 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: and he had an affair which became public knowledge. That 67 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: older woman, incidentally was anah coolbrith who went on to 68 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: become California's Poet Laureate, and at this time of a scandal, 69 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: though she was a librarian. So Dora was embarrassed and 70 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: furious over her husband's behavior. She promptly divorced him and 71 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: took the children to Oakland. This change meant that the 72 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: family went from a life of comfort to one of poverty. 73 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: Dora was not shy about demonizing Joseph to his children. 74 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: They regularly heard about what a terrible man he was 75 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: and is it or a later quoted her mother was saying, quote, 76 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: your father was a demon who ruined your mother's life. Yeah. 77 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: And to be clear, Um, this was not a case 78 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: where like he was withholding some sort of settlement money 79 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: in the divorce. He was broke after that whole scandal broke, 80 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: so nobody in the family had any money. When Isadora 81 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: was seven, her father came to the family house and 82 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: she essentially met him for the first time. At that point, 83 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: she told him that the family was busy and could 84 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: not receive him. She basically was the one who greeted 85 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: him at the door, but she did agree to go 86 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: for a walk with him. Of course, this sounds terrifying 87 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: to modern ears, like a strange man comes to the 88 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: door says I'm your dad, and it's like, will you 89 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: go for a walk with me? No one would let 90 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,720 Speaker 1: their child do that, But this is a different time. 91 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: Isadora took this walk with her dad. She found him 92 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: to be warm and gentle and kind, and this was 93 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: a little shocking because he was not at all the 94 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: demon that she had imagined based on her mother's descriptions. 95 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: Several years later, Joseph had regained enough of his fortune 96 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: that he actually bought a house for Dora and the 97 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: children to live in. All of this had a profound 98 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: effect on Isadora. At the age of twelve, she'd seen 99 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: her mother's anguish, heard her mother's angry descriptions of her father, 100 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: but then she'd also seen her father as a fundamentally 101 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: kind man, and she really struggled how to reconcile how 102 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: two people could love each other and then hate each other. 103 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: While she asked questions of the adults in her life 104 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: about what had happened between her parents, she never really 105 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: got any real answers, and she came to view marriage 106 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: as the most awful concept imaginable. She made a vow 107 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: at that young age that she was open to love, 108 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: but quote, I would never lower myself to this degrading state. Yeah. 109 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: She basically came to the conclusion, since no adult would 110 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: help her figure out what had happened, that marriage must 111 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: ruin love. Um, there are plenty of people alive today 112 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: that would concur with a Lampton Googe agreed with that, right. Uh. 113 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: And this divorce had led to a total disillusionment on 114 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: her mother, Dora's part about what she thought her life was, 115 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: who she thought her husband was, and this led to 116 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: another very a significant change. While Dora had been a 117 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: very devout Catholic up to that point in her life, 118 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: after the divorce, she became an atheist. Rather abruptly, she 119 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: also became a follower of Bob Ingersoll, who was often 120 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: called the Great Agnostic, and she read Anger Sall's work 121 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: to her children, and she taught them that not only 122 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: was everything in the Bible of fantasy, but that so 123 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: were all of the trappings of childhood that were often 124 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: told to children, such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. 125 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: This home education would sometimes get Isadora into trouble at 126 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: school because she would announced during holiday parties, for example, 127 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: that the whole thing was based on falsehood. When she 128 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: relayed one such instance to her mother, where she had 129 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: been sent home for yelling there is no Santa Claus 130 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: during a Christmas party over and over, Dora told her 131 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: there is no Santa Claus and there is no God, 132 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: only your own spirit to help you. So Dora and 133 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: her children, that was Augustine, Raymond, Elizabeth, and Isadora, did 134 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: not have a lot of money, but Dora did in 135 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: sure that they had as much exposure to the arts 136 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: as possible. Since she was a music teacher, they all 137 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: had plenty of access to singing and playing themselves, but 138 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: they were also encouraged to put on plays and to 139 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: dance and to read. Journalists Sam Dixon once wrote that quote, 140 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: Isadora Duncan danced as soon as she could walk, and 141 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: despite the strain of poverty and having to frequently move 142 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: before her father bought them that house because they were 143 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: often evicted for failure to pay rent. Isadora would later 144 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: write of her childhood quote, I have to be thankful 145 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: that when we were young, my mother was poor. She 146 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: could not afford servants or governesses for her children. And 147 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: it is to this fact that I owe the spontaneous 148 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: life which I had the opportunity to express as a 149 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: child and never lost. Is a Dora, who was also 150 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: apparently a completely fearless child, had absolutely no problem doing 151 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: things like cajoling the local butcher or baker into giving 152 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: her free food to take home to the family when 153 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: times were tight, and she even sold her mother's hand 154 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: knitted ats and gloves door to door, and she made 155 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: quite a bit of money doing this, better than she 156 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: would have made if Dora had sold those to a 157 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: shop to then be sold. Several years after the public 158 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: humiliation that had led to her parents divorce, Isadora visited 159 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: the Oakland Public Library and asked the librarian for a 160 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: book recommendation. That librarian turned out to be Ana cool Breath. 161 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: She would go on to become a huge influence on 162 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: the girl's life due to all kinds of foundational books 163 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: that she recommended, which ignited Duncan's imagination. Is it or it? 164 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: Did not know for quite some time that Aina had 165 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: been her father's paramore. She later wrote, quote, she was 166 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: evidently the great passion of his life, and it was 167 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: probably by the invisible thread of circumstance that I was 168 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: drawn to her. Yeah, she uh Ainah and Joseph had 169 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: broken up before Isadora had met her in this way, 170 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: but it is a strange coincidence, to be sure. By 171 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: the time she was a e teen, Isidora was already 172 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: quite skilled as a dancer. Not only had she practiced 173 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: a great deal, but she had also read a great 174 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: deal about the art and about art in general, from 175 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: ancient Greece right up through her own time. She created 176 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: new steps, informed by romantic visions of history and intending 177 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: to replicate, for example, the style of Greek art, and 178 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: she and her sister claimed to have invented what she 179 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: called quote a new system of dancing, but in reality 180 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: there was no system. Still, this incorporation of gesture and 181 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: movement in reaction and relation to music or poetry, aligned 182 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: with these historical ideals, led her to being sought after 183 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: by younger children before she was even a teenager to 184 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: take dance lessons that had actually started years earlier. She 185 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: wrote that when she was six years old, quote, my 186 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: mother came home one day and found that I had 187 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: collected half a dozen babies of the neighborhood, all of 188 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,120 Speaker 1: them too young to walk, and had them sitting for 189 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: me on the floor while I was teaching them to 190 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: wave their arms. When she asked the explanation of this, 191 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: I informed her that it was my school of the dance. 192 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: She was amused, and placing herself at the piano, she 193 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: began to play for me. The school continued and became 194 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: very popular. Later on, little girls of the neighborhood came 195 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: and their parents paid me a small sum to teach them. 196 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: This was the beginning of what afterwards proved to be 197 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: a very lucrative occupation. Yeah, she really never stopped teaching 198 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: dance from the time she was six until the end 199 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: of her life. I'm imagining how she gathered up all 200 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: these babies. Did she just go take them out of 201 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,440 Speaker 1: their cribs? Like, can I have your child? I would 202 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 1: like to teach it to dance. I don't. I don't know. 203 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: But as we said, she was fearless. She would go 204 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: door to door and ask people for stuff. We are 205 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit more about Isadora and 206 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: her sister Elizabeth's dance classes in just a moment, but 207 00:11:52,480 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: first we will pause for a sponsor break. So that 208 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: teaching situation that Isidora had established that she was still 209 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: pretty young, pretty quickly evolved. Things became even more formalized 210 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: when there was enough of a demand in San Francisco 211 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: that she and her sister Elizabeth rented a house there 212 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: that was the Castle Mansion at Sutter and van Ness 213 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: Avenue so that they could give lessons across the Bay 214 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 1: as well as in Oakland. So the two teenagers at 215 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: this point, maybe we'll talk about that in a second, 216 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: took the ferry over to San Francisco each day, walked 217 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: from the ferry dock to their rented space, and then 218 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: taught the kids of the city to dance in exchange 219 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: for teaching fees that they collected from their parents. Uh 220 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: the name castle mansion makes this whole thing sound fancy. 221 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: It was not. It was an old, falling apart building. 222 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 1: That's why they were able to rent it. There have 223 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: even been some theorizations over the years that the Duncan 224 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: sisters and their students may have even used wood from 225 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: inside the building, like from decorative mantle pieces and whatnot, 226 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: to start years in the fireplaces, just so they could 227 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: stay warm as they danced, because they apparently didn't have 228 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: heat or power. When exactly she made the switch to 229 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: teaching full time as a little bit blurry. In her 230 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: own account, she stopped going to school at ten and 231 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: focused exclusively on her little dance school, But she also 232 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: admits that she lied about her age regularly so parents 233 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: and students would take her more seriously. So other versions 234 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: of this story have her ending her formal education anywhere 235 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: between the ages of ten and sixteen. Isadora Duncan is 236 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: always consistently characterized as a woman who bucked tradition, and 237 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: this was already very much the case in these classes. 238 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: We had said that she made up her own steps, 239 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: but she was really teaching students early forms of modern 240 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: dance way before that concept was introduced in any sort 241 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: of professional dance room. She found the idea of ballet's 242 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: rules and point shoes far too restricting for her taste. 243 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: So she had developed her own technique and she danced barefoot, 244 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: which was a completely new concept. And she was also 245 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: ready to basically make a way for herself. She read 246 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: about so many other places and ways of life in 247 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: the books that she continued to just devour that. Being 248 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,439 Speaker 1: stuck poor and hustling to teach enough dance students to 249 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: keep food on the table living in Oakland, all of 250 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: this was just not enough for her. She may have 251 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: appreciated that her mother's lack of money had given her 252 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: a foundation for creativity, but she dreamed of more, and 253 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: she started plotting ways to make that dream a reality. 254 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: One thing that's interesting here, too, is that she dreamed 255 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: of more not just for herself. She always wanted her 256 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: mother and siblings with her in this, and to that end, 257 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: she convinced her mother to take a trip to Chicago. 258 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: She thought, if she could just audition for the theaters there, 259 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: it would offer a fresh start in a new, exciting place, 260 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: and then she could plot her next move. And somehow 261 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: she and Dora made this trip happen. A little bit 262 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: of money was pulled together, and soon Isadora being escorted 263 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: across the country by her mother in the hopes of 264 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: starting a professional performing career. So things did not go 265 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: quite as planned, is it. Dora auditioned for various theaters. 266 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: They all told her that she was lovely and that 267 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: her dancing was quite good, but also that it was 268 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: kind of weird. She was still doing her own thing. 269 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: She was not doing the standardized styles and steps that 270 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: most young women who had their eyes on the theater 271 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: would have gotten through more formalized training. Isadora was even 272 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: encouraged to go back home and to keep on loving dance, 273 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: but to select a more appropriate career for a young woman. 274 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: She didn't give up on her dreams, but things were 275 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: getting kind of desperate. Dora and Isadora pond personal belongings 276 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: like her grandmother's jewelry and even bits of lace from 277 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: their garments, just to get money so that they could eat. Finally, 278 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 1: Isadora booked a gig, but it was far from what 279 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: she imagined. She was to dance in a music hall, 280 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: so like the theater managers that she had already auditioned for, 281 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: this was not her audience. She was still doing her 282 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: dance style that was inspired by ancient Greece, and the 283 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: clientele is said to have mostly wanted her to finish 284 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: and get off the stage so they could see more 285 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: alluring acts. She was paid fifty dollars a week and 286 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: performed under an assumed name, but she later wrote of 287 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: all this quote, we were saved from starvation. But I 288 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: had enough of trying to amuse the public with something 289 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: which was against my ideals, and that was the first 290 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: and last time I ever did sue. Yeah, she only 291 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: did that for a week, and they asked if she 292 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: wanted to do the next week. She was like, I'm out. 293 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: But again, she still had not given up on her 294 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: dreams by any means. She decided after this experience that 295 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: what she needed to do was move on to New York, 296 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: but she couldn't afford to make that trip. Eventually, she 297 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: kind of got her break, really, she made it. She 298 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: read that Augustine Daily was going to be in Chicago 299 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: with a touring show, so she went to the stage 300 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: door of the theater and asked to be allowed to 301 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: see him many many days in a row. Augustine Daily 302 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: could also be a show topic. He was a North 303 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: Carolina born theater man who worked as a playwright, a manager, 304 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: a critic, and a producer, and he became incredibly influential 305 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: in the East Coast US theater scene. And when Isadora 306 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: Duncan was finally allowed to see him after multiple attempts, 307 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: she basically launched into a monologue. She said, quote, I 308 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: have a great idea to put before you, Mr Daley, 309 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: and you are probably the only man in this country 310 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: who can understand it. I have discovered the dance. I 311 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: have discovered the art which has been lost for two 312 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: thousand years. You are a supreme theater artist, but there 313 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: is one thing lacking in your theater which made the 314 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: old Greek theater great, and this is the art of 315 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: the dance, the tragic chorus. Without this, it is a 316 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: head and body without legs to carry it on. I 317 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,199 Speaker 1: bring you the dance. I bring you the idea that 318 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: is going to revolutionize our entire epoch. Where have I 319 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: discovered it? By the Pacific Ocean, by the waving pine 320 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: forests of Sierra Nevada. I have seen the ideal figure 321 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: of youthful America dancing over the top of the Rockies 322 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: the supreme poet of our country, as Walt Whitman. I 323 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: have discovered the dance that is worthy of the poem 324 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: of Walt Whitman. I am indeed the spiritual daughter of 325 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 1: Walt Whitman. For the children of America, I will create 326 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: a new dance that will express America. I will bring 327 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: your theater the vital soul it lacks, the soul of 328 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: the dancer. That's a lot. Is so much. I wanted 329 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: to put it all in there, because can you imagine 330 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: a theater producer having some complete stranger come in and 331 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: just like like throw all of this word salad. I mean, 332 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: it's pretty pretentious words. Sally, Oh yeah, and she actually 333 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: had more, there is more to it, but Daily kept 334 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 1: interrupting her and telling her it was quite enough. Uh. 335 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: He didn't need to hear any more of her spiel. 336 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: But clearly he did see something in her that he 337 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: thought was different and new, and he actually thought she 338 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: had potential and also just you know, so much bravado. 339 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: So he replied, quote, well, I have a little part 340 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: in a pantomime that I am putting on in New York. 341 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,119 Speaker 1: You can report for rehearsals the first of October and 342 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: if you suit, you are engaged. So Bailey cast Duncan 343 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: in this pantomime show he was doing. She hated pantomime 344 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,880 Speaker 1: and thought it was ridiculous, but she also wanted to work. 345 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: Her siblings had already moved out to New York and 346 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: she wanted to keep the family afloat. The show started touring, 347 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: and she would send half of her fifteen dollars a 348 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: week to her mother and would skip staying in hotels 349 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,439 Speaker 1: with the rest of the cast and opt to go 350 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: to a less costly boarding house for the night to 351 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,640 Speaker 1: save money. Yeah, she has description of some of those 352 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: boarding houses and they are a little bit scary in 353 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: many instances, but to her, she was like, I'm just 354 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: gonna pinch all my pennies. And to keep her working, 355 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: Daily continued to find bit parts for her and other shows, 356 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: so she was able to start a modest but consistent 357 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: career in his New York productions. He cast her as 358 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: a dancing ferry in A Midsummer Night's Dream and she 359 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: was allowed to dance solo in a setup to the 360 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: entrance of Titania and Oberon, and although audiences reacted really 361 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:35,479 Speaker 1: really positively to this solo, Daily wasn't particularly thrilled. He 362 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: hadn't intended for her dancing to be anything but sort 363 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: of an ambiance cetter. He actually said something to her like, 364 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: this isn't a dance hall. But still when the company 365 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: went on tour, he included her and she got paid 366 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: twenty five dollars a week. This time. Not long after, though, 367 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: while she was complaining to Daily about her general dissatisfaction 368 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: about the kinds of shows that theater did and the 369 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: lack of art in them, he made a ascid at her, 370 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: and she resigned two days later and never saw him again. 371 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: The family had found a studio apartment that they all 372 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: shared but didn't furnish. Isadora wanted the space for dancing, 373 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: so they had mattresses only, and they stood them on 374 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: end against the wall during the day. In addition to 375 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: using the apartment as her own dance studio, they often 376 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: left for the day so they could rent the space 377 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: out to other dance and music teachers to use. The 378 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 1: family was struggling along this way for a while. They 379 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 1: were only having that sort of day rental income. And 380 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about a brief bit of good 381 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: fortune that befell Isadora in just a moment when she 382 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,360 Speaker 1: ended up collaborating with a composer who was initially very 383 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: much against combining his music with dance. But before we 384 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: get into that story, we will pause for a sponsor break. 385 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 1: Isadora's next break, and this was a fairly big one, 386 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: came when she was dancing one evening to a piece 387 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: of music written by American pianist and composer Ethelbert Nevan. 388 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: She was still unemployed at this time. She was just 389 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,199 Speaker 1: dancing in her home and kind of making up her 390 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,479 Speaker 1: own dances. But Nevin got wind of this and he 391 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: was not pleased. He found her apartment, he barged in, 392 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: and he told her that dancing to his music was forbidden. 393 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: So she asked him to just please watch her dance 394 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: to his piece that he had written titled Narcissus, and 395 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,640 Speaker 1: he did, and when she finished, he said to her, 396 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: you are an angel. You are a divinatris those very 397 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: movements I saw when I was composing the music. For him, 398 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: this whole interaction was a revelation. He saw his music 399 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: interpreted through dance in a completely new way, and he 400 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: saw in Isadora a star. At this point, Nevin was 401 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,199 Speaker 1: important enough that when he talked up the dancer he 402 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: had seen putting new steps to his work as a wonder, 403 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: it really ignited the New York arts scene wanted to 404 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: find out who this Isadora Duncan was. He set up 405 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: concerts for the two of them, where he played piano 406 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: and she danced. She was booked in private salons and 407 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,360 Speaker 1: small exclusive venues so the elite of the city could 408 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: come marvel at her. But ever, in search of new wonders, 409 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: they mostly moved on rather than rebooking her. They had 410 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: thought her kind of a novelty, and any hopes that 411 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: she may have had that these engagements would lead to 412 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: bigger opportunities just never came to fruition. She realized that 413 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: the people of New York society really just viewed artists 414 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: as what she called quote, a sort of upper servant. 415 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: Perhaps because this rapid ascension and false stung, or perhaps 416 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: because she had just given the U. S. East Coast 417 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: a chance and it had not gone as expected, Isadora 418 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: was ready to move on, and this sentiment ballooned when 419 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: the building that she and her family had been staying 420 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: in the Windsor hotel burned down, so at that point 421 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: they and know where to live. So she borrowed money 422 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,680 Speaker 1: from some of her new admirers and friends to finance 423 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: another move, this time across the Atlantic to London. She 424 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: tells stories in her book about going to like various 425 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: rich women that she had performed for and telling them 426 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: this sad story. She would get so excited when they 427 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 1: brought out their check book, and then they would write 428 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: a fairly small sum and she'd be like, I gotta 429 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: go to another house and do this all over again. 430 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: Her brother Augustine did not join them once she had 431 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: gotten this money together. He had gotten engaged and stayed 432 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: in New York. This actually caused some strife. His mother 433 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: felt a little betrayed by the whole thing. Money was 434 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: still pretty tight, so is A Dora. Dora, Elizabeth, and 435 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: Raymond made the two week voyage to England on a 436 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 1: cattle boat. So the family spent their first several days 437 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 1: in London literally on the street. They were moving from 438 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: place to place as the police chased them off of benches. 439 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: Isadora eventually went to nice neighborhoods and started knocking on doors, 440 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: offering to dance as entertained at any kind of social 441 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: events they might be hosting. And this worked, which shocks 442 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: me a little bit. I am forever amazed by all 443 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: of her. I just started knocking on doors and like 444 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: seeing if I could get money or or food, And 445 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: it works every time for her. Yeah, the whole family 446 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: joined in with her on these entertainment ventures. Dora would 447 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: play the piano, Elizabeth would recite poetry, and Raymond would 448 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: offer thoughts on art and humanity. Yeah. See, you would 449 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: get a combo package. You would get a dancer, a 450 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:39,439 Speaker 1: piano player, a poetry recital, and someone expounding uh. And 451 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: Isadora was able to book some engagements this way through 452 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: word of mouth, Like she would do one party, someone 453 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: would find the whole thing kind of interesting and book 454 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: it for their party down the road. But it still 455 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: really was not enough to keep the family above the 456 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: bare minimum for survival. They spent their nights performing and 457 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: then they would spend their days wandering around the British Museum. 458 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: This is something they would do all the time. But 459 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: once again, good fortune in the form of complete happenstance, 460 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,159 Speaker 1: smiled upon Isadora and the right person saw her dance. 461 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: So this story is even more quaint than the previous 462 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: two times that someone discovered her because she wasn't performing. 463 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: She and her brother Raymond, are said to have been 464 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: dancing in the garden of the house they were staying 465 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: in when a woman walked up and started watching them. 466 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 1: It turned out that woman was Mrs Patrick Campbell, who 467 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: was known to her many fans as Mrs Pat. She 468 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: was one of the biggest stars of London theater. She 469 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: said to have been moved to tears while watching Isadora dance, 470 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,400 Speaker 1: and Mrs Pat and the Duncans struck up a conversation 471 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 1: with the opener quote, where on Earth did you people 472 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: come from? Soon there was just mutual adoration flowing between them. Yes, 473 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: She apparently took him back to her house. She was like, 474 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: I'm gonna play piano and I'll do some monologues for you, 475 00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: and you dance again, and they had just a great physit. 476 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,879 Speaker 1: So for all of the difficulty that Isidora had in 477 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: the United States getting people to understand her dancing and 478 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: its nods to ancient Greece, London had no such problem, 479 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: and once Mrs Pat introduced Miss Duncan and her family 480 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: to London's social scene and arts community, her star rose 481 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: incredibly rapidly. Even the royal family embraced her new different style. 482 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 1: She was introduced to several members at various events, and 483 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: in short, Europe loved her, although there were always we 484 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: should point out, many older, more conservative patrons of the 485 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: arts who kind of found her scandalous. Suoned with some 486 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: positive buzz to bolster her bookings, Duncan started touring. Raymond 487 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: had gone to Paris, and he wrote letters to Dora 488 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 1: and Isadora. Elizabeth had gone back to New York to 489 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: start teaching again, and so Raymond's letters would tell Dora 490 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: and Isadora that they simply had to come to France. 491 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,640 Speaker 1: Paris audiences found Isadora just enchanting. She met a flurry 492 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: of her down artists and writers and important members of 493 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: French society. And just as they had visited the British 494 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: Museum almost every day while they were in London, in Paris, 495 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: the Duncans went to the Louver day after day, occasionally 496 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: switching to a different museum now and again, but the 497 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: loop was really where it was at for them. They 498 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: also happened to have timed this whole thing just right 499 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: that they were able to see the Exposition Universal in 500 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred. Isadora described this time in Paris as being 501 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 1: quote about as happy as anyone could be, despite their 502 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: money situation being perpetually precarious. According to her memoir, quote, 503 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: neither the appreciation of princes nor my growing fame brought 504 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: us enough to eat. Soon, Raymond also left for home, 505 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,479 Speaker 1: and then Isadora and Dora were alone together, as they 506 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: had been when they first left San Francisco for Chicago. 507 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: Isadora traveled to Berlin at the invitation of actress Loie Fuller, 508 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: who thought that Duncan and Japanese geisha actress and danced 509 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: or Sada Yako would make a really excellent double bill. 510 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: Germany was particularly enthralled with Duncan. There are stories of 511 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 1: her in Munich, where she was carried through the streets 512 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 1: by students to a cafe where she danced on the tables. 513 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: From there she went to Vienna and to Budapest. It 514 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: seemed like in every city somebody would see her perform 515 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: and then invite her onto the next destination with the 516 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: promise of a booking. Her month long contract in Budapest 517 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: marked the first time that she was actually contracted to 518 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: perform for a ticket buying public instead of its sort 519 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: of a private one off event. Yeah. Prior to that, 520 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: she's just been like a gig performer, and this time 521 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: they were like, no, we we want to actually bill 522 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: you in a theater and the public will come and 523 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 1: watch you. And it was in Budapest in nWo the 524 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: Duncan is said to have truly come into her own 525 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: as a dancer and a performer. It was there, in 526 00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: her month long booking that she debuted her own core 527 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: geography on the stage for the public, and her show 528 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: was sold out for the entire months she was in residence. 529 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: Also in Budapest, she had her first sexual experience. This 530 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 1: was a man that she referred to in her memoir 531 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: as Romeo because he was playing that role at the 532 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: Royal National Theater at the time. The two of them 533 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: became serious pretty quickly, but as soon as Romeo started 534 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: talking about marriage, Isadora's affections cooled, unsurprisingly based on her 535 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: earlier pronouncements on that matter. They eventually broke off their romance. 536 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: Isadora moved next to Vienna, but when she got sick there, 537 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: Romeo came to stay at her bedside. She was ill 538 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: for quite some time, and he did not leave, but 539 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: they didn't rekindle their romance. Once she was better again, 540 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: she put her disillusionment with love into her art, she 541 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: later said, and that way of dealing with loss or 542 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: misfortune would just be a recurring theme throughout her life. 543 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: And we're actually gonna pause here and leave Isadora in 544 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: a pretty good place for this episode. At this point, 545 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: she had gotten over her illness. She was the beloved 546 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 1: star of Hungary and the rest of Europe. Uh, And 547 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: we're going to leave it here because the rest of 548 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: her life is less a brilliant So in part two, 549 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the loves and tragedies that 550 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: dominated her world after she had become famous. Do you 551 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: also ask some listener mail? I do, because there's exciting 552 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: stuff that everyone has been talking about. Uh. Several people 553 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: wrote in about it. So if you were one of 554 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: the people and this isn't your note, please know that 555 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: I still appreciate it. I just didn't want to read 556 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: them all. This is our listener Kiki, who writes, I 557 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 1: love your podcast. I'm always happy on Mondays when I 558 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: get to work and get to listen to your Saturday 559 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: classic and the new episode it makes my busy day. 560 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: It works so much better. I was very excited to 561 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: hear that scientists have used the movie Frozen to have 562 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: new insights into the diatlof past event. Please see the 563 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: link to the article I found below. Your episode about 564 00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: this was on October. If you'd like to do a 565 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,920 Speaker 1: utty classic of that, hint hint uh. And she links 566 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: the article and says, I feel so close to both 567 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: of you and I wish you all the best. Attached, 568 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: please find a picture of my coworker Lou, who also 569 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: listens with me when he is in the office. Thanks 570 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: in your devoted fan Kiki. Lou is an adorable brindle 571 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: pup who is so cute. But the article she linked 572 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: to is one that I had seen. It's from the 573 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: Smithsonian Um and it is very very interesting because obviously, 574 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: like that lead of Frozen, Uh, we're going to come 575 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: back to But I want to talk about this as 576 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: a reminder in case anyone didn't listen to it. The 577 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: Hadla Past incident was when some very experienced hikers were 578 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: in the Dead Lave Past. They were later found dead. 579 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 1: Things were very mysterious and no one has ever figured 580 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: out exactly what happened. UM. So, one thing that I 581 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: wanted to make very clear, and that is quoted in 582 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: that article, is that the lead author of the paper 583 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: that came out about this, Johann gom had said, we 584 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: do not claim to have solved the dead Ala of 585 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: Pass mystery, as no one survived to tell the story, 586 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: but we showed the plausibility of the avalanche hypothesis for 587 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: the first time. So he and his co author, who 588 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: is Alexander and push Ran I hope I'm pronouncing these 589 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: names correctly, compiled historical records and they recreated the mountains 590 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: environment on the night that this incident happened to try 591 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: to figure out what had gone on. UM they simulated, 592 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: using this data a slab avalanche, drawing on snow friction 593 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: data and local topography. One of the revelations here was 594 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: that the slope had been thought to be more shallow 595 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: than it actually was, and they used this to kind 596 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: of give some weight to the possibility that a small 597 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 1: snowslide could have swept through the area, leaving very few 598 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: other traces behind, but causing some of the things that 599 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: happened that we talked about in that show. There was 600 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of mystery around the The 601 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: hikers had run out of their tents without their clothes, 602 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: which people were like, no experienced tiker would do that. Um. 603 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: There has been a theory based on some of this 604 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: work that they had done that and then it was 605 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: still snowing, so they couldn't find their way back like 606 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: they had done it because they knew if they didn't 607 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,400 Speaker 1: just basically jump out that second, they would not survive. Um. 608 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: But here's the fun part. If you're wondering how Frozen 609 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: fits him. Uh So the researchers actually had some interesting 610 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:28,359 Speaker 1: assists from this because they got in touch with Disney, 611 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: having noted the way that they depicted snow and how 612 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:35,240 Speaker 1: realistic it was, and they actually shared their animation code 613 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: with these researchers and that helped them build that um 614 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: that recreation computer generated model that that helped them established 615 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: that this could have been a slab what's called the 616 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: slab avalanche, which is just basically like one thin section 617 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,880 Speaker 1: of snow that falls all at once, almost like a 618 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 1: knife cutting through. Uh. Their theory at this point is 619 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: that the cut that they made into the slope as 620 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:03,240 Speaker 1: they were digging out their camp gave enough empty space 621 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,719 Speaker 1: that the gravity of the snow slab was able to 622 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,279 Speaker 1: release and drop and create the events that happened. Uh, 623 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: we don't know if this is true. We'll probably never 624 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: know for sure, but um, it's a really cool idea 625 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: and I do I do love that somehow Disney got 626 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: involved the whole thing. So thank you Kiki and everyone 627 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: else who wrote to us about it. It is uh forever. 628 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 1: I love that story and I love any information that 629 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: comes to light about it. Now. If you would like 630 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: to write to us, you can do so at History 631 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: podcast at i heart radio dot com. You can also 632 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: find us on social media as Missed in History and 633 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast is super duper easy. You can 634 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 1: do that on the I heart Radio app, at Apple podcasts, 635 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: or wherever it is you listen to your favorite shows. 636 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 637 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 638 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,360 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 639 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,000 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.