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Guide to the Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera
MS-P033
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Title: Isadora Duncan dance programs and ephemera,
Date (inclusive): 1900-1957
Collection number: MS-P033
Creator:
Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927
Extent:
0.3 linear feet (1 box and 1 oversize folder)
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library.
Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection comprises dance programs and some ephemera documenting Isadora Duncan and her international performances from
1900 to 1920. Materials in this collection are in Dutch, English, French, and German. Also included are programs for performances
by her students, the Isadora Duncan Dancers.
Physical location: University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera. MS-P33. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquired, 1999.
Processed by Karen Rosen, 2001.
Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco on May 27, 1878. She was a pioneer of "free dance" -- the theory that dance was the
expression of an inner urge or impulse and reflected the rhythms of nature -- as opposed to the formal dance form of ballet.
Her revolutionary ideas on dance were not well accepted in America, and Duncan left for Europe in 1899, where she enjoyed
greater success. Her first appearances were from 1900 to 1902 in Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Berlin. In 1904 she
founded her own school. In 1905 Duncan appeared in Russia for the first time, where she was much admired by advocates of reform
of the ballet. In 1925 Duncan moved to France, where she began her autobiography, My Life, and gave occasional performances.
She gave her last recital in Paris in July 1927. In Nice, France, on September 14, 1927, Duncan was killed in a car accident.
Lessons in the Duncan dance technique continued after her death, and were taught by Irma Duncan (one of Isadora's adopted
daughters) and several of her other pupils, who were also known as the Isadora Duncan Dancers.
For further biographical information, see Isadora Duncan,
My Life, by Isadora Duncan (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1927). See also Walter Terry,
Isadora Duncan: Her Life, Her Art, Her Legacy, (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1964).
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises dance programs and some ephemera documenting Isadora Duncan and her international performances from
1900 to 1920. Materials in this collection are in Dutch, English, French, and German. Also included are programs for performances
by her students, the Isadora Duncan Dancers.
Unless noted otherwise, items in this collection are dance programs. Materials are arranged chronologically by performance
date.
Related materials can be found in the Mary Desti Collection on Isadora Duncan (MS-P05), Special Collections and Archives,
The UC Irvine Libraries.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927--Archival resources.
Dance--Archival resources.
Modern dance--Archival resources.
Dance programs.
Ephemera.
Dancers.
Dance teachers.