Guide to the Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera
Processed by Karen Rosen.
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-3947
Fax: (949) 824-2472
Email: spcoll@uci.edu
URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/rrsc/speccoll.html
© 2001
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
Arts and Humanities--Dance--Dance General
Guide to the Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera
Collection number: MS-P33
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
University of California
Irvine, California
Contact Information
- Special Collections and Archives
- The UCI Libraries
- P.O. Box 19557
- University of California
- Irvine, California 92623-9557
- Phone: (949) 824-3947
- Fax: (949) 824-2472
- Email: spcoll@uci.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/rrsc/speccoll.html
- Processed by:
- Karen Rosen
- Date Completed:
- 2001
- Encoded by:
- Karen Rosen
© 2001 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
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.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
Isadora Duncan Dance Programs and Ephemera. MS-P33. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquisition Information
Acquired, 1999.
Processing History
Processed by Karen Rosen, 2001.
Biography
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 Collections
Related materials can be found in the Mary Desti Collection on Isadora Duncan (MS-P05), Special Collections and Archives,
The UC Irvine Libraries.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927--Archival resources.
Dance--Archival resources.
Modern dance--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Materials
Dance programs.
Ephemera.
Occupations
Dancers.
Dance teachers.
Collection Contents
Box 1 : 1
Shakespearean Season, Mr. F. R. Benson's Company, Lyceum Theatre, London, 1900
Box 1 : 2
Officiëel Programma Van Den Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam, 1905-1907
Box 1 : 3
Boston Symphony Hall, 1908
Box 1 : 3
Farewell appearance, New York, 1909
Box 1 : 3
Carnegie Hall, New York, 1911
Box FB-31 : 3
Elizabeth-Duncan Schule, Deutsches Künstler-Theater (Societat) Berlin, 1914
Box FB-31 : 3
Dionysion, New York Century Opera House, 1915
Box 1 : 3
Palais Du Trocadéro, Paris, 1916-1920
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Content Note
Includes reproductions of Steichen photographs.
Box 1 : 3
Isadora Duncan Dancers, The Neighborhood Playhouse, New York, 1918
Box 1 : 3
Chopin Recital, Columbia Theater, San Francisco, 1918
Box 1 : 4
Isadora Duncan Dancers, Columbia Theater, San Francisco, 1919
Box 1 : 4
Festival Chopin, L'Ecole Isadora Duncan, France, 1919
Box 1 : 4
Isadora Duncan Dancers, Carnegie Hall, 1920 (?)
Box 1 : 4
Recital Chopin, Studio D'Isadora Duncan, Nice, France, 1926
Box 1 : 4
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1957
Scope and Content Note
Memorial exhibition catalog.
Box 1 : 5
The Pupils of Isadora Duncan, Liberty Theatre, New York
Box 1 : 5
Isadora Duncan et ses Èleves de l'Ecole de Danse de Darmstadt
Box 1 : 5
Isadora Duncan and Symphony Orchestra, New York
