Isadora Duncan has been one of the most enduring1 influences on 20th century culture. She always wanted to be different. She loved to dance, but she didn't like traditional dances. She refused to learn classical ballet. Instead, Isadora listened to the music and moved naturally. She walked, jumped, or just stood still and moved from side to side. No one had ever danced like that before. She was the creator of modern dance.
Family background
Isadora Duncan was born in 1878 in San Francisco, California. She was the second daughter and the youngest of four children to parents Joseph Charles and Dora Gray Duncan. Her father was a poet and her mother was a pianist and music teacher. When Isadora's parents married, her father was divorced with four children and 30 years her senior. He supported his family through running a lottery2, publishing three newspapers, owning a private art gallery, directing an auction3 business and owning a bank. When the bank fell into financial ruin, he abandoned Isadora's family, moved to Los Angeles where he divorced and remarried again.
Isadora did not believe in marriage but did have love affairs with stage designer Gordon Graig and millionaire (Paris) Eugene Singer and had a child by each. Her children, Deirdre and Patrick were tragically and accidentally drowned in 1913 while with their governess4. Later in her life she married Russian poet, Sergei Esenin in 1922 but separated shortly after.
Education
As a child, she learned unconventionally to “listen to the music with your soul.” Her mother instilled5 in Isadora a love for dance, theater, Shakespeare and reading. At the young age of 6 years old, she danced for money and taught other children to dance. Dancing lessons took precedence over6 formal education; however, she read and was inspired by the works of Walt Whitman and Nietzsche.
Accomplishments7
Isadora is known as the mother of “modern dance,” founding the “New System” of interpretive8 dance, blending together poetry, music and the rhythms9 of nature. She did not believe in the formality10 of conventional ballet and gave birth to a more free form of dance, dancing barefoot and in simple Greek apparel11. Her fans recognized her for her passionate12 dancing and she ultimately13 proved to be the most famous dancer of her time.
In 1895, Isadora and her family moved east to pursue her professional dancing career. She opened in New York as a fairy with August Daly's company in A Midsummer Night's Dream. She was also funded by wealthy New Yorkers to give private appearances. In 1898 she expanded her dancing career by traveling to London on a cattle boat with her mother, her sister Elizabeth and brother, Raymond. Her first professional European performance was at the Lyceum theatre in London on February 22, 1900. She turned down substantial14 dancing offers to join Loie Fuller's touring company and toured Budapest, Vienna, Munich and Berlin. She studied for one year in Greece where she purchased Kopanos Hill outside of Athens to construct an elaborate15 dancing stage. Her performances were based on interpretations16 of classical music including Strauss' Blue Danube, Chopin's Funeral March, Tchaikovsky's Symphonie Pathetique and Wagnerian works.
Later in her life she opened a dancing school in Moscow where the Russian government promised to provide her with room and board and a schoolroom. However, after the school was built the government did not support her. To support herself, she returned to the stage unsuccessfully in America and then toured Europe once more.
Isadora's writings included The Dance, in 1909; My Life, her autobiography17 in 1927; various periodical18 articles on dancing; and The Art of the Dance, a memorial volume published in 1928.
Her death
In 1927, Isadora Duncan moved to Nice, France. She was almost 50 years old and had very little money. But she never lost her energy and her love for life. One day she asked a car salesman for a ride in a sports car. She was dressed in a loose dress with a long scarf. She got into the car, waved to her friends, and said, “Good-bye, my friends, I am going to my glory.” When the car started, her six-foot-long scarf got caught in the back wheel. The scarf tightened and broke her neck. Isadora Duncan died instantly19, tragically, horribly, and the world was upset20 for a few hours and then went about its business21. But those who had loved her and who knew her dream of beauty mourned22 her passing of a human creature who had been an honest builder of dreams. She had done more for the art of the dance than any other man or woman in history.
伊莎多拉·邓肯是对20世纪文化影响最深远的人物之一。她总是想要与众不同。她热爱舞蹈，却不喜欢传统舞蹈。她拒绝学跳古典芭蕾。相反，伊莎多拉喜欢听音乐，随着音乐自然扭动身躯。她或漫步、或跳跃、或站立不动，或左右摇摆。在她之前，从来没有人这样跳舞。她是现代舞的创始人。
家庭
1878年，伊莎多拉·邓肯出生于美国加利福尼亚州的旧金山。父亲是约瑟夫·查尔斯·邓肯，母亲是多拉·格雷·邓肯。伊莎多拉是第二个女儿，也是四个孩子中最小的一个。她的父亲是一位诗人，母亲是钢琴家和音乐教师。父亲和母亲结婚时，与离异的前妻还有四个孩子，比伊莎多拉大30岁。通过发售彩票、发行三种报纸、经营一家私人画廊、主持拍卖业务和开办一家银行等方式，他支撑整个家庭。后来，银行破产，他抛弃了伊莎多拉一家人，迁往洛杉矶，并在那儿与伊莎多拉的母亲离婚，尔后又再婚。
伊莎多拉不相信婚姻，但是她确实与舞台设计师戈登·克莱格以及巴黎的百万富翁尤京·辛格有过风流韵事，并与他们各生了一个孩子。她的孩子迪尔德丽和帕特里克1913年与保姆一起时溺水身亡，是一桩悲惨的事故。之后，她1922年与俄国诗人谢尔盖·叶赛宁结婚，但不久就分道扬镳。
教育
孩提时代，伊莎多拉就背离传统，学会了“用心灵倾听音乐”。通过母亲的灌输，她逐渐养成了热爱舞蹈、戏剧、莎剧和阅读的习惯。年仅6岁，她就开始依靠跳舞挣钱，并教别的孩子跳舞。对她来说，舞蹈课比接受正规教育更重要；不过，她也阅读沃尔特·惠特曼和尼采的作品，并深受启发。
成就
伊莎多拉被公认为“现代舞”之母。她创立了阐释性舞蹈的“新体系”，把诗歌、音乐与大自然的节奏融为一体。她不认同传统芭蕾舞的拘谨形式，创立了一种更为自由的舞蹈形式，身着简单的希腊服饰，赤裸双脚，翩翩起舞。她热情奔放的舞蹈赢得了舞迷们的认可，最终证明自己是当时最著名的舞蹈家。
1895年，为了追求职业舞蹈生涯，伊莎多拉举家东迁。在奥古斯特·戴利的公司上演的《仲夏夜之梦》中，她扮演了一个仙女的角色，开始了她在纽约的舞蹈生涯。她还在纽约富人的资助下来到一些剧院私下登台表演。1898年，她与母亲、姐姐伊丽莎白、哥哥雷蒙德一起乘坐牲口船来到伦敦，从而拓展了她的舞蹈生涯。1900年2月22日，她在伦敦的莱修姆剧院开始了在欧洲的第一场职业表演。她拒绝了洛瓦·福勒巡回演出公司邀其加盟而提出的优厚待遇，独自到布达佩斯、维也纳、慕尼黑和柏林巡回演出。她在希腊学习了一年，买下了雅典城外的科帕诺斯山，建了一座精良考究的舞蹈剧场。她的舞蹈表演基于对古典音乐的诠释，其中包括斯特劳斯的《蓝色多瑙河》、肖邦的《葬礼进行曲》、柴可夫斯基的《悲怆交响曲》以及瓦格纳的一些作品。
后来，她在莫斯科开办了一所舞蹈学校。俄国政府答应为她提供住宿和教室，但是学校建成后，俄国政府却食言了。为了养活自己，她回到了美国的舞台，但并不成功。之后，她又重返欧洲，继续巡回演出。
伊莎多拉留下来的作品包括：1909年出版的《舞蹈》，1927年出版的自传《我的一生》和在各类期刊杂志上发表的有关舞蹈的文章；还有1928年出版的纪念册《舞蹈艺术》。
逝世
1927年，伊莎多拉·邓肯迁至法国的尼斯。年近50的她几乎身无分文。但是，她从未失去活力和对生活的热爱。一天，她请求一位汽车推销员允许她乘坐一辆赛车。当时，她身着一件宽松的衣服，围着一条长围巾。她坐进赛车，向朋友们挥手致意，说道：“再见，我的朋友们,我就要踏上通向光荣的道路！”赛车启动，她那条长达6英尺的围巾绞进了后轮。围巾越绞越紧，最终勒断了她的脖子。伊莎多拉·邓肯当场死亡，她的死如此悲惨，如此恐怖，令全世界为之悲痛！几小时之后，一切才归于平静。然而，那些爱她并了解她所追求的美丽梦想的人们，为失去这样一位真诚构造梦想的人而感到深切悲恸。她为舞蹈艺术所做的一切比历史上任何男女都要多得多！
1. enduring adj. 持久的，不朽的
2. lottery n. 抽彩
3. auction n. 拍卖
4. governess n. 保姆
5. instill v. 慢慢地灌输
6. take precedence (over) 优先于
7. accomplishment n. 成就，成绩
8. interpretive adj. 解释的，阐明的
9. rhythm n.节奏
10. formality n. 拘谨形式
11. apparel n. 衣服，服饰
12. passionate adj. 热情的，充满激情的
13. ultimately adv. 最后，终于
14. substantial adj. 大量的；丰盛的
15. elaborate adj. 精心制作的
16. interpretation n. 诠释，解释，阐明
17. autobiography n. 自传
18. periodical n. 期刊
19. instantly adv. 立即，马上
20. upset v. 扰乱，打乱
21. go about one's business 各自忙自己的事情
22. mourn v. 对（不幸等）感到痛心