Early Modern Dance

Some items from my personal collection, mostly from the Isadora Duncan era.

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Lisa Duncan (1898-1976).  Press Photo, 1926.

A photo of Lisa during her American tour in 1926.

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Anna Duncan (1894-1982).  Autographed Christmas Card, 1943.

One of the six Isadorables who performed with Isadora Duncan, Anna was generally considered to be the best dancer of the group  (next to Isadora herself, of course).   At the time this card was sent, Anna – like other American dancers, including Ruth St. Dennis and Maud Allan – was working for the government, and contributed to the war effort as a translator and civilian censor.

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Ida Rubinstein (1883-1960).  Tobacco Card, 1924.

A card depicting Ida from the Atlam Cigarette Factory series of Atlam Celebrities, from 1924. This series was issued in three sets, totaling 519 individual cards.  Atlam was a company located in Malta, thus “Altam” = “Malta” spelled backwards.

Scroll down for more items related to Ida.

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Duncan Dancers Program.  Pittsburgh, December 13, 1918

A program from a joint recital by the Duncan Dancers and pianist George Copeland – who accompanied them in their dances, and who also played a series of solo pieces, and was sponsored by The Art Society of Pittsburgh.   Copeland toured with them from 1918 through 1920.  He was an American pianist, and an early proponent of the music of Claude Debussy, with whom he had studied while in France.

The Duncan Dancers (aka “Isadorables”) were long-time students of Isadora, and who legally adopted them at the outbreak of World War I.  As most were of German extraction (Anna was Swiss), they would have been considered enemy aliens at that time.

This recital features four of the original six:  Lisa, Anna, Theresa, and Irma.

You can find many of Copeland’s recordings on YouTube.

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Ida Rubinstein (1883-1960).  Autographed program, 1935.

Concert de Gala, January 26, 1935, in which Ida performed in both Stravinsky's Perséphone, and Honegger's Sémiramis.

The program has also been autographed by Honegger (lower right side).  Here are photos (sorry, too big for my scanner) of the cover and title page.

For more on Ida, see previous entries, below.

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Lisa Duncan (1898-1976).   Pencil sketch by Lucienne Pageot-Rousseaux (1899-1994).

Lucienne Pageot-Rousseaux was a French artist, among whose works included numerous sketches of contemporary dance and theater personalities.  I’m guessing this sketch was done in Paris, during the 1930s.  Follow this link for more info on her, and her other works:

https://data.bnf.fr/en/12537838/lucienne_pageot-rousseaux/

For more on Lisa, see her previous entries, below.

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Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).  Postcard of a sculpture of Isadora, by Walter Schott.

 A photo of a sculpture by German artist Walter Schott (1861-1938), ca. 1903.

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Unidentified Dancer (1923).  Photograph of an unknown dancer.

Note on back:  “Spirit of Youth in Europe Today” in pageant ‘The Golden Trail’ given at conference Summer 1923. 

Close up added.

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Maud Allan (1873-1956).  English postcard, ca. 1908-1909.

Another postcard of Maud Adams at the height of her career.

#maud adams #postcard

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Maud Allan (1873-1956).  English postcard, ca. 1908-1910.

A postcard of Maud, probably from 1908, featuring her rendition of Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane.

 To hear the piece:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMRzGjqXChs

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Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).  A promotional (or souvenir) postcard (ca. 1909-1910).

In 1909 Isadora moved to Paris from Germany, followed by her students from her old school in Grunewald, Germany.   Together, they appeared in a series of recitals at the Théâtré Lyrique de la Gaité.  “The result was that we took Paris by storm”, she would later write in her autobiography.

It was at this time that her students – Anna, Irma, Lisa, Theresa, Margot, and Erika - acquired the name of the Isadorables, given them by writer  Fernand Divoire.

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Lisa Duncan (1898-1976).  Dance recital flyer, 1931.

This four-page flyer advertises two dance recitals:  Lisa Duncan and Georges Pomiès on Friday, June 5, 1931; and Lisa Duncan, along with students from her dance school, on Saturday, May 30, 1931, which was held at the Comédie des Champs Elysées – where Lisa’s dance studio was located.

Georges Pomiès, dancer, singer, and actor, was Lisa’s dance partner and lover. He died unexpectedly in 1933, at the age of 31.

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Maud Allan (1873-1956). German/English postcard, ca. 1902-1910.

A colored photo of Maud in an “outdoor” setting, from the German firm Aristophot AG, and sold through their UK office, in London.  (The coloring is rather faint, so I’m not sure how well it shows in the scan.)

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The Miracle (1932).  Theater program.

This production is of interest in that it featured two well-known dancers in leading roles:  Tilly Losch and Maud Adams.  

This would be Maud’s last stage appearance in the UK.  Her dance career was long past, and she would soon return to America.  Tilly would also settle in America, and go on to star in several Hollywood pictures, most notably, Duel in the Sun, in which she was featured in a spirited bar-room dance sequence.

Here are 4 pages from the 16-page program (much of it – like those of today – devoted to advertising).

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Lisa Duncan (1898-1976).  Dance recital program, 1934.

A program from a performance by Lisa Duncan and her students, presented at the Théatre de Grenoble, March 12, 1934.  The program was accompanied by Denyse Dixmier, who also performed several solo pieces.

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A hand-painted Christmas card from German painter/illustrator Otto Marcus (1863-1952), to Maud Allan (1873-1956).

Sent to Maud from Berlin, and postmarked 12-23-1934, by Otto Marcus – who had earlier painted a prize-winning picture of her, entitled Miss Allan, The Classical Dancer.  Marcus’ daughter, Ruth Sendler, was also a professional dancer/choreographer.

The “Miss Aldridge” was Verna Aldrich, Maud’s long-time secretary/companion. From the address, we can see Maud was still living at West Wing, quarters that had originally been provided for her by Margot Asquith, wife of the Prime Minister.

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Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).  Autographed German postcard (ca. 1902-09)

Finally added an Isadora autograph to my collection!

This postcard was issued by Aristophot AG, Tauchen (near Leipzig).  They were in business from 1902 to 1909, at which time they were purchased by another company.

Isadora first appeared in recital in Germany in 1901, and she opened her first dance school in Grunewald in 1904.  The school was dissolved in 1908, so I’m guessing this particular card dates from somewhere between those dates.  This particular photo is new to me, and I have thus far been unable to find it on the internet