1
The Dance of the Future, I see America Dancing,
and Richard Wagner by Isadora Duncan
What is Dance?

• Presentation by Andrew Giles and Francesca San
  Roman and Edited By Laura Pratt and Dr. Kay
  Picart

2
The Dance of the Future

• So you see that to convince people, I am of
  little value and ought not to speak. But I am
  brought from the seclusion of my study, trembling
  and stammering before a public and told to
  lecture on the dance of the future. (262)

  www.seminaire-sherbrooke.qc.ca/.../
D/duncan.htm
3
Sources of dance

• What si the real source of dance?
• We do not stand on the beach and inquire if the
  ocean what was its movement in the past and what
  will be its movement in the future (262)
• -If animals are put under false restrictions,
  they lose the ability to move in harmony with
  nature same with civilized man

4
Is ballet a true expression?

•  
• -Ballet goes against the will of the individual,
  the movements are unnatural.

www.mnstate.edu/.../ kandinskyannotations4.htm  
5
Duncans hopes for dance instruction

• What did Duncan want to teach about movement?

www.lpm.com.br/ lpm-po5.htm  
6
Ballet VS New Dance

• Dancing school of the future is to show the
  ideal form of woman. (264)
• Question of ballet vs. new dance was one whose
  ramifications went beyond dance. . .

7
Discussion question

• Is Dance a natural expression of the soul through
  the body, or a disciplined practice meant to be
  aesthetically pleasing to the audience?
•  

www.cariboo.bc.ca/.../ Digests03Nov3/Heather
8
I See America Dancing

• Inspired by Walt Whitman to see a new American
  expression.
•  
• . . . I, too, had a Vision the Vision of
  America dancing a dance that would be the worthy
  expression of the song Walt heard when he heard
  America singing. (265)

9
Jazz-- the great American music?

• -What did Duncan believe about Jazz and dance?

www.sc.edu/.../collection/ dustjackets/jazz.html  

10
Discussion question

• This was written in 1927. Do you believe the
  music she speaks of has been invented yet? Will
  ever be invented?

www.librairie-chatrian.com/ varietes-et-style-...
11
Discussion question

• In Duncans eyes, could Wagner have created the
  new American expression, since she believed his
  work- transcended boundaries?

12
Works Cited

•  Ed. Marshall Cohen, and Roger Copeland. What is
  Dance? New York Oxford UP, 1983.
• www.seminaire-sherbrooke.qc.ca/.../ D/duncan.htm
• www.mnstate.edu/.../ kandinskyannotations4.htm
• www.lpm.com.br/ lpm-po5.htm
• www.cariboo.bc.ca/.../ Digests03Nov3/Heather
• www.sc.edu/.../collection/ dustjackets/jazz.html
• www.librairie-chatrian.com/ varietes-et-style-...
• hem.passagen.se/.../ romantic/richard_wagner.htm