Isadora Duncan Research Paper

At the end of the 19th century, ballet was the most prominent form of dance. However, to Isadora Duncan, "ballet was the old order that needed to be overthrown, an embodied symbol of all that was wrong with oversymbolized 19th century living" (Daly 26). Duncan believed that the over-technical, over-standardization of ballet was not what dance should be about. Her vision of dance was one of emotions, ideas, social betterment, and the complete involvement of the body, mind, and soul (26). With these ideas in mind, she began to create a new form of dance; what she referred to as the "new dance" (23), and what is now known as modern dance. In creating this new dance, she was inspired by composers such as

As ballets were about telling stories or formulating movements, modern dance broke the rules and started to focus more on individual expressions. Loie Fuller (1862 – 1928), Doris Humphrey (1895-1958), and Ruth St. Denis (1877-1968) were pioneering women who took a stand and used their dance performance to speak up for women’s rights. Using dance, they significantly contributed to the Feminist movement in which they embraced self-expression and creativity so that women could be acknowledged in the dance field and in the society as a whole. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they found for women’s rights by “taking dance to a new form, and creating dances to speak directly and intimately to the viewer” (Au 89). Loie Fuller, Doris Humphrey, and Ruth St. Denis demonstrated the transformation of dance with their innovation of costumes and stage lighting, incorporation of foreign cultures into performance, and creation of natural movements and individual expression that rejected the formal structures of ballet to deform a woman’s body, allowing women to be free from stereotype of a traditional woman.

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born April 4th, 1928 in St Louis, MO and will be 90 in 2 days. Vivian Baxter Johnson and Bailey Johnson are her parents, Her spouse was Paul du Feu and Enistasious Tosh Angelos. She only has one older sibling, Bailey Johnson Jr. He nicknamed her Maya and Maya means my sister. She got pregnant at 16 with Guy Johnson and he is now a poet .When her parents separated their father sent them to Arkansas alone to live with their Grandmother “Annie Henderson” and at the time they were only three and four.

On August 26, 1918, in West Virginia, Joshua Coleman and Joylette Coleman had a baby girl. She would grow up to be one of the smartest women in the world. She would be an inspiration to all. Her name is Katherine Johnson.

A Native American girl was gifted with the ability to dance. At four years old she started lessons on ballet. She was determined to be a great ballerina. Everyone in her tribe saw her as “naturally gifted”. She saw herself as a typical Indian girl and spent part of her childhood on an Osage reservation in Oklahoma.

America grew up with dance, from the streets to the theatres in Broadway it has formed many different dance such as modern dance. Modern dance was born in the United States in the 20th century. Its recognitions prevailed when several dancers rebelled to two dances that were extensive at the moment, ballet and vaudeville. Its fundamental aim was to reveal about people. “Modern” referred to a new era of dance and much modernize dance techniques that aimed to recoup natural movement. Having outlined its difference between ballet, they always developed new themes incorporating, personal problems, plays, and poems. They wanted to be taken as a serious dancer rather than entertainers. Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis are considered the pillars of modern dance. In addition, an African American name Alvin Ailey was rapidly becoming a leading in 20th-century modern dance. known as an influential dancer in modern dance. Alvin revolutionizes modern dance by, modernizing modern dance, revolutionizing African-American participation in the 20th Century and promoted modern dance around the world.

Jaspreana Tobias, a young girl born in the vibrant city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was a child who had grew up around music and rhythm and soul. Born to a family where the last person who was not from New Orleans was born two generations ahead of her, one could assume the rhythm was in her blood. Since she was little and could feel the music, the young Louisianan danced and did so with passion. Though her family loves music and all its counterparts, Jaspreana is the only dancer in the Tobias family tree. In high school, Jaspreana, a determined dancer, tried out for her school’s dance team. Unfortunately she did not make the cut. As any young woman would be, she was disappointed in herself; heart-broken actually. In her mind, she had a great chance at making the team, due to her skillful footwork and elegant grace as a dancer. In her own words, the result of her not making the team was “devastating” as it shook her confidence to the core. On that day, Jaspreana swore she would never try out for another dance team ever again. After months and months of sulking and great disappointment, her love and passion for the art of dancing returned. Not only had it returned, it returned with a new fire which burned deep in her soul. Dancing was her passion and being a professional dancer had been her dream since she could ever even two step to the sound of a simple beat. Jaspreana practiced and practiced. She would dance and think about dancing from the break of dawn until dusk. Finally

“Go within everyday and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out” (A Quote by Katherine Dunham 1). Once one of the most successful dancers in both American and European theater, Katherine Dunham, a dancer, anthropologist,social activist,and educator, continues to inspire people throughout the world. Named America’s irreplaceable Dance Treasure in 2000. Dunham remains a name heard regularly in dance schools across the world (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 4). She is known for always trying to make a difference and in the process she has become of the world’s greatest humanitarians (Osumare 5). Katherine Dunham’s work in African American rights in the dance world and her creation of new styles of dance makes her an important figure in American dance History.

A serial killer is a person defined as a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events. “They are generally cunning, manipulative, and know the difference between right and wrong but dismiss it as applying to them” (Montaldo, n.d.) We are often captivated by what they have done and not in a positive way but the intriguing part as to “why”. In reality I stop to think what was happening to this person or within their minds that caused them to behave in such a way. It’s said that these acts are due to Abnormal Psychology gratification, this is the unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought. After thorough research Dr. Helen Morrison believes that it is due to a chromosome abnormality. Dr. Morrison believes that serial killers begin to start expressing these tendencies in their teen

Mrs. Farrell’s book is quite technical when it comes to the lengthy descriptions of the dances she rehearses and performs; from a dancer’s view these varied conclusions of the types of movements she was dancing is quite astonishing. In fact, it adds a whole new level to the imagination that can come alive in a person’s thoughts when they read an expressive book. Although the technical explanations will excited, astound, and reveal how much passion and deep meaning ballet had in Suzanne Farrell’s life, but a reader, who may not be involved in the arts will be unfamiliar with the ballet and musical terms in

Bella Lewitzky, in her time, was considered a world-renowned modern dance instructor. Her astounding technique, to engage the core, is still used world wide today. Born in the utopian socialist community of Llano del Rio in the Mojave Desert, her family settled in San Bernardino when she was a child. Dance was of a great interest to Lewitzky; she grew to love the art of dance and attended classes taught by Lester Horton during the 1930’s. Soon after beginning dance with Lester, Bella “established herself as a highly charismatic performer with the Horton Dance Group…”

Founder of the Environmental Law Centre, lawyer and member of parliament, Linda Duncan is a passionate politician who cares about Canadian citizens and making a difference.

Do you know who the first African American principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre is? She defies physics when you watch her on stage with awe-inspiring routines. Misty Copeland is unlike any other ballerina in the world. While dancing at The American Ballet Theatre, she had the lead role in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and The Firebird (McCann, 185). She is the face of Dannon, Estée Lauder, and Under Armour. Misty was on the cover of Time magazine as one of The Top Most Influential People of 2015 (McCann, 187). She got her first formal dance training at the age of 13- most dancers begin at the age of three or four. However, despite the late start into the sport, many said she was a “natural” or a “prodigy” (Copeland-

Anne Tyler was the oldest of four children, by an industrial chemist and a social worker. Both of her parents were Quakers, and they were very active with social causes in the Midwest and South. She lived in Celo community from age seven to eleven, her job was to help her family and others with caring for livestock and organic farming. There she didn’t attend formal public school. When she was eleven her parents decided to move to Raleigh, North Carolina there Tyler felt herself to be an outsider in the public schools, and that feeling followed her most of her life. She entered school academically well ahead of most of her classmates. There she stayed in the libraries and there she discovered a lot of authors, but Eudora Welty remained one of her favorites. Welty was “my crowning influence” (Tyler).

Introduction Life in Motion, a New York Times bestseller written by Misty Copeland, is a memoir of her journey to becoming the first African-American principal ballerina at the distinguished American Ballet Theatre. I chose this book because I was inspired by Misty’s courage, hard work, and persistence to become a successful ballerina. My personal interest in this book would have to be the dance aspect, in relation to Misty; dance is a very big part of my life considering rhythmic gymnastics is built off of the same ideas as dance. When hearing that Misty had become a principal dancer, I was immediately intrigued to learn about her life and her endeavors to become such a historical presence in the world of dance.