Evening star., 1927-09-15
ISADORA DUNCAN KILLED IN NICE
AS SCARF CATCHES CAR WHEEL
Dancer Jerked From Seat of
New Auto and Neck
Is Broken.
Californian Had Premonition
of Tragedy Tuesday-Ca-
reer C0l0rful.
By the Associated Press.

| BY the Associst Press.
| NICE, France, September Is
Isadora Duncans 9 adventurous life has
ended in tragedy.
! A silken scarf of red--the color of
which she was fond. and which seems
| to have symbolized her radica lism-
! f1uttered about the neck of the dancer
as she sped along the Promenade
des Anglais last night In her new car.
With her were French chauffeur,
who was going to teach her to drive,
and Mrs. Mary Desto Perks. British
| newspaper woman, who was helping
her prepare her memoirs for publica-
| ton.
/ The end of the long scarf whipped
! over the side of the car became en-
tangled in the front wheel and jerked
the dancer from her seat. The chauf
| feur jammed on the brakes and he and
Mrs. Perks disengaged the scarf from
the limp body. They drove franticatly
to the st. Roche Hospital, but in vain
The doctors said death must have been
instantaneous. Her neck was broken.
Wrote Memoirs Recently.
| The body was taken back to the
dancers studio. Funeral arrange
ments are in charge of Mrs. Perks and
Miss Duncaps old friend. Paris Singer
of the sewing machine family.
At one time a stage idol, Miss Dun
can had long devoted herself to the
training of young dancers. Her af
fairs did not appear to prosper and
her Neuilly studio had to be sold to
pay her debts.
OF late she had given much or her
time to writing memoirs of her career,
| from which she hoped great things
She seemed to have had premonition
of her death as. in talking with cor
respondent of the Associated Press on
| Tuesday, she said:
For the first time | am writing for
money: now ] am frightened that some
quick accident might happen.
From a hesitant debut as 15-year-
old girl in California, IsadOra Dun
/ cans dancing feet carried her across
| two continents to wealth, certain
degree of fame, and a life crowded
| with adventure and tragedy.
Born in San Francisco in May,
1878, the daughter of Charles Duncan,
a dancing teacher. she received early
training in the art on which she was
to leave an indelible impress FIVE
years of intensive study after her
debut prepared her for her career and
she went to Chicago and later to New
York, appearing as fairy in "A Mid
summer Nights Dream" produced
by Augustin Daily.
The idea of interpretive" dancing
came to her. and she began to devise
dance figures of her own. In devel
opment of her idea she discarded the
customary costumes. appearing in
filmy attire and with bare legs.
daring innovation in those days and
one which brought many protests.
Rislxed Her Life.
One Of her first successes in New
York was a dance version of Omar
Khayyam," in which she interpreted
the spirit of the classic poem while
the verses were recited by Justin
Huntley Mccarthy.
She was teaching class of children
| in the Hotel Windsor, New York,
| when fire broke out on March z, 1899,
which leveled the structure. She
saved every one of her pupils at the
risk of her life.
In the same year she decided to so
to Europe and made the trip with
her mother and brothers on cattle
boat. the venture being financed with
the aid OF friends. Europe was QUICK
to recognize a new form of art in her
dramatic dancing, and she established
temple of art" in Paris
King Edward VII, Gabrielle dan
nunzio. Ernst Haeckel. Gordon Craig
and Rodin. the sculptor. were listed
among her admirers.
Inspiration From Ruins.
During this period her "interpre-
tive" steps. for some reason, came to
be known as Greek" Quick to grasp
the value Of the idea, she went to
Greece with her brother Raymond to
find inspiration among the classic
Hellenic ruins. There she studied the
figures on sculpture and vases, and re-
produced the poses on them. Wide
spread publicly followed. and upon
her return to the United States she
was hailed as an authority on Greek
dances
Her practice of dancing bare-legged
and in filmy costumes still brought
protests. but a cult of followers quick.
ly formed.
In 1904 her first financial success
came when she started a school of
classical dancing in Berlin, where she
trained the girls who came to be
known as the Duncan dancers. fore