Dancer Isadora Duncan is killed in car accident - Sep 14, 1927 - HISTORY.com Dancer Isadora Duncan is killed in car accident Share this: Dancer Isadora Duncan is killed in car accident Author Dancer Isadora Duncan is killed in car accident URL Publisher A+E Networks On September 14, 1927, dancer Isadora Duncan is strangled in Nice, France, when the enormous silk scarf she is wearing gets tangled in the rear hubcaps of her open car. (“Affectations,” said Gertrude Stein when she heard the news of Duncan’s death, “can be dangerous.”) Isadora Duncan was born in 1877 in San Francisco and moved to Europe to become a dancer when she was in her early 20s. She had always loved to dance–in her teens, she worked as a dance teacher at her mother’s music school–but Duncan was not a classically trained ballerina.

On the contrary, she was a free-spirited bohemian whose dances were improvisational and emotional; they were choreographed, she said, “to rediscover the beautiful, rhythmical motions of the human body.” In contrast to the short tutus and stiff shoes that ballet dancers wore, Duncan typically danced barefoot, wrapped in flowing togas and scarves. Female audiences, in particular, adored her: In an era when classical ballet was falling out of favor with many sophisticated people (and when the scantily-clad dancers themselves were, more often than not, “sponsored” by wealthy male patrons), Duncan’s performances celebrated independence and self-expression. Duncan lived a self-consciously bohemian, eccentric life offstage as well: She was a feminist and a Darwinist, an advocate of free love and a Communist.

(For this, her American citizenship was revoked in the early 1920s.) Meanwhile, her life was a tragic one, especially when it came to automobiles: In 1913, her two small children drowned when the car they were riding in plunged over a bridge and into the Seine in Paris, and Duncan herself was seriously injured in car accidents in 1913 and 1924. On the day she died, Duncan was a passenger in a brand-new convertible sportscar that she was learning to drive. As she leaned back in her seat to enjoy the sea breeze, her enormous red scarf (“which she had worn since she took up communism,” one newspaper reported) somehow blew into the well of the rear wheel on the passenger side. It wound around the axle, tightening around Duncan’s neck and dragging her from the car and onto the cobblestone street. She died instantly.

Related Videos Isadora Duncan | Article about Isadora Duncan by The Free Dictionary Isadora Duncan | Article about Isadora Duncan by The Free Dictionary Related to Isadora Duncan: Martha Graham Duncan, Isadora (ĭz'ədôr`ə dŭng`kən), 1878–1927, American dancer, b. San Francisco. She had little success in the United States when she first created dances based on Greek classical art. But in Budapest (1903), Berlin (1904), and later in London and New York City (1908), she triumphed. An innovator, pioneer, and liberator of expressive movement, she was inspired by the drama of ancient Greece. She danced barefoot to music that was often not written to be danced. Her costume, a revealing adaptation of the Greek tunic, was complemented by several colored scarves draped from her shoulders. Through her many tours, her schools in Berlin, Paris, Moscow, and London, and her daring and dynamic personality, she greatly influenced the development of modern dance modern dance, serious theatrical dance forms that are distinct from both ballet and the show dancing of the musical comedy or variety stage.

The Beginnings of Modern Dance Developed in the 20th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. . She was briefly (1922–23) married to the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin Yesenin, Sergei Aleksandrovich , 1895–1925, Russian poet. Yesenin was the most popular poet of the early revolution and the object of a considerable cult. He belonged to the imagist school, advocating absolute independence for the artist. ..... Click the link for more information. . In 1927 she gave her last concert in Paris; she died when her scarf caught in the wheel of her car while she was motoring at Nice. Bibliography See her autobiography (1927, repr. 1966) and The Art of The Dance, ed. by S. Cheney (1928, repr. 1970); biographies by I. Duncan (1958), W. Terry (1964), V. Seroff (1971), F. Blair (1987), and P. Kurth (2001).

Duncan, Isadora Born May 27, 1878, in San Francisco; died Sept. 14, 1927, in Nice. American dancer. Duncan was one of the first modern dancers to contrapose free expressive dance to the classical school of ballet. In 1903 she gave her first concert program in Budapest. Repudiating the school of classical dance, she asserted the principles of a universally accessible art of dance and advocated the idea of the general artistic education of children. In her creative work she was guided by models from ancient Greek fine arts and aspired to an organic union between dance and music. Duncan rejected traditional gestures and poses, preferring natural expressive movements. She replaced the ballet costume (the tutu, tights) with a free-flowing tunic and danced in bare feet. Duncan believed that dance movements derive from an “inner impulse.” In her concerts she used classical symphonic and piano music, interpreting the works of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and other composers through dance. Her dancing was akin to pantomine. It consisted of elements of walking, running on half-toe, and expressive gestures. The dancer produced a great emotional impact on the spectators.

“Free movements,” unsupported by dance technique, tended to substantially impoverish her art. Duncan left no systematized dance method capable of meeting the demands of professional choreographic art. The schools founded by her in Germany (1904), France (1912), and the USA (1915) were short-lived. Duncan toured Europe and often visited Russia (1905, 1907-13) and was one of the first foreign artists who appreciated the importance of a socialist order for the development of the arts (she created a number of dances on revolutionary subjects). She lived in the USSR from 1921 to 1924. In 1921 she organized a studio in Moscow (that existed until 1949), which, after Duncan’s departure, was directed by her adopted daughter, Irma Duncan. WORKS OSLAVLEVA Duncan, Isadora (1878–1927) dancer; born in San Francisco. Her parents were divorced shortly after her birth and she was raised by her poor but romantic mother, who filled her children with the sounds of music and notions of unconventionality.

Isadora showed an early talent for dance and by age ten left school to teach dancing. She soon began to dance in public and in 1896 she went with her mother to New York City where she joined Augustin Daly 's theater company as a dancer and actress. She disliked doing traditional dances, so in 1898 she began to perform her own free-style dances. In 1900 she made her debut in London, where she became interested in recreating what she perceived as the ancient Greek dances. By 1902 she was performing her own dances on the Continent to great acclaim. She also started a dance school in Berlin, tried to start a "Temple to the Dance" in Greece (1903–04), had a child by Gordon Craig, the British stage designer, and performed in Russia (1905, 1907, 1908). Wherever she went she gave lecture-demonstrations of what she called "the dance of the future," based on her improvised movements intended to unite music, poetry, and nature; she usually performed barefoot in revealing Greek tunics and with flowing scarves.

Her American tour in 1908 was not successful but she went back to Europe and more acclaim. She also had another child, this one by Paris Singer, heir to the sewing machine fortune; when both her children drowned while in a car that accidentally rolled into the Seine (1913), her life not unnaturally became even more erratic although she showed a new profundity in her dances. In the following years she moved about—to the U.S.A., South America, San Francisco, Athens (Greece)—dancing and teaching with mixed success, and in 1921–22 she tried to start a school in Moscow. She married the much younger Russian poet, Sergei Essenin in 1922; mentally unstable, he drank his way through her money; her U.S. tour in 1923 led to charges of her being a Bolshevik, and they fled back to Russia with no money; Essenin deserted her in 1924 and committed suicide in 1925.

Her school for young dancers had been taken over by others and she was penniless, so she went to France, where she gave one legendary final performance in Paris and wrote her autobiography, My Life (1927). She died in Nice, France, as dramatically as she had lived, when her long scarf caught in the spokes of a car wheel, breaking her neck. Although her influence on dance and the arts is debated, to some in her day and since she seemed one of the greatest spirits who had ever lived. Young Woman Strangled to Death By Burka in Freak Go-Kart Accident Young Woman Strangled to Death By Burka in Freak Go-Kart Accident Jim Hoft Apr 8th, 2010 11:50 am Leave a Comment A young Muslim woman was strangled by her burqa in a go-kart accident. The Daily Mail reported: A young Muslim woman had died after her burkha became snagged in a go-kart. The 24-year-old woman, who has not yet been named, died a terrifying death today when a fluttering part of her burkha became caught in the wheels of a go-kart she was driving near the town of Port Stephens, north of Sydney.

The Muslim clothing the woman was wearing flew back as she sped around the track and part of it became entangled in the go-kart’s wheels. She was strangled in a second and crashed the vehicle. Total: 2 Get news like this in your Facebook News Feed, Gateway Pundit Commenting Policy Please adhere to our commenting policy to avoid being banned. As a privately owned website, we reserve the right to remove any comment and ban any user at any time. Comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, or personal or abusive attacks on other users may be removed and result in a ban. Facebook Comments Pingback: Young Woman Strangled to Death By Burka in Freak Go-Kart Accident | Liberal Whoppers () Jerry C Truely sad. Our prayers are with her parents, family and friends. I am christian, but my heart goes out for all our brothers & sisters. Kitty I’m surprised she was allowed to drive anything, let alone a go-kart. … How long before they blame the golf-kart? Just like they blame SUVs for accidents.

wanumba Used to work in an office with the local staff who wore the kaftan- the “grand bou-bou” it’s called. Pretty quick to discover there is a very very good reason for tailored suits in an office setting. The bou-bous would catch on every doorhandle and open drawer and chair arm. Lots of ripping, torn seams and toppled items. Just not the fashion that was workable in enclosed spaces. This is pretty extreme, but wan’t it the actress Isadore Duncan (?)who died that way when her long scarf got tangled in a wheel? Don’t want anything trailing on a bike, a motorcycle, a go cart. Harry Schell Isadora Duncan died the same way, her muffler got caught in the exposed chain drive of a Stutz Bearcat (IIRC) on a winter night in the 1920’s. Actress or author, I forget which, but part of the era’s glitterati. Sad for the girl and her family. Safety issues should trump anything when it comes to go karts. mike Thats horrible. Send prayers to her family. bg Such a brave and good go kart.. Charlie Gibson Stick with the magic carpet ride! Andreas K.

Expect a law suit against whoever owns the go-karts. Standard mohemmaden behavior. And some leftist judge will most likely agree. Mrgoodwench April 8th, 2010 | 1:18 pm | #9 Is go-karting islamic ? Is it approved by koran ? Well, the koran doesn’t mention go-karts, thus I would say they are haram and thus shouldn’t be used by mohammedans. Personally I’m curious if there’s a fatwa about go-karting. If there’s none yet I’m sure there will soon be one. chuck in st paul I feel sad for the young woman but have nothing but contempt and scorn for the family that killed her. Their adherence to a 6th century religious cult in the face of facts that it only breeds poverty and discontent forced the woman to wear that ridiculous Holloween costume that eventually killed her. Sad to say, but thousands die every year from unintended consequences of being a Moslem. Young women are particularly hard hit with stonings, matricide, etc. Evil is as evil does.

Taqiyyotomist Am I the only one around here who notices these douches? Taqiyyotomist Regarding lawsuits, I’d love to see how they’d mandate the karts be redesigned, to avoid future accidents like this. Fully enclosed. Basically, a freakin’ CAR. S. Wolf Taqiyyotomist #21 Are you calling me a douche? Are you the only one who doesn’t notice the islamophobia of a go cart? You must be one of those dhimmis.. Andreas K. April 8th, 2010 | 2:34 pm | #22 There are enough lawyers who’d go for that. That’s the really sad part. Wait, we do have something like that in Austria actually. It’s called a “Mopedauto”. Basically, it’s a moped on four wheels, with the normal frame of a car around. They are significantly smaller than real cars and you don’t require a driving licence. Which is why people, who have their licence taken by the police for drunk driving, buy them. And cause some more accidents. That might be the future of go-karting.

And no, you’re not the only one who notices the idiots. Seems that either some leftists pretend to be “right wingers” or just some really dumb folk. Andreas K. Wolf, I understand that the fire our side takes all the time is… well… let’s face it, it’s sh*t. Right? And it gets me frustrated as well. But I don’t think we should stoop to the level of the leftists. Leftists applaud dead soldiers. We shouldn’t applaud on dead mohammedan women. She was 24. Born into this POS ideology. Would she have tried to get out some relative of hers would have killed her. Taqiyyotomist I don’t need your advice. Save it. Nick They should have fitted her go cart with a Burka type resting harness of some sort. How irresponsible of the Go-Cart Company. Coffman and Townsley will be all over this one. It is truely sad though that in a modern world that there is any chance that your death can be attributed to clothing that you are forced to wear in order to keep you hidden away from the rest of society.

My prayer goes out to the 24 year old victim of Sharia law. If I mispelled “sharia” please don’t flog me in the town square and pray for my safety! Obama Admin is already on this. …using an outdated model, of course. Brian Smaller While tragic this is also funny. WTF? Go-karting in a burhka. Those places have so many rules about hair being tied up and wearing helmets. Did she get a helmet pass because she was a Muslim? davidr rcl Opa, Brian & David are on a roll… There’s no way anyone gets a pass for wearing loose garments around machinery. You can feel bad about the tragic results but there’s no argument that the cause is STUPIDITY and IGNORANCE. Brian’s OSHA Cowboy’s not far from the truth. In the USA the operator would be breaking some law letting her in the kart driving or not. Joanne I first thought about the lawsuit issue too. Hey, it is time to outlaw the burka!!! Muslim women shouldn’t be allowed to wear the burka, because they may get it caught while driving a go cart – it has got to start somewhere. Obama’s Consumer Protection Agency failed!!!!!!

Appoint a Special Counsel to investigate!!!! Impeach Obama!!!!…hey, they blamed Bush for everything, so it’s Obama’s turn in the barrel since this happened on his watch. AuntieMadder I got a chuckle from Wolf’s #17 comment. But then again, I only came in here to say that I’d be lying if I said I give a crap. Solaratov @ Wanumba #5~~ PARIS, FRANCE — Isadora Duncan, the American dancer, tonight met a tragic death at Nice on the Riviera. According to dispatches from Nice Miss Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement. Affecting, as was her habit, an unusual costume, Miss Duncan was wearing an immense iridescent silk scarf wrapped about her neck and streaming in long folds, part of which was swathed about her body with part trailing behind. After an evening walk along the Promenade de Anglais about 10 o’clock, she entered an open rented car, directing the driver to take her to the hotel where she was staying.

Neither she nor the driver noticed one of her scarf’s loose ends was over the side of the car — caught in the rear wheel. As she took her seat in the car neither she nor the driver noticed that one of the loose ends fell outside over the side of the car and was caught in the rear wheel of the machine. Dragged Bodily From the Car. The automobile was going at full speed when the scarf of strong silk suddenly began winding around the wheel and with terrific force dragged Miss Duncan, around whom it was securely wrapped, bodily over the side of the car, precipitating her with violence against the cobblestone street. She was dragged for several yards before the chauffeur halted, attracted by her cries in the street. Medical aid immediately was summoned, but it was stated that she had been strangled and killed instantly. This end to a life full of many pathetic episodes was received as a great shock in France, where, despite her numerous eccentric traits, Miss Duncan was regarded as a great artist. Her great popularity in France was increased by the entire nation’s sympathy when in 1913 her two young children also perished in an automobile tragedy.

The car in which they had been left seated started, driverless, down a hill and plunged over a bridge into the Seine River. [The article continues.] Copyright © New York Times, Sep 15, 1927 DMartyr Well, Go-karts are a kufar invention… This story illustrates why muslim women are NOT supposed to have fun. If she had followed her islamic upbringing and stayed home, like a good muslimah, this wouldn’t have happened. wolf Maybe the Go-Cart was offended by its Muslim driver and committed an honor killing? You think? Ladue Pundit Can you imagine the lawsuit if the go kart operator had denied this woman a ride due to her garment? bg ++ Solaratov @ 6:19 pm #41 [Miss Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement. [.]She was dragged for several yards before the chauffeur halted, attracted by her cries in the street. Medical aid immediately was summoned, but it was stated that she had been strangled and killed instantly.] NYT, lousy writers back then, even worse now..

== April 8th, 2010 | 8:01 pm | #43 You think? ……………… Not like you. The woman was engaging in a nice past-time, having fun. She was doing decent and normal things, unlike the suicide bombers. If she hadn’t been forced to wear the burka, it wouldn’t have happened. Can’t tell the two apart? Or to the crux of it, you want to plant here what isn’t appearing on its own. noarminian We’ll take ’em however we can get ’em. wolf Wanumba #46: Don’t you know muslim women aren’t supposed to “engage in nice pastimes, having fun”…? Think of the go-cart as practicing muslim contraception. DUNCAN, ISADORA - An ALS mourning the death of her two children: “I am here in a villa by the sea dying of despair” Contact Us DUNCAN, ISADORA An ALS mourning the death of her two children: âI am here in a villa by the sea dying of despairâ $4,000 Click to close [X] Click image to enlarge DUNCAN, ISADORA.

(1878-1927). American dancer who introduced the art of interpretive dance. ALS. (“Isadora”). 2pp. 4to. Viareggio, (Circa November/December, 1913). On her monogrammed Neuilly stationery the address of which she has crossed out and replaced with, “Villa Rigatti, Viareggio, Italy.” “I am here in a villa by the sea dying of despair – Eleanora Duse was here very ill but she has left – I am all alone & I have hardly left the courage to move. I feel I am at the end of all & my efforts were in vain. I struggled but the thing has killed me after all – Paris is in place [des] Vosges. Do you see him? Write me your plans. I have no force even to write – …” A visionary of modern dance, Duncan left the United States at 21 to pursue a career in Europe where her popular performances in Berlin, Budapest, Munich, Vienna, and other European cities, led to friendships with many notable contemporaries.

Duncan’s success enabled her to open dance schools in France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. However, her life changed forever following the death of her two children in a freak automobile accident. On April 19, 1913, seven-year-old Deirdre (her daughter with Edward Gordon Craig), three-year-old Patrick (her son with Singer Sewing Machine heir, Paris Singer, 1867-1932) and the children’s nanny drowned when their car slid into the Seine while the driver was in front cranking the stalled vehicle. Duncan later wrote movingly of her despair in her autobiography: “If this sorrow had come to me much earlier in life, I might have overcome it; if much later, it would not have been so terrible; but at that moment, in the full power and energy of life, it completely shattered my force and power,” (My Life, Duncan). Raymond, her brother, persuaded Isadora to go with him to Corfu and Albania where she sought relief aiding refugees before returning home to Paris. But once in Neuilly she noted, “Everything about the place brought back only too keenly days when I had been happy.

Soon I had the hallucination of hearing the children’s voices in the garden, and when, one day, I saw their clothes and toys scattered about, I broke down completely and realized that it would be impossible for me to stay in Neuilly… I went down over the Alps and down into Italy and continued my wanderings… One day, in a little town by the sea, I received a telegram which read, ‘Isadora, I know you are wandering through Italy. I pray you come to me. I will do my best to comfort you.’ It was signed Eleanora Duse,” (1858-1924), (ibid.). Duncan joined the Italian actressat her nearby villa inViareggio where she found “courage from the radiance in Eleanora’s eyes. She used to rock me in her arms, consoling my pain, but not only consoling, for she seemed to take my sorrow to her own breast, and I realized that if I had not been able to bear the society of other people, it was because they all played the comedy of trying to cheer me with forgetfulness.

Whereas Eleanora said: ‘Tell me about Deirdre and Patrick,’ and made me repeat to her all their little sayings and ways, and show here their photos which she kissed and cried over. She never said, ‘Cease to grieve,’ but grieved with me, and, for the first time since their death, I felt I was not alone. For Eleanora Duse was a super-being,” (ibid.). While at the villa, Duncan, desperate for another child, begged a local sculptor to sleep with her. She became pregnant and, in August 1914, gave birth to a boy who died shortly after delivery. Duncan’s son Patrick had been fathered by her lover Paris Singer, heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Their liaison began in 1909 with Singer showering Isadora with expensive gifts including her home in Neuilly overlooking the Seine. They also occupied l’hotel Coulanges, referred to in our letter, which Isadora used for professional purposes from 1910-1912. Their relationship, however, was stormy as Singer became increasingly frustrated with Duncan’s behavior towards him and her free spirit.

Their final falling out occurred in 1917 when Duncan publicly refused Singer’s gift of Madison Square Garden. Eventually, Duncan overcame her grief and resumed her vocation, devoting the rest of her life to dance. Her brief marriage to the much younger Russian poet Sergei Yesenin made her unwelcome back home due to the anti-Communism hysteria prevalent in America. She lived out the last of her days in Nice where she, herself, died in a bizarre automobile accident after her scarf caught in the spokes of a wheel. Duncan remains a legend of modern dance, whose bohemian life and innovative technique continue to inspire performers around the world. Folded and in fine condition. Isadora Duncan with her children Deirdre and Patrick, 1913. $4,000 Amilcar and Bugatti. Tied in a fatal embrace. | DriveEuropeNews Amilcar and Bugatti. Tied in a fatal embrace. Posted on January 31, 2013 Poor Amilcar, always dismissed as ‘the poor man’s Bugatti’. Was it deserved? Wealthy artist and photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue clearly didn’t think so.

His evocative ‘Mediterranean Sea, 12 September 1927’ could be much more than a holiday snap shot. It might even raise questions about the death of notorious dancer Isadora Duncan a few days later. . ‘Mediterranean Sea, 12 September, 1927’, Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministry of Culture France – AAJHL . You don’t win the Monte Carlo Rally by accident. Or the Bol d’Or, the world’s first 24 hour race. But with just 40bhp from their 1098cc side valve engines, Amilcars’ top speed would never be a strong point, even for the time. Solid rear axles made them tricky in the corners too though on loose surfaces the lack of a differential could be an advantage. They were also quick off the mark thanks to a torquey four cylinder motor and lightweight aluminium bodies. Jacques Henri Lartigue’s Amilcar CGS3, above, weighed just 650kg. That made for light steering, beneficial on long distances. Brakes on all four wheels, rare for the time, completed the package.

Amilcar’s Monte Carlo victory came the same year this picture was taken, 1927. A very different event to these days, competitors started from all over Europe and ‘rallied’ in Monte Carlo. Points were awarded based on the distance driven, the state of the car when it arrived and the number of passengers (for an insight into the 1927 rally, see this excerpt from the biography of one of the – female – competitors). The Age of Speed Eventually Lartigue had to work for a living but in 1894 he was born into one of France’s wealthiest families. He had a ring side seat on a fast developing period of history and seized the opportunity literally with both hands after getting his first camera aged eight. In 1906, the family bought its first car, a Panhard-Levassor 18 * 24 HP, often used to visit airfields and motor races. Lartigue took photos of the early test flights and the pilots too, including Wilbur Wright and Louis Blériot.

A few months after learning to drive in March 1911 he was hanging out in the Bois de Boulogne, taking snaps of the trendy ‘elegantes’. He escaped the draft in 1915 on health grounds, drove a tiny Peugeot and photographed the 14 year old World Champion tennis player Suzanne Lenglen training in Nice. By 1917 he had a Pic-Pic racing car. ‘I always had sports cars,’ he told the BBC in 1983. ‘They intrigued me.’ . Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministry of Culture – France / AAJHL . You will notice Lartigue’s car is right hand drive, a pointer to its motor sport origins. Circuits were mostly clockwise so the driver sat on the right for the best view, and the best weight distribution. Incidentally, the luggage is strapped over the third seat hatch. Because of its large exhaust, with an exit further left than usual, Amilcar expert Rod Martin thinks Lartigue substituted a souped-up engine. The Trip ‘Having a motor car in this landscape is magical,’ Lartigue wrote in his diary.

‘The drive to Cannes along the narrow, deserted little road which follows the coastline via Golfe Juan is wonderful. A motionless sea falling asleep in the sunset with its eyes still open.’ This isn’t where the photo was taken however (they are driving in the opposite direction). It could be Corsica on the horizon but it’s more likely to be the long, thin Île du Levant off Le Lavandou. There aren’t that many islands along the Côte d’Azur. DriveEurope hasn’t driven this road but we did cycle it in 2004, from Toulon to Saint-Raphaël. From Le Lavandou , the road closely traces the coast for fifteen miles towards St Tropez. Precisely where are they? We’d say just before Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer. This bit of coast is quite built up now, hidden behind villa walls, but when we were there it was still possible to enjoy that same view. This was Lartigue’s third trip to the Riviera that year. He had stayed with some of his famous friends, an actor in Beauvallon near Avignon and a playwright at Cap d’Ail on the border with Monaco.

Both places are just off Route Nationale 7, Route Bleue – Route de la Morte! – the main road from Paris. Other photos dated September 1927 were taken in Hendaye, the Atlantic coast resort on the Spanish border, 500 miles due west. It’s not an impossible itinerary but the trip isn’t mentioned in the diary. He would have to avoid the Pyrenees because Amilcars weren’t noted for their hill-climbing ability, though that might explain why he changed the engine. . Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministry of Culture – France / AAJHL . Tragedy on the Côte d’Azur The date of Lartigue’s masterpiece has some significance. Two day’s later – 14th of September 1927 – the legendary American dancer Isadora Duncan died just up the coast in Nice. Her ridiculously long scarf had become caught in the rear wheels of the car she was riding in and she was strangled. As Gertrude Stein said of the incident, ‘Affectations can be dangerous’.

The lurid death of a famously theatrical, scandalous figure – she had performed bare breasted – was a huge story and made front pages around the world. Even today, it’s widely held Duncan was passenger in a Bugatti (see the Daily Telegraph in 2009). The 1968 Vanessa Redgrave film has her meeting death astride a flaming red Bugatti Type 37. Actually, she was riding in an Amilcar CGSS – a lowered, racing version of Lartigue’s car – put beyond doubt by Matt Stone and Preston Lerner who even have the number plate. But the Bugatti myth flourished, though Stone & Lerner exaggerate when they say, ‘Duncan dying in an Amilcar would have been like Princess Di being killed in the back of a Toyota Camry.’ Their much nicer comparison was with the modern Mazda MX-5: ‘an agile, spirited, and reliable sports car for the masses.’ . Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministry of Culture – France / AAJHL . The Theory Lartigue’s CGS3 differs from regular cars in another, important, respect. The wheel spats were not standard either says Rod Martin.

As we’ve heard, Amilcars had wire wheels. Perhaps Lartigue wanted his car to look more modern, or make the wheels easier to clean. Or maybe he wanted to prevent scarves getting caught in the spokes? ‘Med Sea’ is a very different kind of picture from Lartigue’s usual dynamic shots. It‘s the opposite in fact, contemplative and still. Composed? Despite the great photography Lartigue was really a painter and mixed with the great creative minds of the day (not least Picasso). ‘Med Sea’, along with the rest of his photo archive, didn’t surface until the 1960s. Meanwhile he obsessively organised and annotated them. It was the faithfully recorded time and place that marked out even his most hurried snapshots as social history. If ‘Med Sea’ wasn’t contrived – or recast – then it obliquely foretold the elements of the major event that took place in that vicinity at that time: the car, the female passenger, the French Riviera and the unique wheels that, had they been fitted to Isadora Duncan’s car, would have prevented disaster. If Lartigue did compose this picture, what else might he have been trying to say?

There’s a lot of luggage. Fair enough, they are away for some weeks, but don’t forget the seat cavity underneath. Could that luggage, strapped to the body, also be suppressing something? There was only room for Isadora and her young lover in a two seat Bugatti, but Amilcars had three seats… Conspiracy theories have swirled for years around Duncan’s death, including the supposed presence of a mysterious third person, and we’re delighted to be able to add our own. It’s a great theory! Unfortunately, Duncan’s CGSS was also a two-seater. But if it’s not an elaborately constructed whodunnit, maybe it’s a poignant tribute? Not just to Isadora Duncan, whom he would have undoubtedly come across in the South of France, but also Amilcar’s important win on the Monte Carlo Rally earlier that year, possibly even on an actual road used by competitors. More than likely – as ever – Lartigue was just in the right place at the right time that Monday afternoon, taking a holiday snap that still resonates nearly ninety years later. But the picture has another echo. Lartigue died on 12th September 1986, in Nice.

Afterword Among the many speculations invited by this picture, for us the one at its heart is why a modern man, of every refinement, would forgoe the mighty Bugatti in favour of a humble copiste? Was Lartigue’s family fortune in long decline before it was lost completely in 1935, or was he simply restrained in his tastes? Or did his discerning eye fall upon the Amilcar and realise that – despite the lack of luggage space – with its sporting pedigree, reliability, purposeful stance and perfect proportions, it was – with some modifications – the ideal car for an artist on the move? . Photograph by Jacques Henri Lartigue © Ministry of Culture – France / AAJHL . ‘Mediterranean Sea, September 12th, 1927’ was featured on ‘ The Riviera: A History in Pictures’ on BBC Four 15.01.13, available on iPlayer. Amilcar’s later cars had bigger engines, six and eight cylinders, but by the time it was taken over by Hotchkiss in 1937 the company had returned to its lightweight roots.

The Amilcar Compound of 1938 was an advanced front wheel drive coupe with a unitary body/ chassis and aluminium panels (and four wheel independent suspension and rack and pinion steering). The marque never reappeared after the war. You can pay £40,000 for a pedigree Amilcar these days but regular cars go for a few thousand pounds. Lartigue finally achieved fame in 1963 after his photos appeared in the JFK assassination issue of Life magazine. Seen by a huge audience, overnight he became a great of 20th century photography. For worldwide stockists of Lartigue’s original prints click here . Prices range from €800 to €9,500, sizes from 24x30cm to 50x60cm. While we are careful not to imply any endorsement, DriveEurope would like to thank the following for their help: Len Battyll, Rod Martin and Richard Lane from the UK Amilcar Register. The Register also holds information on many other contemporary French sporting cars. For more information see Also, thanks to ‘Donation Jacques Henri Lartigue’ for permission to reproduce the photographs.

Lartigue donated his entire photo archive – some 100,000 prints – to the French nation in 1979. It is now held at Charenton-le-Pont, south east Paris. For more information see . XX century car accident that claimed the lives of celebrities XX century car accident that claimed the lives of celebrities by Sohail October 29, 2013 at 7:35 pm 0 Comment No exaggeration to say that the history of land vehicles began with the invention of the wheel. But times change, accelerating the pace of life, and now we have no way to do without cars, they have become indispensable, with their help, we can quickly cover the distance and get in slozhnodostupnye destinations. However, cars are often played a fatal role. In our selection of the biggest car crash XX century, in which famous people died. The victim of a terrible accident was a famous American dancer Isadora Duncan. The founder of the so-called “free” dance, extremely relaxed bohemian star seduced already attained popularity at the time of the poet Sergei Yesenin and even became his wife of two years in the early 1920s.

The actress also wrote several philosophical books on women demonstrate independence through dance. n 1927, the 50-year-old dancer was vacationing in Nice. One day she wore a favorite red scarf (shortly before the events Duncan ideological “adopted” communism) and decided to ride the new Bugatti, which was just beginning to develop. After a moment, Isadora was dead – caught in the spokes of a rotating wheel scarf strangled her. Both absurd and tragic death of Isadora Duncan previously was preceded by a car accident which deprived the lives of two of her children. Actor James Dean became a superstar, just starring in three films – “East of Eden,” “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant,” which came out in the year of his death. In these pictures, the young actor has presented a difficult image of a person with mental torments, halting speech, and the awakening of sensuality. James Dean – the only actor who has twice been nominated for “Oscar” posthumously. The tragic death of the legends and myths that have shrouded his life, created the iconic status of his personality.

September 30, 1955 James Dean together with the mechanic Rolf Vyuterihom left on Porsche 550 sports «Spyder» to the place where it was planned to participate in a car race. Dean was driving on the road «US Route 466″ (later renamed the «State Route 46″) near the town of Kholam in California, where black and white «Ford Custom Tudor» in 1950, and managed to move towards a 23-year-old student at California Polytechnic University Donald Tornpsidom, turned at the fork in the road «State Route 41″, crossing the path of Dean’s car without noticing it. Two cars collided nearly head-on. Rolf Vyuterih was seriously injured. James Dean died on the way to the hospital without regaining consciousness. The French writer Albert Camus was one of the few followers of literary style, later called existentialism.

Nobel Prize winner and humanist by conviction, he struggled in his work with a fatal absurdity of life, and even when life got the nickname “The conscience of the West.” The famous author’s most popular works had many plans for the future, but they did not come true because of the accident, which happened on the way to Paris. January 4, 1960 the writer and his family went to the French car Facel Vega II. At some point, the car lost control and flew off the road. Camus was killed instantly, his wife and daughter survived. Jayne Mansfield was one of those sexy blondes who admired the strong half of humanity in the middle of the last century. Because of the resemblance is often compared to Marilyn Monroe, and when the main sex symbol of the era is gone, the film studio 20th Century Fox has appointed her as Jane Mansfield. June 28, 1967 Jane went to the car-trip to New Orleans. With her in the car Buick Electra were the driver, her boyfriend and three children. About 2 o’clock in the morning their car collided with a wagon, being completely under the truck.

Three adults who were sitting in the front seat were killed instantly, while the children who were in the rear car seats, by happy coincidence, received only minor injuries. Jane’s life was tragically cut short at the age of 34 years. The fate of the mother of the current Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert, Grace Patricia Kelly was full of highlights. Reference beauty Grace was able to make a reality of the wildest dreams of many girls of the planet: to become a famous actress and marry a prince, or rather for the monarch. Nothing seemed no signs of trouble, but sunny day September 13, 1982 Princess Grace ran the car Rover P6 3500 V8, which also was her daughter Stephanie. Suddenly, the princess had a stroke, she lost consciousness, and the car fell off the mountain cliff. Fortunately, Stephanie survived the accident, but her mother died in the emergency room the next day. 11. On the night of August 31, 1997 in a car accident that took place in an underground tunnel under the area of ​​Alma in Paris, died a “people’s princess” Lady Diana.

The reason for this “car accident century” is still not completely clear, there are several different versions of the driver’s drunkenness, the need to go at the speed of paparazzi harassment, as well as a variety of conspiracy theories. The only surviving passenger car Mercedes S280, bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones, received severe injuries, lost his memory and can not provide any information about the investigation of the accident. Isadora Duncan: Dancing with Russians | Russia Beyond The Headlines Isadora Duncan: Dancing with Russians February 1, 2014 Yan Shenkman , RBTH An American dancer with a very Russian soul. Facebook Click to enlarge the image of Isadora Duncan . Drawing by Natalia Mikhaylenko There was something very Russian about the celebrated American dancer, Isadora Duncan (1877-1927). Not just because of a love affair with Russian poet Sergey Yesenin that resounded around the world. Nor was it because she often spent time in Soviet Russia and danced for the sailors of the revolution. She lived her whole life as a dance – bold, reckless and precipitate. And that’s a very Russian thing to do.

Looking at Isadora, not even the wildest fantasist would have imagined she was a dancer. She was fairly stout, her build nothing like a ballerina’s. She could not dance en pointe. This was offset by a plasticity that appeared to have been modeled on the dancers of Ancient Greek bas reliefs. Songs based on Yesenin's poems? Balalike it! This likeness was not fortuitous. Isadora had thoroughly researched Greek and Italian dances. Her obsession with Greece reached absurd proportions. She would even go out and about in a tunic. Nowadays, most likely, no one would even look twice. But imagine Europe at the close of the 19th century: prim and proper ladies and top-hatted gentlemen, bowing to one another at a distance of 50 yards. And there was Isadora – disheveled, barefoot and dressed like a Grecian dancer. When she went to Greece like that, she was very nearly dragged off to the police station as she walked down the street in Athens. Isadora was not only invited to perform in theatres but at society functions too. She became famous for dancing naked. For her, this symbolized freedom from convention.

Casting off her clothes, returning to her natural state. But few people grasped the concept and most were convinced they were simply watching a strip-tease. Interestingly, her best-known successor was the legendary spy, Mata Hari. She became a dancer essentially under the impression of Isadora’s dance performances. Naturally, she danced naked. When she wasn’t engaged in espionage, she would mimic Malay and Indian dancing, but from today’s standpoint, it was stripping, pure and simple. It cannot be said that Isadora deliberately set out to shock. It was just that her emotions overwhelmed her. In the minds of the viewers of the day, the spiritual and physical were kept strictly apart. Art was art, and sex was sex. In Isadora’s mind, however, they were inseparable. The story of her relationship with Stanislavsky is telling. She admired his productions and after one performance went to see him back stage and said that she would like to dance for him naked. Stanislavsky was unfazed.

“Most interesting, no doubt,” he said, “and something I have to see…with Mashenka, my wife.” Related: Nemirovich-Danchenko: Theater as life Unlike Isadora, Stanislavsky was not a person of extremes, of the abyss, of impetuous decisions. The cultural tradition he came from was also fairly well balanced, sober and restrained. As a result, a collision that might have led to a relationship full of drama and a frantic whirlwind of events ended in just a funny story. Real drama awaited Isadora later on, after the revolution, when she opened a school of modern dance in Moscow and began to put on performances. It was at one of them that she met Sergey Yesenin. Isadora was dancing to “The Internationale.” It’s hard to imagine the workers’ reaction, most probably one of amazement. And with good reason: leaping about on stage was a half-naked woman of a certain age, brandishing a red scarf. What on earth could it all mean? But there was one man at the event who responded exactly as he should. The poet, Sergey Yesenin, knew immediately that he had to do something. Something really striking and expressive.

He swore loudly, said, “Everyone, out of the way!” and performed a wild, foolish but passionate dance for Isadora. Then he fell to his knees. Isadora stroked his head and said, “Angel”. She looked into his eyes and said, “Devil!” And so they declared their love. How they got along is a mystery. She knew scarcely any Russian and he knew scarcely any English. There is no doubt that she did not understand his poetry. Yesenin, however, like Isadora herself made no distinction between life and poetry. Poetry was his life just as her life was dance. After they married, he took the double-barreled surname Duncan-Yesenin. At home, he called Isadora Dunka while she, respectfully, called him Sergey Aleksandrovich. Everything went swimmingly. They even performed together. She danced. He read his poetry. Then, Isadora took him to Europe, America, the big, wide world. No one knew Yesenin there and he was ill at ease. Angst-ridden, he turned to drink. He gave Isadora’s clothes away to the poor, created scenes in restaurants.

When the newspapers wrote that the great Isadora had arrived with her young husband, Yesenin flew into such a rage he threw a boot at her. Unable to put up with his behavior, Isadora left for Paris alone. 20th CENTURY THEATRICAL DANCE I. BIRTH OF MODERN DANCE General Trends Changes not just in how dances looked, but in how art was made and by whom. a. Individual initiative and creativity surmount big institutional support b. Women take control of the process of making art, not just in performing Evolution of ideas from Romanticism a. Importance of individual self-expression b. Freedom from being beholden to a wealthy patron c. Themes of individual against the society d. Bias against the status quo (an artist makes his/her own rules Loie Fuller (1862-1928) The First Important American Female Solo Dancer Biographical Info a. Grew up dancing in vaudeville and acting in plays, professional by age 15 b. Short, stocky, no formal dance training but has great theatrical sense and great business sense. Ran her own company and patented several of her own costume and lighting inventions c.

Electricity invented in 1879 and becomes an important aspect of her work. d. 1892 – Performs with the Folies Bergeres in Paris e. Tours successfully in America and Europe f. 1900 – Has her own theatre at the World�s Fair in Paris. Both Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis see her perform g. Eventually dies of cancer; has no children; leaves no lasting school Dances a. �Serpentine Dance� (1892), done at the Folies Bergeres b. �Radium� (1904). The dance where she covered herself in phosphorescent material so she would glow in the dark Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) Biographical Info a. Born to arts oriented family; her mother divorced her father after he became involved in a bank scandal b. Started dancing at young age, with ballroom styles c. In 1895, to Chicago. Tried working in vaudeville but hated it. d. In 1898, to New York City. Got some theatre work, but still not very successful.

Began to work as a solo artist by teaching Delsarte style and performing her own work in the homes of wealthy society ladies. e. In 1899, to London. Continued teaching and performing in homes of wealthy society ladies and discovered inspiration of Ancient Greece by going to the British Museum f. 1900 – Saw Loie Fuller perform at World�s Fair in Paris. g. 1902 – to Budapest, Hungary. Had first really successful solo concerts, which marked the beginning of many years of touring, across Europe and occasionally in America. h. 1905 – Her first tour to Russia. Was wildly popular; Fokine and Pavlova saw her dance and met with her. i. Schools – Isadora founded several schools during her career. None lasted very long, but produced enough students and followers to help ensure the continuation of her style j. The Isadorables – six adopted daughters who were also her students. They became the core of her performing group. They also all went on to teach and form their own performing groups which passed on Isadora�s technique and choreography to succeeding generations. k. Lovers and Children i.

Isadora believed in liberation for women and for herself in her life and in her art. She had to two children with two different men, neither of whom she married. ii. Children drowned tragically in 1913. She stopped dancing for a time, but eventually returned to her art as a way through her grief. iii. In 1921 she fell in love with a Russian poet, whom she married, in order to get him into the US for a tour. The marriage didn�t last. The poet returned to Russia and committed suicide. l. Isadora died in tragic auto accident – her neck broken by her own scarf when it got caught in the spokes of the wheel while riding in an open car. Dance Philosophy and Inspirations a. Art of Ancient Greece – took ideas for movement and costume from sculpture, reliefs, figures painted on vases, etc. Also inspired by goddesses and muses – strong female role models (like the goddess Athena) and embodiments of the female as source of creative energy (the muses) b. Nature – bases ideas on flow of movement on the wind, the tides, etc. The idea of the body as being as expressive and dynamic as the natural elements c.

Inside herself – both in the sense of movement being an expression of her soul and personality, but also physically that all movement emanates from the solar plexus, the center of the chest. This as opposed to her idea of ballet as being all about the limbs. Importance Innovations for Dance a. Danced barefoot and in loose, flowing garments – no pointe shoes, no corsets, no restrictions on the body�s movement b. Reclaimed natural movement (running, skipping, etc.) as valid for dance c. Insisted on using the great music of the classical repertoire – Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky,etc. Music that the artistic establishment had said was not meant for dancing. Also performed as a soloist to music played by a full orchestra. d. Danced to express herself and the music – became the first abstract choreographer; worked without narrative. e. Insisted on performing in legitimate theaters and concert halls, making a place for dance as a serious art, not just as part of popular entertainments f. Performed on a bare stage, making the movement and the dancer the focal point of the event as opposed to one piece of a big spectacle. g.

Danced as herself – a real woman, not a sylph or nymph or princess. Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and Ted Shawn (1891-1972) St. Denis Biographical Info a. Born and raised in New Jersey. Father deserted the family; mother was a doctor and champion of female dress reform and other social changes (strong role model) b. Started dancing as a child; began performing in vaudeville in New York as a teenager. c. 1898-1905. Performed on Broadway and toured US and Europe in plays with famous producer David Belasco. Gave her experience and exposure she used later when performing and promoting her own work. d. 1904. Inspired by picture of Egyptian goddess Isis in cigarette ad and decided to focus on dance as a soloist. Took her inspiration from her perceptions of Egyptian, Indian, and Southeast Asian mythology and culture. e. 1906-1910. Toured the US and Europe as a soloist f. 1910-1913.

Produced and starred in two larger shows that toured the US in vaudeville and other theaters g. 1914. Met and became partners with Ted Shawn (see below). Shawn Biographical Info a. Born and raised in Kansas City. Started dancing as a teenager as part of recovery from diphtheria. b. Saw St. Denis perform on tour and decided he wanted to dance with her. Had been studying to be a minister, but left school to focus on dance. c. St. Denis and Shawn married in 1915. d. They toured vaudeville as a duo, performing together and each doing solos. Denishawn (1915-1931) a. School and performing company founded in Los Angeles by St. Denis and Shawn b. 1st modern dance academy in the US c. The curriculum included ballet, Delsarte, Dalcroze, and many ethnic forms that inspired St. Denis�s and Shawn�s solos and group works d. Company toured all over the US and around the world; also appeared in early films including Intolerance by D.W. Griffith e.

Several of the key members of the next generation of modern dance studied and performed with the company including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman Importance for Dance a. Denishawn was the first professional modern dance academy in the US b. Through extensive touring, Denishawn exposed many Americans to concert dance for the first time, expanding the audience and appetite for dance as a concert art. c. Ted Shawn went on to found his company of Men Dancers, promoting the role of men in dance in America, and to found the Jacob�s Pillow Dance Festival – the oldest continuously running dance festival in the US which has hosted every major dance artist and company in America and from around the world. II. New Currents in Ballet Michel Fokine (1880-1942) – Dancer and Choreographer Trained at the Imperial Ballet School. Joined the company and began teaching, but wanted more. Wanted reforms in ballet (similar to Noverre) a. Ballets staged in accord w/time and culture where set, with a unity of all production elements – sets, costumes, movement styling b. Movement convey expression – no excessive pantomime c.

One act ballets; not all evening length story ballets Met Diaghilev and became first choreographer for Ballets Russes between 1909-1911 a. Ballets include Spectre de la Rose and Petroushka Ended up in the US and spent the last part of his life and career teaching in New York City Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) – Arts Producer and Artistic Founder of the Ballets Russes (1909-1929) Russian born and educated. Not an artist himself, but a great facilitator. Brought Russian visual art to Paris in 1906, then Russian opera, finally Russian ballet starting in 1909. The Ballets Russes embraced current trends in music and in art for d�cor and costumes. Diaghilev brought together the most exciting creative artists of the time to create new and exciting ballets. Was a huge breath of fresh air for the form after years of sylphs and story ballets. Company disbanded after Diaghilev�s death in 1929.

Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) – Dancer and Choreographer 1st great male dance star of the 20th century 1st male ballet superstar in decades if not a century. Superb, compelling dancer. Known for his jumping ability. Joined the Ballets Russes as a leading dancer. Also became Diaghilev�s lover Became a daring and experimental choreographer for the Ballets Russes 1912-1916 a. Ballets include L�Apres Midi D�un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun) and Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) Rest of career cut short by onset of mental illness. Stopped dancing and spent the last years of his life in an institution. III. Other People to Know from late 19th and early 20th century Francois Delsarte (1811-1871) French-American musician who developed a system of gestures and movements corresponding to certain emotions, designed to connect emotional experience to physical action for actors and/or singers.

The system was named after him and became very popular, so popular that people who didn�t really understand it began teaching watered-down versions of the Delsarte System, to the point that the system incorrectly became identified with overly simplified melodramatic posing and it went out of fashion by the 1920s. Emile Jacques Dalcroze (1865-1950) Swiss musician and educator who developed a system of teaching the elements of music and rhythm through movement. The system was called Eurhythmics and it is still taught in some schools. The German modern dance pioneer Mary Wigman trained with Dalcroze in his method before she left to do her own work. In 1912, Diaghilev and Nijinsky came to Dalcroze to find someone to help Nijinsky count Stravinsky�s complicated score for The Rite of Spring. Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) Famous Russian ballerina. Danced with the Imperial Ballet, then joined Diaghilev�s Ballets Russes as a leading ballerina.

Formed her own company in 1912 that toured the world for the next 15+ years. Like the Denishawn company, her tours around America were many people�s first introduction to dance as a serious art form. IV. Background on Dance in America from mid-1800s to early 1900s – Performers and Influences that lay the foundation for the popularity of Dance as an Art Form. Technological Factors Development of railroads between 1830s-1860s make travel easier and tours by performers more possible. Post Civil War (1860-1865), Vaudeville becomes increasingly popular. More theatres are built, creating more places in more cities across the countries for performances. Ballet is introduced and popularized by touring ballerinas Fanny Elssler, one of the great Romantic Era ballerinas, tours across the US 1840-1842. She brings a small number of dancers with her, but recruits the rest from each place where she performs, thus planting seeds that lead to the development of American dancers. Anna Pavlova, see above, tours the US in 1913.

She performs in vaudeville theatres and on so-called legitimate theatre stages. She also appears in silent films. Delsarte takes hold across the country, peaking in popularity in the 1880s-1910. As mentioned above, the Delsarte system is popularized by performers and teachers across the country. Particularly since it isn�t completely dance, but rather stylized gesture, often as part of dramatic readings, it is seen as more acceptable for mainstream respectable society, especially young women. Denishawn Company (1915-1931). As mentioned above, the importance of Ruth St. Denis� and Ted Shawn�s company and school cannot be overestimated in introducing American audiences to dance as an art form. The Denishawn company toured extensively across America, performing on Vaudeville stages as well as in larger theatres. The company also appeared in several silent films.

Question: Which American dancer died in 1927 after her scarf became caught in a car's wheel spokes?
Answer: ISADORA DUNCAN