About the Isadora Duncan Archive

Vision

Our vision is to create a digital archive of the choreographic legacy of modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan, and subsequent generations of Duncan practitioners. The Isadora Duncan Archive is intended to encourage the collaborative sharing of historical, philosophical, and stylistic content in a fully protected and credited format. We envision that many dancers, researchers, scholars and artists will greatly benefit from the ability to centrally access these materials; and that this effort will further Isadora’s stated intention that her work will be carried on and further developed by others.

Mission

The mission of the Isadora Duncan Archive is to maintain and continually expand a comprehensive and non-commercial website which will serve as a centralized resource for locating information and materials on the technique, choreography, philosophy and history of Isadora Duncan and subsequent generations of Duncan practitioners.

The Duncan Archive will also develop and maintain a digital repository of videos of Duncan dance technique, choreography, interviews and teaching. A collection of new choreography influenced by the style, technique, imagery and movement vocabulary of Duncan’s work will be included along with links to existing collections from around the world, creating a continually evolving network of information. Support for this knowledge base comes from dance history audiences and dance practitioners whose interest maintains vital connections from the past to the future.

Copyright and Fair Use

The Isadora Duncan Archive, to the best of our knowledge, has not violated any copyright issues with the material we present. Copyright Law allows for Fair Use of material for purposes such as teaching, scholarship or research and/or when it is ‘transformative,’ adding value to the original document. We believe the Isadora Duncan Archive presents an enhanced view of Isadora Duncan’s historical, philosophical and choreographic legacy, transformative for Duncan researchers and practitioners. For a detailed and informative discussion of Fair Use, see the Best Practices Statement and Fair Use for Dance-Related Materials by the Dance Heritage Coalition.

Current Committee Members

Core Committee

Meg Brooker, Co-Chair —Murfreesboro, TN

Janaea Rose Lyn (McAlee), Co-Chair — Phoenix, AZ

Catherine Gallant — New York, NY

Mary Ruth Hammond — Alameda, CA

Pattee Russell Curry — Central California

Yi-Hsin Lin — Boston, MA

Consulting Committee

Alice Bloch — St. Louis, MO

Valerie Durham — Washington, DC

Barbara Kane — London/Paris

Dorée Duncan Seligmann — New York, NY

Former Committee Members

Frederick Curry — New Brunswick, NJ

Founding Committee Members

Valerie Durham, MFA, Chair — Washington, DC

Catherine Gallant (Dances by Isadora) — New York, NY

Mary Ruth Hammond, MA — Alameda, CA

Barbara Kane (Isadora Duncan Dance Group) — London/Paris

Yi-Hsin Lin — Boston, MA

Janaea Rose Lyn, MA, BA — Phoenix, AZ

Pattee Russell-Curry — Central California

Mary Sano — San Francisco, CA

Vicky Sloat (Isadora's Children) — Westport, CT

---