Directory Information
What’s in the Dancer Directory?
The Dancer Directory on the Isadora Duncan Archive provides information on individual Duncan dance practitioners’ background, training, contributions to the field of Duncan, current work, and photos. It also provides a virtual family tree, tracing the lineage of Duncan dance training through the passing of the Duncan technique and tradition from teacher to student. These generations lead all Duncan dance practitioners back to Isadora Duncan as Source.
The biographical pages for all living Duncan dance practitioners have been contributed by the dancers themselves, while biographical pages for deceased Duncan dancers have been contributed by Duncan dance scholars or close students who worked with and have extensive knowledge of that Duncan dancer’s work and history.
Who can join the Directory?
The Dancer Directory is open to all individuals who have trained in the Duncan technique. This particular directory of Duncan dancers is geared toward those who have studied the technique for a considerable amount of time, and who have worked closely with Duncan dance master teachers. Additionally, many in this directory have also contributed or continue to focus a significant portion of their dance work, both artistic and scholarly, within the art of Duncan dance. The designation of oneself as a “Duncan dancer” is a largely personal one, rooted in her technical and choreographic legacy as well as one's own dance practice and artistry.
As many of us are active as performers, teachers, choreographers, scholars, writers and in other roles there are filters for adding these categories to each profile. As such, the directory is a living repository and is expected to grow and evolve over time.
What is a “Generation”?
A Duncan dancer’s generational designation is determined by the designation of their “primary” Duncan dance teacher. A primary Duncan dance teacher is identified as the main teacher who introduced the student to the Duncan work, with whom the student studied the longest and/or who most influenced the student’s understanding of and practice in the Duncan work. This is the dancers’ personal, intuitive understanding and choice of the proper person to identify as their primary teacher.
As a community, we acknowledge that our general traditions and guidelines suggest that the generational designations are as follows:
- Source — Isadora Duncan and immediate Duncan family
- First Generation — Isadorables (Anna, Erika, Irma, Maria Theresa, Lisa, Margot) and Moscow Duncan Dancers
- Second Generation — Students of the Isadorables and first Moscow Duncan Dancers
- Third Generation — Students of “Second Generation” Duncan dancers
- And so forth…
It should also be noted that many dancers study with and learn from additional Duncan dance teachers during their careers, of different generations and different lineages. This makes the concept of “generational designations” a more complicated issue, and the idea of generations should be contextualized within the entire scope of a particular Duncan dance practitioner’s work and range of training experiences.
How can I use this Directory?
The information in the Dancer Directory is provided as a resource for Duncan practitioners, students and scholars to find information about individual Duncan dancers, to understand the range and scope of the Duncan community and lineage, and to be able to contact Duncan dancers for classes, performances, research and information.
Ownership and Permissions: Images and information found on an individual dancer’s biography page in the Dancer Directory belong to and may not be used without permission of the individual Duncan dancer and the Isadora Duncan Archive/Isadora Duncan International Symposium. For permission requests, contact the Isadora Duncan Archive or the individual Duncan dancer from the contact information on their page.