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Isadora Duncan's Russian days
Isadora Duncan's Russian days and her last days in France
371 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1929
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May 4, 2015
At the end of Isadora Duncan’s wonderful autobiography My Life, which was first published in 1928 - a year after her death, she wrote:
“In the spring of the year 1921 I received the following telegram from the Soviet Government:
‘The Russian Government alone can understand you. Come to us; we will make your school’.”
A page later, Isadora’s autobiography ends. I was left wondering how an American born dancer would cope with Russia, to which she set off full of optimism for, as she wrote:
“… the beautiful New World that had been created!” by the Bolsheviks in Russia. I ordered a second-hand copy of Isadora Duncan’s Russian Days (‘IRD’) in order to find out.
IRD is co-authored by Irma Duncan and Allan Ross Macdougal. Irma Duncan, who was born Irma Erich-Grimme, was one of the so-called ‘Isadorables’. She was one of the 6 young girls who first began dancing under Isadora’s instruction. Irma accompanied Isasdora to the USSR, and remained there for a while after Isadora returned to France in the last years of her life. Allan Ross Macdougal was an American writer who lived in France (Paris) during the 1920s and was part of Isadora Duncan’s ‘circle’. Both of the authors of IRD knew Isadora well, which along with the fact that it was written so soon after Isadora’s unfortunate sudden death, makes this an interesting if somewhat subjective book.
Despite having been invited by the Soviet Government to come to the USSR, her arrival there was somewhat of a let-down. Isadora had visited Imperial Russia several times, and had been feted by her hosts. No one met her and her small entourage in Moscow in 1921, and for quite a while no one in officialdom took the slightest interest in her. She had to fend for herself as her finances dwindled.
Eventually, Isadora opened her dancing school in Moscow, an institution that thrived in her name long after her death until after the end of WW2.
Despite giving many dance performances to delighted and enthusiastic audiences in the USSR, life there was never comfortable for Isadora. The audiences of Communist Party officials and enthusiastic workers enjoyed her dancing but seemed reluctant to pay for it. Isadora and her young pupils toured the USSR under very uncomfortable circumstances.
Irma, Isadora, and Esenin on Isadora’s wedding day in Moscow
(Source: IRD)
In May 1922, Isadora married the Russian poet Sergei Esenin (1895-1925). According to the authors of IRD, Isadora loved him despite his atrocious behaviour. He was frequently drunk and unpleasant towards her.
Isadora visited the USA from the USSR in order to give a concert tour, but she was received very badly in her home country. The Americans, and especially the US press, despised her for appearing to have become a supporter of the Bolsheviks. Another trip made to Germany and France was equally unsuccessful. During that trip, Esenin behaved outrageously. He was arrested on at least one occasion. Despite ending the marriage to Isadora, Esenin made Isadora the beneficiary of his royalties, which were not inconsiderable when he died. Isadora, who needed the money badly, donated it to her friends that she had left behind in the USSR.
A year or two before she died, Isadora returned to France. For most of her last years, she was almost permanently in deep debt. In France, she was continually worrying about her school in Russia. Many of her letters to Irma, which are reproduced in the book, are about her troubles in France and her concerns about what was happening to her pupils in Russia.
The last few chapters of IRD deal with Isadora’s life in France after she left the USSR. Reproducing many of her letters to Irma, this chapter of her life was rarely happy. The book ends with a detailed description of Isadora’s funeral after she was strangled by a scarf that she was wearing whilst taking a ride in a Bugatti.
I enjoyed reading IRD. It is well written and illustrated. It offers a fascinating first-hand view of cultural life in the USSR in the years before Stalin managed to impose his repressive steely grip on it.
“In the spring of the year 1921 I received the following telegram from the Soviet Government:
‘The Russian Government alone can understand you. Come to us; we will make your school’.”
A page later, Isadora’s autobiography ends. I was left wondering how an American born dancer would cope with Russia, to which she set off full of optimism for, as she wrote:
“… the beautiful New World that had been created!” by the Bolsheviks in Russia. I ordered a second-hand copy of Isadora Duncan’s Russian Days (‘IRD’) in order to find out.
IRD is co-authored by Irma Duncan and Allan Ross Macdougal. Irma Duncan, who was born Irma Erich-Grimme, was one of the so-called ‘Isadorables’. She was one of the 6 young girls who first began dancing under Isadora’s instruction. Irma accompanied Isasdora to the USSR, and remained there for a while after Isadora returned to France in the last years of her life. Allan Ross Macdougal was an American writer who lived in France (Paris) during the 1920s and was part of Isadora Duncan’s ‘circle’. Both of the authors of IRD knew Isadora well, which along with the fact that it was written so soon after Isadora’s unfortunate sudden death, makes this an interesting if somewhat subjective book.
Despite having been invited by the Soviet Government to come to the USSR, her arrival there was somewhat of a let-down. Isadora had visited Imperial Russia several times, and had been feted by her hosts. No one met her and her small entourage in Moscow in 1921, and for quite a while no one in officialdom took the slightest interest in her. She had to fend for herself as her finances dwindled.
Eventually, Isadora opened her dancing school in Moscow, an institution that thrived in her name long after her death until after the end of WW2.
Despite giving many dance performances to delighted and enthusiastic audiences in the USSR, life there was never comfortable for Isadora. The audiences of Communist Party officials and enthusiastic workers enjoyed her dancing but seemed reluctant to pay for it. Isadora and her young pupils toured the USSR under very uncomfortable circumstances.
Irma, Isadora, and Esenin on Isadora’s wedding day in Moscow
(Source: IRD)
In May 1922, Isadora married the Russian poet Sergei Esenin (1895-1925). According to the authors of IRD, Isadora loved him despite his atrocious behaviour. He was frequently drunk and unpleasant towards her.
Isadora visited the USA from the USSR in order to give a concert tour, but she was received very badly in her home country. The Americans, and especially the US press, despised her for appearing to have become a supporter of the Bolsheviks. Another trip made to Germany and France was equally unsuccessful. During that trip, Esenin behaved outrageously. He was arrested on at least one occasion. Despite ending the marriage to Isadora, Esenin made Isadora the beneficiary of his royalties, which were not inconsiderable when he died. Isadora, who needed the money badly, donated it to her friends that she had left behind in the USSR.
A year or two before she died, Isadora returned to France. For most of her last years, she was almost permanently in deep debt. In France, she was continually worrying about her school in Russia. Many of her letters to Irma, which are reproduced in the book, are about her troubles in France and her concerns about what was happening to her pupils in Russia.
The last few chapters of IRD deal with Isadora’s life in France after she left the USSR. Reproducing many of her letters to Irma, this chapter of her life was rarely happy. The book ends with a detailed description of Isadora’s funeral after she was strangled by a scarf that she was wearing whilst taking a ride in a Bugatti.
I enjoyed reading IRD. It is well written and illustrated. It offers a fascinating first-hand view of cultural life in the USSR in the years before Stalin managed to impose his repressive steely grip on it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review