Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography

by Sabrina Jones, Paul M. Buhle (Editor), Lori Belilove (Forward)

Myth and controversy still swirl around the dramatic figure of Isadora Duncan. The pioneering modern dancer emerged from provincial nineteenth-century America to captivate the cultural capitals of Europe, reinvent dance as a fine art, and leave a trail of scandals in her wake. From her unconventional California girlhood to her tragic death on the French Riviera fifty years later, Duncan's journey was an uncompromising quest for truth, beauty, and freedom.

Here Duncan's art and ideas come vividly to life. Each page is a unique dance of words and images, reflecting Duncan's courage, passion, and idealism in a way sure to inspire another generation of admirers.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Nonfiction, Comics, Biography Memoir, Art, History

129 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2008

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isadora Duncan was an incredibly fascinating woman. She was an artist, completely unafraid to create in her own way. She was a radical and a free thinker, entirely ahead of her time and proud of it. And she could be somewhat flighty, or at least unconcerned with mundane things like cash flow. She did have a scandalous personal life, by late 19th century and early 20th century standards, but that was only of passing interest to me. I was far more interested in reading about her art, her philosophy, and her politics, and Jones absolutely does not skimp on those details.

For me, the best part of the book is just how much Jones uses quotes, from Duncan and from people who knew her. Duncan's own words are far more interesting than anyone else's could be, and what would be the point in paraphrasing anyways? In general, I would much rather read a person's own words, and Duncan has some especially good ones.

The art definitely works for the subject. There are lots of full page images of Duncan dancing, which are incredibly beautiful. There's no existing film of Duncan dancing, only photos and drawings, but from what I've seen, Jones has done an admirable job of illustrating her distinctive and revolutionary dance style. And the art style feels right for a subject of this time period. There's something about it that reminds me of art nouveau, which is in the right time frame. Which is all aside from simply being good to look at, which is always important.

Isadora Duncan is a very important figure in the history of dance, and it's really good to see that there's a graphic novel biography about her that tries to give her words and her image equal importance.

[Elevate Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

To articulate the intricate story of a maverick, any real maverick, is no easy feat. And to tell the story of Isadora Duncan would be hard for even the most ambitious of biographers, but Sabrina Jones chose a good medium in which to attempt it. In her debut graphic biography, Jones captures Duncan's dramatic story in an impressive fashion. Who knew plain black and white illustrations could come so alive, so full of movement and feeling?

Romance, politics, tragedy, and art twist and whirl together in the pages of Jones' book as she recounts Duncan's life in chronological order, beginning with her childhood in San Francisco where she was raised by a free-thinking, single mother. We follow her on her travels to several European capitals, where she felt her performances were far more appreciated and understood than in her native America. After all, it was in her home country that she got in trouble for a Janet-Jackson-at-the-Super-Bowl-like performance at the Boston Symphony Hall. The book ends with her tragically famous and crazy death on the French Riviera in 1927.

Like her dancing, Isadora Duncan was modern beyond her time. Her radical views about education, woman’s independence, marriage, and single motherhood drew the scorn of some and the admiration of others. She led an intrepid life, and rightly knew that we take nothing with us when we go. She wasted little time with the rarities of society, and while she might not have always been happy or right, she unquestionably ruled her mind, her body, and her spirit. Most importantly, she knew the fundamental difference between living and existing.

Review by Laura Koffler

[Peter Wolfley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isadora was one wild and visionary woman. This was a fine graphic biography. I've always thought the graphic novel is a wonderful medium for telling the story of a person's life.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. I met Sabrina Jones when she was a guest artist for my MFA program—she’d mentioned that she was writing this book, but I’d completely forgotten until I opened the back cover and saw her picture. Anyway, a nice introduction to the life and art of Isadora Duncan. Most of the biographical details come directly from Duncan’s autobiography, but, interestingly, Jones’ graphic novel mentions in the beginning that some of Duncan’s letters belie the portrait that she paints of herself in her autobiography, which definitely piqued my curiosity. I was a little disappointed then that so much of what followed was pulled from the autobiography. Jones whet my appetite for juicy details about Duncan’s life that I hadn’t heard before and then didn’t deliver. I think this book could have been amazing had it been a little more well-rounded. Anyway, I love the concept of graphic novels about strong, influential women (Jones has done others like this). Keep it up Sabrina!

[Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. I thought it was cleverly written and informative, and it was a fascinating format to learn about someone I hadn't known much about. Looking forward to seeing more by Jones.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had no idea who this woman was until I picked up this book. Isadora Duncan had a lively life filled with art, travel, and drama, but mostly art!

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography is a biographical graphic novel written and illustrated by Sabrina Jones and edited by Paul M. Buhle with a Forward by Lori Belilove. It is an admiring glance at the truncated life and roller-coaster times of the woman who traversed three continents to revolutionize dance.

Angela Isadora Duncan was an American and French dancer who performed to acclaim throughout Europe. Born in California, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50.

Every page of this admiring graphic biography reminds readers that the American dance pioneer herself always gave and got 100 percent. The thin volume depicts a number of turbulent scenes from Duncan’s personal and professional experiences, underscoring the frenetic exuberance with which she conducted her many affairs.

Jones' portrait depicts a gifted artist driven by a passion to realize at whatever cost her feminist vision of the dancer of the future. Interestingly, although Jones espouses Duncan's unabashed belief that to expose is art, to conceal is vulgar, and doesn’t shy away from depicting the great tragedies of her subject's life, she tends to suggest rather than explicitly spell out the dancer's more controversial actions: dalliances with women, numerous suicide attempts, proclivity for public drunkenness, and the like.

Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography is written and constructed somewhat well. With bold strokes and supple lettering, Jones' pen-and-ink drawings attempt to animate Duncan's boundary-smashing style, onstage and off: as a dancer and a single mother of two with very public lover of famous figures and political causes.

All in all, Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography is a somewhat sanitized and mediocre biography a woman’s quest to revolutionize dance – Isadora Duncan.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 2 out of 5]

Di danza non so nulla e conoscevo il nome di Isadore Duncan solo per l'assurda morte descritta nel Dizionario delle morti celebri. Così, dopo aver visto questa biografia a fumetti qui su GR l'avevo messa nella mia TBR in attesa di tempi migliori. Poi, durante una visita al Libraccio di Vicenza, ecco che mi è apparsa l'edizione italiana per un niente.

Diciamo che non mi è piaciuta molto. Non c'erano purtroppo abbastanza pagine per riuscire a riportare sulla carta tutte le tappe della vita della grande danzatrice. Anche perché lei viaggi parecchio, specialmente in Europa: Francia, Gran Bretagna, Germania, Ungheria, Russia... É dura tenere il passo con lei. Solo che, visto che rimane solo un paio di pagine in ogni luogo, alla fine sembra una tipa che cambia idea ogni secondo momento.

Ecco, è questo che non mi è proprio piaciuto: il modo in cui l'autrice ha presentato Isadora. Devo ammettere che non sono sicura che mi sarebbe piaciuto frequentarla. Non parlo della sua vita amorosa, quanto del modo in cui sono state presentate le sue idee e la sua concezione della danza. Altro che maestrina, sembrava una di quelle persone che si possono contraddire. Quelle persone che credono di possedere la Verità, cui tutti gli altri devono abbassarsi.

I disegni non sono malissimo ma ad un certo punto tutti gli amanti mi sembravano uguali e non avevo ben chiaro in testa di chi si trattasse.

Un paio d'anni fa stavo leggendo Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present e si parlava appunto delle sciarpe della Duncan. Ma l'autrice era dell'idea che non è stata Isadora Duncan a fare una sciocchezza e a pagarne le conseguenze. No, lei era morta perché la moda, al tempo, imponeva lunghe sciarpe. Siamo in un'era in cui la responsabilità personale non conta più nulla.

Non so, forse 125 pagine son troppo poche per trattare tutta la vita della Duncan. Perché i vari capitoli parevano dei mini storie con tanto di cliffhange. Però, sì, almeno ho imparato qualcosa.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black-and-white GN biography of Duncan following her whole life, though focused on the time after she started touring. (That said, she started pretty young.)

I thought this did a good job of presenting Duncan in a fair way. It showed how she was seen in various places, talked about her views and showed them sometimes conflicting with her actions, showed her falling into the same mistakes over and over despite the people around her trying to prevent it. But it also showed that she was revolutionary in dance and that having students, passing on her style of dance, was really important to her.

[kiki thelibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

It was okay - Isadora Duncan herself and her role in the development of modern dance is fascinating, but the execution of this book was choppy, jumping abruptly through Duncan’s history, often leaping between frames so that the text could be hard to follow. Would have benefitted from being lengthier and more thorough. What a travesty none of Duncan’s dance was caught on film and just in photos!

[Steve S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art and presentation was good, but Isadora Duncan was a boring subject. Perhaps it's because even in graphic novel form I can't picture how she changed dance nor understand why she was worthy of a book.

Overall, a book like this is why I like graphic novel format for biographies. I learned about someone totally new to me, but I didn't feel like I invested much time/ energy in doing so.

[Cameron Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew a little about Isadora Duncan- dancer, dramatic death, but I didn't know a whole lot about her life.
This is a nice little entryway into her biography, painting a picture of a complex woman, a pioneer in her art, a bereaved mother, a woman of ideals.
I enjoyed this, and it has made me curious for more information about Duncan and her work.

[Mari Mankle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the art style of this book really interesting, but the story skipped around a lot. I’ve read some stellar 300 page graphic novels, so I thought this could expand past the 120 page mark and really dive into Isadora’s life.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic format is such a perfect format for the biography of a dancer. The illustrations capture Isadora dancing. It actually gives you a taste of the actual dances. The book also gives a good overview of her life and some of the reactions of people from her time.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quickly informative on an icon of dance. Tragic life did not hinder her outlook and her determination to do as she pleased and performed as she needed. Quite a force, what a model for women.

[Luciana Farcaș · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating woman!! I hightely recomanded!!!! Best!!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love her so

[Night · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing almost made it feel like it was aimed for a younger audience but overall and enjoyable read about a fascinating woman who I'd like to learn more about so, well done.

[Ellen Winters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is beautifully drawn and easy to read. It covers both her personal life and her work. I enjoyed all the details included, but wanted more in-depth treatment of her work and philosophy.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew very little about Duncan before this, so it was interesting, but the book is a little choppy and sometimes it’s difficult to tell the characters apart.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sabrina Jones is incredible. This brief, graphic novel biography of Isadora Duncan is a gem. I had no idea about Isadora- an amazing, feminist artist and dancer whose life was filled with such grief!

[Ruth Covington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thoroughly captivated by this look at Isadora's life and all the many triumphs and tragedies within. A riveting and often heartbreaking story.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but a bit difficult to follow at times.

[Adriana Castañón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and interesting comic. I really like it

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I waited about ten years to finally read this, thank goodness for interlibrary loans.

I thought it was well written and illustrated, an interesting life at an interesting time.

I liked hearing Isadora Duncan's opinion on ballet, her travels to Europe and Russia, her tragic loses and how she persevered.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this following a recommendation from my librarian but it was just not a good fit for me. The biographical information is choppy and disjointed with obvious lenses for "good" vs "bad" people.

[Lawral · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book knowing a few things about Isadora Duncan, namely that she spawned the "Isadorables;" that her style of dance, which was supposed to be free of training and structure, evolved into a new form of dance altogether in which students can now train and learn choreography that is passed down from body to body much in the way that ballet, which she despised for its "rigidness," has been for centuries; and that she was kind of a boozer. Basically, I know the kinds of things they tell you at the beginning of a modern dance class held during a summer workshop for ballet dancers.

All of these things are laid out beautifully in the book. But there is so much more! Isadora traveled the (Western, including Russia) world, to showcase her dancing. She gave political performances, that were not all that well-received, and yet she gave them over and over again because she believed in what she had to say. She was a professional dancer who GOT PREGNANT without ending her career. She started schools for underprivileged girls in Europe where they could learn to dance (be "Isadorables") and eat three square meals a day free of charge.

She also had the first historically recorded wardrobe malfunction and a rather scandalous string of lovers. As Jones says, we all have Isadora to thank for the widespread acceptance of "comfortable dress and serial monogamy" (125).

Throughout this biography, Jones manages to balance Isadora's personal, professional and family personas. Rather than focusing on just the scandal, just the ground-breaking accomplishments, just the prevalent eccentricities, Jones shows how each was affected and usually enhanced by the others. She also manages to convey a lot of movement, which is what modern dance is all about, for a book of black and white illustrations. Almost every spread shows a swaying, jumping, or somehow dancing Isadora. Her innocent little "I'm not up to anything" face peeks out from every page as well.

By drawing from Isadora's own autobiography, as well as her other publications and the work of other biographers, including Isadora's most loyal adopted Isadorable, Irma Duncan, Jones puts forth a wonderful look at all of the facets of Isadora's life. This book expresses the freedom and artistry that Isadora spent her life sharing with others.


Book source: the library

[Josephus FromPlacitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happen to be reading this the day after I finished the Emma Goldman comics biography Dangerous Woman by Sharon Rudahl and found that Isadora did a much, much better job of performing a similar task: telling the tale of an iconoclastic, turn-of-the-century luminary in comics format.

It's an especially funny comparison because I'm so much more interested in Emma--a nails-hard radical forged in the fires of sweatshops, prisons, and international police repression on three continents--than I'm interested in Isadora--an egotistical proto-hippy with a neoclassicist's fetish for her personal fantasy of ancient Greece. (My favorite condescending line in the book is when the Duncan clan is building their little family commune on a waterless hill in Athens [anyone remember the contemptibly naive Taos hippies in Easy Rider scattering seeds on hilly desert soil made entirely of rocks and clay? Fuck those guys.], they prognosticate an idyllic future, saying, "It will be like Plato's Republic." And another says, "We'll teach the locals their lost heritage." Hah! I hope the locals told 'em to go to Hades.)

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book. As someone pointed out though when you are writing a biography you have to write what really happened and if it isn't exciting well what can you do.

The thing is this book is exciting and interesting in bits But other bits are confusing or boring.

Isadora Duncan was a woman ahead of her time. She believed in free love and acted on it every chance she got. She believed that a woman's body should not be tied up in corsets. And she believed and practiced what is now known as modern dance. This was all happening over a hundred years ago, and of course she caused a scandal. That was the cool parts of the book to read.

I think the main problem is, and the author mentioned this, no film was ever made of her dancing, so we have no reference, and despite this being a book about the mother of all modern dance, we do not actually see her dancing. We only see her posing, as those are all the photos we have to show how the dances went.

This is not a fault of the author. This is not a fault of the medium, but it does make what should be an exciting book not quite a exciting.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

In chronicling the life of the so-called "barefoot dancer" Isadora Duncan, fact and fiction must be unraveled to truly decipher Duncan's life. Sabrina Jones allows the fantasy and truth to intermingle ever so slightly, providing a captivating portrait of one of the earliest American dancing sensations. Eschewing traditional ballet practices, Duncan crafts her own legacy based on a whirlwind personality of freedom, constantly seeking to teach the meaning of creative expression to her audiences. Making friends, lovers, students, and husbands in her cross-continental quest for dancing emotionally, Isadora carves out her own niche in entertainment. Artist Paul Buhle helps Jones capture the natural movements and expressions of Duncan, melding his fluid style with Jones's exploratory research. Isadora Duncan receives a well-crafted biography, befitting of her unique dancing style as a result.