2012 First-Class Forever Stamp,Innovative Choreographers: Isadora Duncan

U.S. #4698

2012 45¢ Isadora Duncan

Innovative Choreographers

Issue Date: July 28, 2012

City: Los Angeles, CA

Quantity: 6,250,000

Printed By: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products

Printing Method: Offset

Perforations: Die Cut 11

Color: multicolored

As a child, Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) taught the neighborhood girls to imitate the rhythm of the waves, by swaying their arms. She continued to be inspired by nature’s movements and incorporated them in her dance moves.  Because of her innovative style, many consider her the creator of modern dance.

In 1895, Duncan traveled with a professional group, but found American ballet too structured.  When she performed in England, she realized the audiences were more open to change.  While there, Duncan was exposed to ancient Greek statues and Italian Renaissance paintings. She blended these images into her unique form of movement and began performing just for wealthy women, then for increasingly larger audiences.  A Grecian tunic and bare feet became her trademark costume.

Duncan started three dance schools in Europe and formed a dance group, the “Isadorables,” who learned her dance technique well enough to teach at the schools.

Isadora Duncan blended music and the rhythms of nature to create a new style of dance.  She sought to find a form that “might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body’s movement.”