Isadora: A Sensational Life by Peter Kurth

About a year ago, the Library received a suggestion in our suggestion box about getting more books and other materials on celebrities. Since I am the person responsible for most of the materials that we add to the Library's collection, I took this suggestion to heart. I keep a list in the back of my mind as I read reviews and surf the internet. looking for interesting books, videos, and e-resources that will support our students and faculty in their research. Now, I have added celebrity bios to the list.

In a recent gift collection, I found a book on Isadora Duncan by Peter Kurth. I decided to add it to the Library because it was about a celebrity. Granted, a long dead celebrity (Isadora Duncan died in 1927), but a big celebrity of her day, none the less. And now I'm reading the book for this review.

I knew very little about Duncan before I started reading the book. Of course, I knew that she was a dancer and a little unconventional for her time, but that was about it. Turns out she was not only a famous dancer but a dancer with little if any formal training. She essentially developed what we think of today as "modern dance". She believed that dance is just an expression of the forces around us and the body's movement is just an outlet for those forces.

There are videos of her and about her on YouTube. Here are a couple of links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKtQWU2ifOs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEkf3lBzJn4&feature=related

The book is interesting and gives a great deal of insight into Duncan's life. The chapters are grouped by phases in her life, from her early years in San Franciso, to her time in Europe, specifically Paris and London, to her later life filled with tragedy. Duncan lost two children to drowning. She was never secure financially, even with all of her fame and the fact that she had her own dance school. She was known for her "wild" lifestyle with numerous lovers and her fondness for alcohol. She was a champion of women's rights. And when she died, she was a citizen of the Soviet Union.

If you are interested in dance, or even in celebrities that were just as wild in their day as some in the present day, like any of those crazy reality TV celebs, then you will like this book. I think its main message is that even the most outrageous celebrities leave a mark on our collective conscious.

Debbi Dinkins