Isadora Duncan Dies

September 14, 1927 - Dancer and adventurer Isadora Duncan died in dramatic fashion on this day in Nice, France.

She was riding in a convertible when her long trailing scarf became entwined in the spokes of one of the car's wheels. Duncan was strangled to death and nearly decapitated.

Duncan lived her life as a dedicated free spirit. She favored more natural movements in her choreography and she encouraged her students to explore improvisation. Her influence extended to other artists, writers, sculptors and beyond. She inspired people to follow their creative instincts rather than be bound by any rules or conventional theories.

The wind? I am the wind. The sea and the moon? I am the sea and the moon. Tears, pain, love, bird-flights? I am all of them. I dance what I am. Sin, prayer, flight, the light that never was on land or sea? I dance what I am.

Carl Sandburg from his poem Isadora Duncan