Primavera costume worn by Isadora Duncan (1877/78–1927)
Isadora Duncan probably wore this dress in 1899 or 1900 when she appeared for the first time at the New Gallery, London, where she debuted her Dance Idylls. This series of short dances included one named after Botticelli’s painting Primavera, in which Duncan danced the part of the goddess Flora with a garland of roses in her hair. The dress on display alludes to the red, gold, and purple of Botticelli’s Flora, while also embodying Duncan’s philosophy of the unrestrained female form. Her daring performance attire shocked her contemporaries—even fellow pioneers like Loie Fuller—but in her refusal to be constrained by her garments, Duncan ushered in modernism in dance.
: Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing A…
Not currently on view
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Items in Performance
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Costume worn by Isadora Duncan
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Primavera costume worn by Isadora Duncan
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Natalia Goncharova’s costume design for Les Noces
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Pair of pointe shoes worn and inscribed by Tanaquil Le Clercq
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“Air du Miroir” from Thaïs
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