Gypsy Rose Lee
A famous "striptease" dancer, Gypsy Rose Lee shed her clothes (but not all of them!) with elegance and wit.
Mata Hari
Grietje Zelle, known as "Mata Hari" on stage, in 1906 Paris. Her stage presence - and her life - were considered scandalous but she lived the way she chose to!
Quaker School dancers
1920 dancers at the Friends Select School - May Festival.
Ginger Rogers
Best known for dancing with Fred Astaire, she could do it all - from tap to dancing backwards in high heels!
TheIsadorables
Isadora Duncan is considered "The Mother of Modern Dance". These are some of the girls she taught.
Elizabeth Duncan
Sister of Isadora, she ran a school of dance in Germany and Greece
Ruth St. Denis
Another pioneer of modern dance, this is Ruth St. Denis in 1909.
The "Butterfly Dance"
Suffragettes performing their own version of modern dance for the cause in 1913.
"Dancer"
Her name isn't recorded but this colorized close-up of a dancer somewhere in the '20's or 30's gives you an idea of the types of costumes during that era.
The artistry
This is a 1927 photo of Ruth St. Denis - the focus in dance was on the artistry, as this photo shows.
Guthrie dancers 1924
Greek and Roman influences were a large part of the modern dance movement.
Autochrome of a dancer
The autochrome process (a color photo) was patented in 1903 and widely used from the 1910's through the mid 1930's.
Dancers in nature
The female form, as well as nature, was celebrated in modern dance.
Bebe Daniels 1934
She was a silent screen star and dancer - nothing "natural" abouthercostume!
Maria-Theresa Duncan
These are the Isadorables, including Maria-Theresa Duncan who was an adopted daughter of Isadora Duncan.
Florence Fleming Noyes
Florence Noyes danced for women's rights - can't you see the movement in this photo?
Women as Madonna?
These are the Isadorables, posed more as a tableau than a dance form.
Ruth St. Denis
Is she scared? Is she amazed?? What exactly is she portraying in this dance?
Frolicking!
Dancing in nature was a favored part of the Duncan sisters' art.
1940's Glam
She was a 1943 dancer at the Roxy.
Fairies?
The lights on this circa 1920 photo could be deterioration but it looks like fairies to us!
1919 Grace
Aren't they just the picture of grace?
"La Argentina"
Antonia Mercé y Luque, known as "La Argentina", in 1935.
Marion Morgan Dancers
Marion Morgan was a vaudevillian who created her own dance troupe.
Look at her muscles!
Look closely, Marion Morgan really worked out with her dance.
A nymph by the waterfall
Another outdoor dance!
Isadora Duncan
She lead a tragic life (all her children died young, as did she) but she left great beauty and a lasting legacy.
Outdoor Elizabeth Duncan
The art of the photo, both in dance and reflection!
Marion Morgan
The cymbal and the form!
A flowing costume
The artistry comes from the interplay of costume and dance.
Perky!
It isn't known if she was a USO performer or on the stage - but she sure is perky!
Like a statue!
She's posed - not yet dancing. But her costume allows everything to be seen when she does dance.
Isadora
Isadora Duncan was known for her dancing with scarves. And it was a scarf that killed her in 1927 - a scarf that she was wearing was caught in the spokes of the wheels of a car and strangled her.