Done into dance : Isadora Duncan in America /

The publication of these outstanding works represents a remarkable milestone in dance scholarship. Taking very different points of view, both books help to demystify one of the most important and enigmatic figures in 20th-century dance. Duncan is generally considered responsible for creating a climate of thought in which new concepts of dance could flourish and gain stature, but the specifics of her contributions have remained somewhat vague despite her autobiography, My Life (1927), Victor Seroff's respected biography The Real Isadora (1971), and several other works (Francis Steegmuller's "Your Isadora," 1974; Fredrika Blair's Isadora, CH, Apr'87; and Lillian Loewenthal's The Search for Isadora, CH, Dec'93). These two new works provide tangible evidence of the scope of Duncan's contributions. In her exhaustive scholarly study Daly (Univ. of Texas at Austin) relates Duncan's work to that of other 20th-century artists and philosophers and to political movements in America, with many cross-references to concurrent developments in Europe and Russia. The author's synthesis of exhaustive research and the extraordinary scope of the scholarship--rendered in crisp, lively prose accessible to a broad readership--make this work unique among books about Duncan. The unusual organization of the book--e.g., "The Dancing Body," "The Natural Body," "The Expressive Body," "The Female Body," "The Body Politic"--provides a means of making important connections and valid inferences in a cohesive and memorable way. Many well-selected photographs and clearly reproduced prints add visual emphasis to the text; some will be familiar (e.g., the three plates Daly uses in her discussion of the Marseillaise), but their inclusion provides vital new perspectives. Serious scholars of dance, American studies, women's studies, and the arts in general will find valuable new perspectives in this generously footnoted volume. At a remarkably reasonable cost, it provides a priceless expanded understanding of Duncan's work for a very wide spectrum of readers. Nahumck's magnificent volume will be useful to a narrower readership of dance specialists. Nahumck for the first time presents, through labanotation scores, the actual movement of more than 300 of Duncan's dances and dance exercises. A handsome coffee-table book and a work of art in itself, this volume includes many compelling, full-page, beautifully reproduced photographs and an especially elegant photographic treatment of the chapter title pages. Nahumck is uniquely well qualified to have undertaken this impressive work: she was a student of both Anna Duncan and Irma Duncan and had the opportunity to work directly with Rudolf Laban. The scope of the book is a tribute to Duncan's "larger-than-life" persona, but its size (9 3/4" x 13 1/2" x 1 1/2" thick) will require oversize shelving storage in most libraries. The author has organized the dance scores according to exercises, dances for children, and by composer. The text in part 1 provides a generous commentary on the technical aspects of Duncan's dance, including parallel perceptions between Laban's theory of human movement structure and Duncan's choreographic insights, and also provides useful information on staging Duncan dance and creating Duncan costumes. Most significant, it includes important information on translating the labanotation scores in part 2. A full appreciation of Duncan's work, however, as presented in these scores, will be gained only by those with a thorough understanding of labanotation. Despite the fact that this book represents a considerable investment, it is an invaluable contribution to an understanding of Duncan's actual choreographic work. C. W. Sherman College of William and Mary