Isadora Duncan (1878-1927)

Isadora Duncan, mother of modern dance, free spirit of American origin, but really belonging to eternity, moves me. She didn't give a rat's tail about schools, systems, and professionalism when it came to dance. To her, dance was a biological function, a natural way of being, a universal endowment. I too believe that the dance exists in everyone, just like I believe there is a song in everyone. Her movements expressed the noble ideals of human kind, her true self. Her unifying message can likewise be found in Deepak Chopra’s "the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success", which I am currently reading. (I read a lot of self-help books and/or spiritual guides.) Chopra contends“our essential nature is one of pure potentiality." I have such a desire to fearlessly sing my life. I haven’t been quite as successful as I would like in bringing my essential nature to the surface, but it’s so refreshing to think that in each of us there is an unlimited surplus of pure potentiality, which can be tapped into with just a little effort.

Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in an individual.
– Isadora Duncan

Dancing must express humankind’s most moral, beautiful, and healthful ideals.
– Isadora Duncan

Place your hands on your heart, listen to your soul. There is the true revolution. Let the people place their hands in this way on their hearts, and in listening to their souls they will know how to conduct themselves.
– Isadora Duncan

My motto - sans limites.
– Isadora Duncan

When your actions are motivated by love, there is no waste of energy.
– Deepak Chopra

You must learn to get in touch with the inner most essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment.
– Deepak Chopra

We are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embryo that are contained within us seek to be fully materialized. True success is therefore the experience of the miraculous. It is the unfolding of the divinity within us.
– Deepak Chopra

For further reading – Deepak Chopra’s “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”, and Isadora Duncan’s “My Life”

all images from the NYPL Digital Gallery.