The Aesthetic Analysis Of Isadora Duncan’s Dance Theory

American dancer Isadora Duncan(1877 – 1927)is one of the founding figures of modern dance. In western history of dance, she is reverenced as the ―mother of modern dance‖. In the field of modern art, she is highly praised as revolutionary as Auguste Rodin, the French modernist sculptor, Pablo Ruiz Picasso, the Spanish cubist painter. Modern dance emerged as a rebellion against the classic ballet which dominated the dance form in the 19 th century and the early 20 th century. Since then, with dramatically variant esthetic standards, modern dance and ballet have become the most significant genres of dance.Duncan was a dancer who stood at a turning point between the classical art and the modern art. Her dance art consisted of contradictory elements like ―classical ballet and modern dance‖ and ―tradition and innovation‖, which contributed to her breaking-up from the classical form and her creation of the modern style. From the aspects of dance style, dance ideal, dance movement, choreography, the social function of dance and dance education, this thesis discusses the esthetics of Duncan’s dance theory. The author of this thesis argues: in dance style, she rebelled against the mechanization and stylization of classic ballet. On one hand, inspired by nature, she initiated the ideal of dance that ―beauty is nature‖; on the other hand, held with profound interest in ancient Greek art, she took inspiration from the vase painting and sculpture of ancient Greece and created new dance movement. In choreography, she connected dance with the spirit of music, making dancing movement as a way to express the emotion of music. In social function of dance, she opposed the idea of commercial society that dance only served to entertain, instead, she held that dance was the form of art to illuminate human soul and human inner spirit. In dance education, she recommended that dance be beneficial to the cultivation of the body and the mind of the youth and to the fulfillment of their life.It has been nearly a century since Duncan created modern dance. With its extraordinary artistic characteristics and universal appeal, modern dance has boomed and flourished in the last century. This esthetic analysis of Duncan’s dance theory is to reflect and to rediscover her creative ideas about dance and the nature of art. Overall, this thesis aims to throw light upon the development of modern dance and modern art.