Rachel Isadora
.
Ballerina. Storyteller. Painter.
On Stage. in Print. On Canvas.
.
“Art. The only work that
compares in intensity and joy
with my first love of dance.”
What’s here? Rachel Isadora’s amazing story just below.
Then her paintings gallery.
What’s here? Rachel Isadora’s amazing story just below. Then, her paintings gallery.
In Rachel Isadora’s Own Words
Work like mine is a dancer’s fantasy, a dream come true. Because ballet is so demanding, dancers’ stage careers are short. We can only dream of going on and on forever. With art, I can go on and on, and for me it’s the only work that compares in intensity and joy with my first love of dance.
Rachel Isadora.
In Our Words.
Many children dream of becoming dancers, musicians, actors, or artists. Very few have the opportunity, the skill, and the determination to live out those dreams.
Rachel Isadora
Rachel Isadora is one of those very few. When she was just a small child, she knew that she wanted to be a ballerina. And so, that is exactly who she became.
Born and raised in New York City, Rachel began dancing at age 6. In her late teens, she won a Ford Foundation scholarship and trained at George Balanchine’s School of America Ballet under mentors including legendary choreographer and New York City Ballet founder and artistic director George Balanchine himself, and celebrated costume and scenic designer Rouben Ter-Arutunian.
Rachel danced professionally in New York City, Boston and London. When a foot injury forced her to retire early, Isadora turned to her other talent: the creative literary and visual arts.
I had always drawn for my own entertainment, But I’d never had any instruction, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed. So I just took a collection of sketches-odds and ends on bits of paper-to the first editor who would see me. She suggested I do a book about what I knew best.
After Class
Since then, Rachel’s passion had been oil painting, notably of Dance and of the people she encountered in Africa, where she lived for 10 years. The elegance of her subjects combined with her powerful ability to highlight the subject’s emotions enhance the dynamism in her paintings. Her reputation is worldwide: galleries in the United States, Canada, and France have featured her creations, and her paintings have been selected by the most discriminating private collectors in the US and internationally.
Ailey II
Rachel’s impressionist style paintings may first evoke thought of Edgar Degas or Mary Cassatt. But her artistic form is all her own. Indeed, on close examination, one sees immediately that Rachel’s canvasses are distinctly graceful, alive, intimate, often mysterious, sometimes soft, even abstract, sometimes sharp, razor-edged, even dramatic greys on blacks.
Whatever the moments and brush strokes that Rachel captures in her paintings, you can be certain of one thing. There will always be movement: of dance, of place, of time, of color, and especially of emotion.
That is not all. Rachel actually took the advice of that first editor she visited, and the result was “Max”, her first children’s book published in 1976 and immediately named an American Library Association Notable Book. “Max” is about a boy who realizes that taking ballet can help him be a better baseball player.
Many of Rachel’s literary works incorporate ballet and dance, most notably the series, Lili at Ballet, Lili on Stage, Lili Backstage, and the Caldecott Honor award-winning Ben’s Trumpet, which combines music and dance.
Rachel lived in Africa for almost ten years and has adapted a number of well-known stories and fairy tales to African settings, including Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Hanzel and Gretel, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Night before Christmas, and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Rachel has since illustrated and written over 200 children’s books. Most center on her two main inspirations: her own ballet career and Africa. Her books feature light and colorful drawings of young children, accompanied by compact short stories that immerse readers in many joyful worlds of her own creation. Many have been adapted to film, music and dance.
In Rachel Isadora’s Own Words
Work like mine is a dancer’s fantasy, a dream come true. Because ballet is so demanding, dancers’ stage careers are short. We can only dream of going on and on forever. With art, I can go on and on, and for me it’s the only work that compares in intensity and joy with my first love of dance.
Rachel Isadora.
In Our Words.
Many children dream of becoming dancers, musicians, actors, or artists. Very few have the opportunity, the skill, and the determination to live out those dreams.
Rachel Isadora
Rachel Isadora is one of those very few. When she was just a small child, she knew that she wanted to be a ballerina. And so, that is exactly who she became.
Born and raised in New York City, Rachel began dancing at age 6. In her late teens, she won a Ford Foundation scholarship and trained at George Balanchine’s School of America Ballet under mentors including legendary choreographer and New York City Ballet founder and artistic director George Balanchine himself, and celebrated costume and scenic designer Rouben Ter-Arutunian.
Rachel danced professionally in New York City, Boston and London. When a foot injury forced her to retire early, Isadora turned to her other talent: the creative literary and visual arts.
I had always drawn for my own entertainment, But I’d never had any instruction, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed. So I just took a collection of sketches-odds and ends on bits of paper-to the first editor who would see me. She suggested I do a book about what I knew best.
After Class
Since then, Rachel’s passion had been oil painting, notably of Dance and of the people she encountered in Africa, where she lived for 10 years. The elegance of her subjects combined with her powerful ability to highlight the subject’s emotions enhance the dynamism in her paintings. Her reputation is worldwide: galleries in the United States, Canada, and France have featured her creations, and her paintings have been selected by the most discriminating private collectors in the US and internationally.
Ailey II
Rachel’s impressionist style paintings may first evoke thought of Edgar Degas or Mary Cassatt. But her artistic form is all her own. Indeed, on close examination, one sees immediately that Rachel’s canvasses are distinctly graceful, alive, intimate, often mysterious, sometimes soft, even abstract, sometimes sharp, razor-edged, even dramatic greys on blacks.
Whatever the moments and brush strokes that Rachel captures in her paintings, you can be certain of one thing. There will always be movement: of dance, of place, of time, of color, and especially of emotion.
That is not all. Rachel actually took the advice of that first editor she visited, and the result was “Max”, her first children’s book published in 1976 and immediately named an American Library Association Notable Book. “Max” is about a boy who realizes that taking ballet can help him be a better baseball player.
Many of Rachel’s literary works incorporate ballet and dance, most notably the series, Lili at Ballet, Lili on Stage, Lili Backstage, and the Caldecott Honor award-winning Ben’s Trumpet, which combines music and dance.
Rachel lived in Africa for almost ten years and has adapted a number of well-known stories and fairy tales to African settings, including Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Hanzel and Gretel, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Night before Christmas, and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Rachel has since illustrated and written over 200 children’s books. Most center on her two main inspirations: her own ballet career and Africa. Her books feature light and colorful drawings of young children, accompanied by compact short stories that immerse readers in many joyful worlds of her own creation. Many have been adapted to film, music and dance.
