As she grew older, Isadora Duncan became notorious for her public drunkenness, though her most loyal friends often insisted that she was fine. Others were not so charitable. A young George Balanchine, quoted in The New York Times, saw her perform in the 1920s and came away thoroughly unimpressed. He viciously said that she was "a drunken, fat woman who for hours was rolling around like a pig."
Another observer, choreographer Frederick Ashton, also saw that she was drinking heavily during that decade, The Guardian reports. It was so bad, he reported, that her stage performances were beginning to visibly suffer as Duncan deteriorated. Soon enough, she became notorious for getting soused in public and embarrassing herself.
Others took advantage of Isadora Duncan's propensity for getting tipsy. According to Zelda Fitzgerald, when Duncan was carrying on at a Paris cafe, Zelda used the distraction to steal a pair of car-shaped salt and pepper shakers. Zelda herself wasn't a fan of Isadora, who may have carried on an affair with Zelda's husband, the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Reportedly, Zelda was so furious when he paid court to Duncan at yet another cafe that she flung herself down some nearby stairs to draw his attention. Isadora Duncan, it seems, couldn't help but attract dramatic people to her side, whether they wanted to be there or not.
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