It is clear from Duncan’s own writings, public statements and documented accounts, that she understood her reference to the Greek world not as a rarification of their ideals, but more as a matrix that provided her with a conceptual framework from which to explore her art, her politics and her lifestyle: "To bring to life again the ancient ideal! I do not mean to say, copy it, imitate it; but to breathe its life, to recreate it in one’s self, with personal inspiration: to start from its beauty and then go toward the future." (Duncan, The Art of the Dance, 96.)
It is clear from Duncan’s own writings, public statements and documented accounts, that she understood her reference to the Greek world not as a rarification of their ideals, but more as a matrix that provided her with a conceptual framework from which to explore her art, her politics and her lifestyle: "To bring to life again the ancient ideal! I do not mean to say, copy it, imitate it; but to breathe its life, to recreate it in one’s self, with personal inspiration: to start from its beauty and then go toward the future." (Duncan, The Art of the Dance, 96.)