Let me start by explaining there is a family connection here: a great-uncle of mine whom I loved and admired as a child (he passed on when I was 12) once told me that while he was stationed in Bucharest between the wars he had the good fortune to see Elizabeth Bupova and Isadora Duncan on stage together. He claimed it was the only time the two of them ever shared a stage. I am inclined to doubt that this was their only appearance together as the two were near-contemporaries and each individually extensively toured both Europe and America during their short careers. The careers of both dancers were cut short by tragedy; Elizabeth Bupova's perhaps the more tragic as she was not killed outright but was maimed and deformed for the rest of her life.. Elizabeth Bupova was born in Kiev, in the Ukraine, and by her teenage years had become recognized as a talented and accomplished dancer with a promising career ahead of her. At the age of 19 she married portrait artist and caricaturist Hector Schenk. One and a half years later, on her way to a winter performance in Prague, her car slid on the icy road into a head-on collision with a streetcar. She survived, but her jaw was shattered beyond repair. In those days, reconstructive surgery was not what it is today. What was left of her jawbone was removed, and a rudimentary hole at the top of her neck through which she could breath and take in liquid nutrition had to serve her for a mouth. In addition to the loss of her jaw, her cheeks had become grotesquely swollen. Understandably, she became depressed and withdrew from the public eye. At one point she even attempted suicide. It was her husband Hector who cared for her and nursed her back to some degree of contentment, if not health and happiness. A portrait artist of amazing skill, he sketched a portrait of her realistically portraying her missing jaw and swollen cheeks, but still capturing her indomitable spirit - even making her sexy and alluring. After a time of gazing at this portrait hanging by her bed, she gained some measure of self-acceptance, and eventually gave permission for copies of this portrait to be distributed to her fans. Hector now went to work, sketching his rendition of Elizabeth in many different costumes and settings, from the dignified to the whimsical to the playfully erotic, always portraying her with an alluring sexiness that rendered her disfigurement virtually unnoticable. He sent them out to various fans and admirers, but always with Elizabeth's blessing, and she signed her nickname, Betty, on each picture. These images of Betty Bupova, or "Boop" as she was affectionately known in America, became a cultural icon, and can still be found in flea markets and kitsch shoppes across the country. Ih anyone has any more information or comments, please post.
In the interests of maintaining a pretense of histerical authenticity, I am providing a link to a biography of Isadora Duncan: http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/isadora.html Unfortunately there is no mention of Elizabeth Bupova, but apparently Isadora had a sister named Elizabeth. I doubt that her sister is 'the' Elizabeth Bupova as I can see no family resemblance, even allowing for her disfigurement. It also appears that Duncan was somewhat older than Bupova and they may have had a mentor-student relationship. At any rate, Isadora Duncan enjoyed her career for significantly longer before meeting with tragedy at the age of 49 (Elizabeth Bupova was 19 or 20 when she had her accident - I do not know what year it was.)
