My doctoral research started with a question to which I could not find an answer. The question arose during the study of the history of modern dance in the UK from the early twentieth century to the mid-1930s. I could postulate the influence of Isadora Duncan on British dancers of the time, such as Madge Atkinson, Ruby Ginner and Margaret Morris, and in some instances I could demonstrate and describe it. However, there seemed to be no detailed material evidence to support the notion that Duncan as a modern dance innovator was instrumental in initiating a distinctive British style within the early modern dance genre. The British dancers mentioned worked independently of each other, and while some, for example Ruby Ginner, denied that the particular dance form they developed was akin to that of Duncan, others, such as Margaret Morris, acknowledged the initial influence of Duncan.