dancesbyisadora
Exploring and sharing the legacy of Isadora Duncan in the 21st century
Location:InternationalNew England, USANYC
Contact Name Catherine Gallant
917 673-3132
Website: https://www.dancesbyisadora.com/#/
About us
Dances by Isadora explores the legacy of dance pioneer Isadora Duncan and shares the technique and repertoire through teaching and performance. The company reconstructs works for various populations in both traditional and alternative venues. Catherine Gallant/DANCE provides the contemporary lens on Duncan’s work creating a link to current dance-making approaches and exploring ways to bring dance history to new audiences. We believe that dance is for everyone. The history of dance is important to its continued development and shows the trajectory of dance in the US as one of individual artistic, social, political and cultural expression. We are always aware of the assumed hierarchies within work which has been created in the past. In our presentations and teaching we address questions of authority, ownership, appropriation, power and inclusion. Our aim is to open opportunities for learning and participation for ourselves and for everyone with whom we work.
Programming / Repertoire / Offerings
Embodying four generations of the Duncan legacy, members of the group have studied with keepers of the flame, Julia Levien, Hortense Kooluris, Annabelle Gamson, and Sylvia Gold. Dances by Isadora offers rarely seen dance gems from Duncan’s repertoire in programs that bring this dance of breath and spirit to a new generation. The group is dedicated to the growth of new work and reconstructions which comment on the past while looking to the future.
We recognize that the dancing body comes in many shapes and sizes that may not conform to existing norms in the classically focused dance world. Our priorities emphasize the unique and powerful movement qualities of each performer as they relate to the technique and repertoire of Isadora Duncan. Our practice is lead by ongoing inquiry, consistent and probing feedback and an openness to new ideas and approaches that will engage our expanding audience.
We offer workshop opportunities which focus on the breath and embodied flow of the Duncan technique and include a close look at selected works created between 1900 and 1923. Through an acknowledgement of Duncan’s time we re-examine and re-imagine the work making it our own expression rooted in the now.