The Art of Isadora at The Joyce Theater
Company:
Isadora Duncan Dance Company
Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company Celebrates Isadora’s 140th Birthday with The Art of Isadora at The Joyce Theater
NEW YORK – Inspired by a conversation with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Belilove reached out to New York City Ballet principle dancer Sara Mearns, inviting her to learn and perform the Duncan solo “Narcissus” on the celebratory performance in June. Baryshnikov’s vision that modern dance and ballet can cross aesthetic boundaries, ballerinas learning the dances would be an exciting artistic exchange. The vivacious Sara Mearns will perform the solo marking a first for a NYCB ballerina to explore this new territory.
In the year of Isadora Duncan’s 140th birthday, Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company accompanied by Ms. Mearns will perform The Art of Isadora, an evening of revolutionary dances of heroism, strength, and light at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, NYC on Monday, June 19, 2017 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $30 for General Admission and purchased on www.TheArtOfIsadora.BrownPaperTickets.com. Running Time is 60 Minutes No Intermission. Closest Subway: 1 Train to 18th Street.
The program celebrates the legacy of American Modern Dance artist, Feminist, Cultural Leader, Isadora Duncan. Staged by world-renowned Duncan authority, Lori Belilove, the program includes breathtaking performances of Duncan’s early solos set to the music of Chopin and Gluck, heroic group works in homage to the Greek Gods Apollo and Dionysius set to the exuberant symphonies of Schubert’s 9th and Tchaikovsky’s 6th, and the later, tragic solos created during Duncan’s last years, set to the music of Liszt and Scriabin.
“This is Isadora performed with passion”, says Belilove, “The Company dancers are committed to Isadora’s artistry, coming from a variety of backgrounds and trainings. Duncan training is extensive and each Company dancer has found their special way of expressing themselves through the dances. Duncan’s work is historical yet speaks to a universal humanity that is timeless. It is our goal to recreate the magic of Isadora’s art. In our recent tour to China the dancers exploded on this huge stage, and the audience response was overwhelming.”
The three senior dancers Emily D’Angelo, Nicole Poulos and Faith Kimberling deliver rich nuances to the solos from the romantic The Many Faces of Love suite of Brahms Waltzes and a powerful, modern weight in the Dance of the Furies, Isadora’s most modern work on the program. Nicole Poulos, who joined in 2014, performs with an elegance and singular simplicity that is stunning.
In Belilove’s lifelong pursuit to teach and pass on the legacy of Duncan dance, she started a youth company “The Beliloveables” who trained and perform in school and outreach settings. One such Beliloveable, Hayley Rose Brasher, now a graduate of New World School of the Arts, FL, returns, professionally trained, to join the June performance. Haley Rose has performed with the company since she was 9 years old, when Belilove discovered her dancing talent in a Florida audition for the dance/theater work “Isadora…No Apologies” that debuted in NYC at the Off-Broadway Duke on 42nd Street Theater.
The program will offer signature Duncan works and dances by Lori Belilove created within the Duncan aesthetic. The program highlights the first and second movements from Schubert’s 9th Symphony choreographed with great sweeps of space within the luxurious movement style.
Upon seeing the company, Jack Anderson of the NYTimes wrote, “the company roiling back the years to the glorious beginnings of Modern dance. Belilove will perform Mother and Revolutionary, Duncan's later solos of lament and political fervor.”
“It is not just another night at the theater, but something from another world.” –NYTimes
“…this is Duncan dancing of unusual vigor, physical weight and whole-heartedness.” –NYTimes
The Art of Isadora
June 19, 2017
Running time is approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.
$30 General Admission
$75 – Reserved Seating & Champagne Toast with Artists by reservation: 212 691 5040
Champagne toast with the company of dancers follows immediately after the performance at the lower level lobby of the Theater.
Programs of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts as a part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius and ArtWorks, The Robert M. Abramson Charitable Foundation, Eileen Fisher, Inc., and The Patrina Foundation.
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