“The whole Isadora thing is emotion before motion. It was challenging to get to the emotion of the piece,” Haas said.Īndrea Mantell-Seidel – who is associate professor of religious studies and professor emeritus of dance at Florida International University and past artistic director of Miami’s Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble – coached the company on Duncan’s technique for the performance. (Photo courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami)ĭancer Isabelle Haas, who’s in her first year with the company, shared the challenges she experienced connecting with Duncan’s Soviet choreographies. It’s important we take that power and rise up when we go to vote.”ĭance NOW! Miami’s Isabelle Haas and Matthew Huefner. “There is a kind of charm to those pieces – the power of the people. “In the ’60s, we kind of lived communism in a friendlier way than they did here in the U.S.,” he said. “We don’t often think these days about those times when people died for a cause that way.”ĭance NOW! Miami co-artistic director Diego Salterini, who is Italian, locates the power of Duncan’s work in its simplicity. “They are getting shot,” explained Dance NOW! Miami’s co-artistic director, Hannah Baumgarten. Before he collapsed, Grant rushed forward, took up the flag and cradled him to the ground. She then repeated the sequence and also collapsed, as another dancer cushioned her fall and took up the flag. He fell back and gripped his chest as if struck. In time to the march, he ran to the corner, did a lunge and defiantly swept the flag from side to side. citizenship revoked in the 1920s.ĭancer Anthony Velazquez strode to the center, carrying a massive red flag. Duncan expressed communist sympathies and had her U.S. When the piece ended, the dancers flowed right into “Varshiavianka,” the second of Duncan’s “Russian revolutionary dances,” which were created while she lived in Russia. She looks snatched from a 1960s Soviet propaganda poster promoting proletarian internationalism. Arms crossed on her chest, she snapped one arm in a right angle, her fist pointing upward, revealing a muscled upper arm as she lunged to the side. They repeated the sequence as dancer Benicka Grant broke from the group. The dancers’ tight coordination was awesome they seemed to be guiding a warship into dock. The rehearsal began with Duncan’s 1924 masterpiece, “Dubinushka.” Dancers reached and pulled in two long lines as a deep Russian baritone belted out a chant. Program II intended to juxtapose the power of the individual with the power of the group – and to show how dance resonates with these themes as much today as it did 100 years ago. If travel bans are lifted by then, the Opus Ballet could still be part of the program, according to the company’s website.īefore the cancellation, Artburst Miami had a chance to witness a rehearsal for the performance, which was to feature pieces by Duncan as well as company works. But the company’s hope is that much of the performance can be presented as part of its Program III: “20 Years of NOW!” at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale on May 29 and the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach on May 30. Of course, Program II was canceled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The company’s Program II: “Contemporanea 2020” was to take place March 21 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center and star special guests, members of Italy’s Opus Ballet. (Photo courtesy of Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble)ĭance NOW! Miami was all set for its tribute to modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. Dance NOW! Miami’s Program II “Contemporanea 2020” was to include company works as well as pieces by Isadora Duncan such as “Ave Maria” (1914).
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