COMMUNITY /// workshop: Isadora Duncan: The Muse of Modernism

Isadora Duncan: The Muse of Modernism
Community Workshop
Sunday, October 18th, 2:00pm

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Please join us for a moving exploration of art and ideas and a celebration of the Isadora Legacy with Jeanne Bresciani, Artistic Director of the International Isadora Duncan Institute in New York City.

Suitable for all levels of movers, ages 16 and above.

Stemming from primordial, ancient and classical inspiration, Isadora as the Mother of Modern Dance, a revolutionary in art and life and, arguably, the first ‘citizen’ of the world’, laid claim on behalf of all humanity to the birthright of beauty, freedom and strength at the threshold of the 20th century. In Isadora’s ‘Divine Philosphy’ she conjoined ideals for ‘the highest intelligence of the freest body’ while merging the energies of art, life and love as the great guides and guardians to creativity.

2:00-4:00 Movement Workshop
Workshop with Jeanne Bresciani, Artistic Director of The International Isadora Duncan Institute in New York City.
Pianist: Shirley Grierson

The movement workshop will be followed by an Artist Talk with Jeanne Bresciani and conversation on mythic and historical elements. Anticipated end time is approximately 5:00pm. 

Cost: $15/dancer

Payable by cash, in person at the workshop, or in advance to Jolene Bailie

If you do not cross paths with Jolene Bailie, you may reserve your spot in the workshop by emailing Jolene at: info@gearshifting.org

If you wish to experience the afternoon as an observer, and do not wish to participate as a dancer, we would appreciate a donation at the door to help cover costs. Suggested donation: $5-10.

This workshop is possible with the generous financial subsidy from a private donor, in conjunction with the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s fundraiser, The Gallery Ball, and the volunteer efforts of Jolene Bailie. 

The Professional Program of The School of Contemporary Dancers has generously donated studio space for this event. The School of Contemporary Dancers is located at Suite 104-211 Bannatyne Ave., in Winnipeg’s Exchange District.

About Jeanne Bresciani:
Jeanne Bresciani, M.A., M.A., I.M.A., Ph.D., the main protégée of Maria Theresa Duncan, adopted daughter of Isadora Duncan, serves as Artistic Director for the Isadora Duncan International Institute, Inc. (IDII), founded by Maria-Theresa Duncan, ‘the last dancing Isadorable’ and Kay Bardsley in 1977. Jeanne is recognized nationally and internationally as a solo performer, choreographer, educator and scholar of unparalleled authority on Isadora Duncan’s life, works and performance repertoire. Her lineage encompasses years of intensive study and performance with Hortense Kooluris and Julia Levien of the Anna and Irma Duncan heritage, as well as childhood dance training and young adulthood internship with Anita Zahn of the Elizabeth Duncan School.

She has performed as soloist within the United States at many renowned venues, including Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, The Bardavon Opera House, The Woodstock Playhouse, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The National Museum for Women in the Arts, The National Museum of Dance, The Egg, The Landsburgh Theater, The Atlas Theater, before the United Nations General Assembly and at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival; in Canada at Massey Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts and the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain; in Europe at the British Museum, the Teatro Carcano (Milano), at Vignaledanza (Torino), Opera Terni, Teatro Sociale (Bergamo), Centro Teatrale di Ricerca & Palazzo Pisani Moretta (Venice), Theatre Regard du Cynge (Paris), at a Rhineland Castles and Throne Rooms Tour with Wausau Dance Theater, including the Darmstadt Orangerie and Fulda Castle (Germany), Smolny Cathedral and the Pushkin Library (St. Petersburg), The National Dance Theater (Budapest), The Delphi Museum and numerous archaeological sites in Greece; in Asia at the TAMA New Parthenon, the Akasaka Theater and the Asahi Theater(Tokyo), MODAFE (Seoul); throughout Taiwan in The Soul of Nature Tour; and in Brazil at Artur Rubinstein Hall, the National Theater, Pallas Athena and Teatro SESC Pompeia.

Awards and Honors:
– Kress Fellowship, Williams College in collaboration with The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Graduate Program in the History of Art
– Maria-Theresa Duncan Award presented at Lincoln Center by Colleen Dewhurst
– Fulbright Fellowship for research, reconstruction and performance in dance throughout Brazil
– Skidmore College Alumni Association Distinguished Achievement Award
– Key to the City of Wausau, Wisconsin

Jeanne directs the first professional programs in Isadora Studies: The Certificate Program I : The Training in Technique and Choreography originally founded under Maria-Theresa Duncan’s guidance with Dr. Patricia A. Rowe and Kay Bardsley at New York University; The Certificate Program II: The Advanced Diploma in Performance and Choreography; The Certificate Program in Myth, Movement and Metaphor: specializing in choreographic research – based at three – sites Tempio di danza, the Hudson Valley home of the IDII in High Falls, NY, Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and The 92Y Harkness Dance Center in NYC. Since 1991 she directs performance study tours abroad, entitled, Sacred Topographies: The Body and the Land. At the 92Y, an historic home of Modern Dance, she directs the Isadora Programs in education and the Jeanne Bresciani and the Isadora Duncan International Institute Dancers, the 92Y Isadora Youth Ensemble and the ‘Isadora for Children’ Performing Group. Jeanne founded the first Isadora Duncan Certificate Program in Beijing, China this year under the auspices of The Apollo Institute, dedicated to the training and development of the first M.A. and Ph.D. candidates in Expressive Arts Therapies in China and will launch The IDII European Certificate Program in Isadora Duncan Studies officially in May, 2016, adjacent sacred sites of early modernism in southern France. Jeanne is the subject of feature articles in Dance Magazine, Dancer Universe and Conscious Dancer Magazine.

IDII Programs under the direction of Jeanne Bresciani have been funded by The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The American Embassy in Athens, the International House in Tokyo, The Korean Olympic Committee, The Japanese Olympic Committee, The Worldwide Pioneer Foundation, Hewlitt-Packard, Phillips-Electric, and numerous colleges, universities and private donors in the U.S. and abroad.

Jeanne Bresciani has been hailed by the international press as:

“The foremost interpreter of Duncan’s dance in North America”

“The Divine in Motion”

“The keeper of the Duncan Flame”

“The standard bearer of the Duncan tradition”

“A force to be reckoned with”

“Dynamo of the Dance”

“The essence of the reincarnation of Isadora Duncan”

“The true heiress of Isadora Duncan’s intuitions and revolutionary ideas”

“In Isadora Duncan’s “Marche Slav” from ca. 1917 – subtlety wasn’t the point. Power was! Jeanne Bresciani was a figure larger than life. Weight seemed a burden, tension threatened to tear this body apart, resistance became a revolution and liberation from bondage the ultimate transfiguration. Bresciani, moving like those tubular Picasso women must if set free in time, brought “The Art of the Solo” to a rousing close.”

An exciting event for the Winnipeg dance community!

Jeanne Bresciani will be in Winnipeg to perform at The Gallery Ball on October 17, 2015. The Gallery Ball is The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s annual fundraiser for their Youth Outreach and Education programs.

Please note: If the workshop appears to be filling up, advance payment may be requested.

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