{"id":991,"date":"2020-02-26T14:29:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T14:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/viviana-durante-company-isadora-now\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:45:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T17:45:09","slug":"viviana-durante-company-isadora-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/viviana-durante-company-isadora-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Viviana Durante Company: ‘Isadora Now’ Celebrates Duncan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Disclosure: Dance Dispatches <\/em>received complimentary admission to write an open and honest dance show review of the Viviana Durante Company’s Isadora Now<\/em>:Triple Bill<\/em> performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isadora Duncan paved the way for modern dance choreographers more than a century ago. The young American woman enjoyed movement, but felt restricted within the rigid confines of ballet. So she freely experimented with a new movement style. This month, Viviana Durante Company celebrates the modern dance<\/a> pioneer in a triple bill called Isadora Now<\/em>. It includes Duncan\u2019s own piece, Dance of the Furies<\/em>, alongside Frederick Ashton\u2019s balletic Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan<\/em> and Joy Alpuerto Ritter\u2019s UNDA<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re interested in modern dance history, read about the Merce Cunningham Centennial Celebration at The Guggenheim<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dancers
Dancers run off stage in Joy Alpuerto Ritter’s new piece, ‘UNDA<\/em>‘
Photo credit: David Scheinmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Viviana Durante Company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Viviana Durante, for whom the company is named, gained fame as a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet before founding her own dance company. And, surprisingly, Viviana Durante Company performs works from multiple dance genres \u2013 not just ballet. Their company mission is to \u201ccurate dance masterpieces of the future in dialogue with masterworks of the past;\u201d so you can expect to see new commissions alongside older pieces. Prior to resurrecting Isadora Duncan\u2019s Dance of the Furies<\/em> for Isadora Now<\/em>, Viviana Durante Company performed historical works by Kenneth MacMillan in Steps Back in Time<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe embrace all forms of dance, reviving neglected classics and commissioning new work from today\u2019s most exciting choreographers.\u201d <\/p> Viviana Durante Company <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Performers dance over water-filled basins in ‘UNDA’
Photo credit: David Scheinmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Isadora Now<\/em> Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dance of the Furies<\/em>: Isadora Duncan (1911)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most of us imagine Isadora Duncan prettily prancing around in flowing garments, but her Dance of the Furies <\/em>was meant to showcase demonic creatures. A group of women slither to a flame-filled cauldron, where they crouch with heads slung downward. They rise with hands bared in claws, squatting in a deep, powerful lunge \u2013 forgetting whatever society would have deemed ladylike at the time. (Or simply not caring.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting such movement on stage was previously unfathomable, but by today’s modern and post-modern dance standards, Duncan’s choreography is relatively easy to watch. The movement is constant, so the mind remains engaged as the female performers advance across the stage with kicks and whirl in formation, their long hair trailing behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship between the dancers and the music is clear. Perhaps nowadays, as a reaction against commercial lyrical dance, modern dance students are specifically taught how to choreograph without the aid of music. But pairing music and dance can’t be all bad, since Duncan’s historic choreography still enraptures us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don’t let them tame you.”<\/p>– Isadora Duncan<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Viviana Durante Company dancers perform Isadora Duncan’s ‘Dance of the Furies’
Photo credit: David Scheinmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan<\/em>: Frederick Ashton (1976)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan<\/em> solo, ballet great Frederick Ashton assigns qualities of Isadora Duncan to each waltz. The 10-minute piece flutters by, each breezy piece an ode to the early choreographer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note: Although we were excited to see Viviana Durante dance, Bego\u00f1a Cao delivered an outstanding performance on short notice.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cao begins the small suite, lying on her side. Like a flower blossoming to greet the day, she stretches and rises, optimistically pert. The long skirt of her coral dress laps around her calves, as she playfully skitters in bare feet – which could easily be represented by a cadre of baby bourr\u00e9es in pointe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The choreography varies from light\nskips with bent legs drawn up in front of the body to punchy arm moves with\nclenched fists, but the performance is all very intentional. Cao engages with\nthe audience and the pianist; her every movement is an announcement, and the\nwhole world is hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She freely dances with a large scarf, sweeping it overhead, where it ripples gently \u2013 before she flings it in another direction, accompanied by a muted snap. And during the last waltz, Cao serenades the audience with flower petals that dramatically drip from her fingers, as she twirls. The whimsy and passion make Ashton\u2019s waltzes a fitting for a tribute to Duncan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Begon\u0303a Cao languidly stretches in ‘Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan’\nPhoto credit: David Scheinmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UNDA: <\/em>Joy Alpuerto Ritter (2020)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Joy Alpuerto Ritter\u2019s 40-minute\npiece, UNDA,<\/em> fills the entire second half of the show and references Duncan\u2019s\nfascination with ancient Greek culture. It begins in a stark, dark space with\nhard white lights and ends in a warm, honey-tinged glow. But the audience is brusquely\ndropped into each new scene, with purposefully abrupt transitions in music and\nlighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNDA<\/em> evokes images of water. The female dancers\u2019 bodies fluidly undulate, whilst water plinks into large basins. When the cellist (Lih Qun Wong) plucks her instrument\u2019s strings, each note mirrors the drop of a glistening bead of water. Sometimes, rather than imitating water, they react to it \u2013 carefully wading through an imaginary puddle or flicking it from their fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nchoreography nods to the diverse cast of dancers, including hints of whacking\nand balletic jumps along with a large modern movement repertoire. The performers\ninteract with each other in pairs and occasionally they all break out into solo\nmaterial. But the piece gains momentum when driven by the cello\u2019s melody, and\nthey move in synchrony, as chorus \u2013 reminiscent of Pina Bausch\u2019s dancers in her\niconic version of Le Sacre du Printemps<\/em> (or Rite of Spring<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, each dancer freezes\ninto a pose, like Greek statue \u2013 except for one. The single performer inspects\nthem, trying on their poses, when the statuesque figures begin to sink. She pulls\nthem up one by one, wrangling them into their original position; but they collapse\nmore quickly. Eventually, they refuse to rise, and they roll into a ray of\nlight behind the lone dancer, who faces downstage. It\u2019s as if they, the\nvisionaries who came before, are watching to see what the future holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece cycles through many\ndistinct phases, but the ending is most memorable. The women dip their hands\ninto the basins, which have been filling with water throughout the piece. They\nrub their hands through it and schmear it on their limbs. They dip their hair\nin the bowls, and when they swing it, the water fills the air like clear,\nglittering fireworks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNDA<\/em> never meant to replicate Duncan\u2019s movement. Rather the contemporary piece sought to imagine Isadora today. In UNDA<\/em>\u2019s most stirring sections, the connecting thread of drama and excitement is tangible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Water droplets surround dancers Christina Cecchini and Joy Alpuerto Ritter in ‘UNDA’
Photo credit: David Scheinmann<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
[yasr_overall_rating null size=”large”]<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There’s an evident connection between all three pieces in Viviana Durante Company’s Isadora Now<\/em> and a noticeable growth in range of movement vocabulary from Duncan’s original choreography through to Alpuerto Ritter’s. And more than a century later, it shows why Isadora Duncan remains a radical icon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isadora Now <\/em>will remain at the Barbican Centre until 29 February 2020. See their What’s On page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Have you seen any historical dance performances in person \u2013 or in a movie, like the 3-D film about Merce Cunningham<\/a>? Tell us about your experience in the comments below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viviana Durante Company celebrates the modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in a triple bill called Isadora Now, including her Dance of the Furies from 1911.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[84,69,86,87],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show","tag-england","tag-london","tag-modern-contemporary","tag-uk"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/UNDA-02-Serena-Zaccagnini-Nikita-Goile-Begona-Cao-photo-David-Scheinmann.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1000,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/1000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}