Untermyer Gardens

Program

The Dancers

Lori Belilove

Emily D’Angelo

Hayley Rose

Caroline Yamada

Samantha Mercado

Kirsten Keane (apprentice)

Breathing new life into

Isadora Duncan’s Dances

to the music of

Frederick Chopin, C. W. Gluck, Edvard Grieg, Franz Schubert and John P. Link

Opening remarks Stephen Byrns, President, Untermyer Gardens Conservancy

and Lori Belilove, Artistic Director, The Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation and Company

The Program

Air-GaI - Lento - Air-GaI/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten

Soloist, Hayley

Allegretto/ C.W. Gluck

Caroline, Hayley, Samantha

Lento/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Kirsten, Samantha, Hayley

Feathers/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Hayley

Classical Duet/Schubert

Kirsten & Hayley

Musette/ C.W. Gluck

Caroline, Kirsten, Emily,

Norwegian Dance/Grieg

Emily, Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten

Soloist, Hayley

Bacchanal/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten, Hayley

INTERMISSION

Ancient Figures/John P. Link         

Emily, Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten, Hayley

Echo & Narcissus/Chopin

Emily

Capture/Chopin Mazurka

Caroline

Moment Musical/Schubert

Samantha

Line Mazurka/Chopin

The Company

Duet Mazurka Chopin

Emily & Hayley , Caroline & Samantha

Trio Waltz Chopin

Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten

Slow Mazurka Chopin

Emily, Hayley, Caroline, Lori

Dance of the Furies/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Hayley

Orpheus’ Lament/ C.W. Gluck

Lori

Dance of the Blessed Spirits/ C.W. Gluck

Emily, Caroline, Samantha, Kirsten, Hayley

Song of Hope */ Ukrainian Folk Song       

Lori joined by The Company

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE 

*Choreography by Lori Belilove

Staging by Lori Belilove c. 2024

Notes on the program:

The program opens with a suite of dances from the Gluck operas including Air Gai-lento-Air Gai, Feathers Gavotte, Allegretto, and Bacchanal. Maidens rejoice the return of Agamemnon’s  ships from Troy carrying the husbands, brothers, lovers. Later they find delirium in the wine of Bacchus in the Bacchanal. Solos and group dances filter throughout the suite featuring Hayley Rose in the Lento and Caroline Yamada in the Musette. Emily D’Angelo and Hayley Rose lead the maenads in the Bacchanal.

“New to the Company repertory is the Norwegian Dance” says Belilove “The work is a delight for our summer show audiences which draws on the folkdance elements found in many of Isadora’s Dances. The dance, performed by the full Company, is from the suite of Norwegian Folk Songs by Edvard Grieg.

Following the folkdance theme, classic works from the Duncan repertory 1912-1915  set to the music of Frederick Chopin include Line Mazurka, Duet Mazurka, and Slow Mazurka (quartet). The Mazurka rhythm, both one of the easiest and trickiest to master, will be on full display. The specifically luxurious Duncan waltz will be featured both in the *Trio waltz* with Kirsten Keane, Caroline Yamada and Samantha Mercado, and Echo &Narcissus, performed by Emily D’Angelo and Hayley Rose.

The program concludes with Dance of the Furies followed by Dance of the Blessed Spirits from C.W. Gluck opera Orfeo. The dancers take a decent into the mythical underworld of Hades and ascend to the land of the Blessed Spirits. 

As a coda, the Company will perform Song of Hope a new work created by Belilove, in collaboration with the dancers, to complement the folkdance theme of the evening.  Leading the dance, Belilove embodies the spirit of hope  and a joyful dance ensues. Music composed by Mykola Leontovych and performed by the Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, Company & School (IDDF), founded in 1980 by Lori Belilove, a third-generation Duncan dancer, is the world center for the performance of Duncan’s work, the preservation of her legacy, and the teaching of the singular technique and style that gave rise to American modern dance. Lori Belilove received direct instruction from Duncan’s original troupe of young dancers, her “Isadorables,” and has an international reputation as the premier interpreter and ambassador of the dance of Isadora Duncan. The Company has performed for audiences across the United States and throughout the world collaborating with dancers, artists, and companies in Asia, Europe, and North and South America.

Isadora150, a celebration of the 150th year of Isadora Duncan’s birth in 1877, heralds the compelling legacy of one of America’s most significant dance artists. Starting in 2024 The Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation will be offering repertory workshops, performances in historical gardens, (including our beloved Untermyer Gardens), screenings of rare films, panels discussions by noted dance historians, and book readings from recent publications., all to celebrate Duncan through 2027. Among the many partners joining, the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center will host annual events, free and open to the public, presented by Lori Belilove with dancing demonstrations, films and slides to enliven the history. Material will be drawn from new and rare acquisitions from the archives of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation as well as from the NYPL’s immense collection of Isadora Duncan. Join us and visit to know more… www.isadoraduncan.org

Programs of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, 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 U.S. Mission to China, The Robert M. Abramson Charitable Foundation, Eileen Fisher, Inc, The Patrina Foundation, The Matisse Foundation, and the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation.