Belilove was inspired to re-stage Isadora’s dance Varshavianka (1924) to the Ukrainian National Anthem, in response to the horrors of the Russian invasion. In the dance, heroes die and are re-born, but ideals outlast the trials and tribulations of war. What was a single soldier on stage grows to an ever accumulating force as the dancers mourn the dead, share in suffering, and finally rise heroic.

Complimenting Belilove’s interpretation of Varshavianka is her original choreography, titled Comrades, reflecting in a lone female voice of universal grief. Opening the suite is Duncan’s Marche Heroique (1916), staged by Belilove and set to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique,” III. Allegro molto vivace, where a formidable, proud march inspires the dancers' call to action and endurance. 

Belilove, the world’s foremost interpreter of Isadora’s work, understands the timeless freedoms Isadora sought - the same freedom that Ukraine seeks, all humanity seeks. 

“Art can succeed where war fails” - Lori Belilove

“With boundless indignation I watched these poor grief-stricken workmen carrying their martyred dead… If I had never seen it, all my life would have been different. There, before this seemingly endless procession, this tragedy, I vowed myself and my forces to the service of the people and the downtrodden.” -Isadora Duncan

You can see this piece being performed:

Thursday August 17th - Battery Park

Sunday September 3rd - Untermyer Gardens

From Artistic Director, Lori Belilove:

The Ukrainian War is complex and could be ugly for years. I think, what can I do? Everywhere people are lending a generous hand. I ask, how can art wake people to the atrocity of war? I was listening to the gorgeous Ukrainian National Anthem – I was moved by the words – "Ukraine is not yet dead, nor its glory and freedom…We will lay down our soul and body for cherished freedom." (excerpt)

Zalensky is my hero. He is a man of integrity and courage in the face of atrocity. His head is held up and he is leading his people - and the world. I take his example and gather my dance spirit to offer this dance, which I call a re-imagination of Isadora’s freedom dances for today. The cry is universal and hope is the message.

My father had Ukrainian Jewish ancestry, whereas my mother was from England and was raised Christian Scientist. Both from working class families, they met after my father, working as an engineer during World War II, fell in love with my mother, who was working for the Red Cross. They chose progressive Berkeley, California, to raise a family. 

My Jewish roots extend to Kyiv, where, from what I can gather together from the remnants of history we have, they were part of the Jewish population originally confined to what was know as the Pale of Settlement. My grandmother fled to America in the early 1900s, reaching extended family in the tenements of the Lower East Side. Those who remained in Ukraine kept in touch with her until the outbreak of World War II, when all communication with them came to an end. We believe they were massacred in the Babi Yar Massacre of 1941, when  nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children were marched to their deaths on the outskirts of Kyiv.  

While I was still living in Berkeley, I was introduced to Isadora Duncan, whose spirit captured my heart. Being a young boyish wild thing, Isadora’s ideas of living a free life inspired me. Why Isadora? And why now? A big question – the best answer I have for you is that her dances evoke the timeless freedoms we seek today. 

I am for Ukraine. I stand with them.