bring Dances by Isadora to your students.........
Dances by Isadora is now available for workshops, lectures, performances and residencies.
An early feminist and unconventional thinker, Duncan’s innovative movement vocabulary led to the growth of what became known as modern dance in the 20th century. This unique dance form gives students an embodied experience of this facet of dance history
We are able to offer several possible options for a visit to your institution from a single master class or lecture to a residency ending in performance.
Isadora Duncan’s technique is motivated by breath and release. This specialized approach to dance, led by master teachers from Dances by Isadora, benefits dancers at all levels. The movement plays with weight and dynamics and the repertory is filled with movement opportunities for dramatic expression. In addition to giving students insight into dance history it also offers a new way to experience dance technique through flow, nature imagery, literary references and music. Our college teaching program offers your students a glimpse of modern dance history as well as ways to imagine the impact of Duncan’s ideas for 21st century dancers.
We are committed to supporting a lively and relevant study of dance history for the next generation. Our offerings are flexible and can be focused to reflect current interests and areas of emphasis in your dance program.
We look forward to hearing from you.
contact: [email protected]
An early feminist and unconventional thinker, Duncan’s innovative movement vocabulary led to the growth of what became known as modern dance in the 20th century. This unique dance form gives students an embodied experience of this facet of dance history
We are able to offer several possible options for a visit to your institution from a single master class or lecture to a residency ending in performance.
Isadora Duncan’s technique is motivated by breath and release. This specialized approach to dance, led by master teachers from Dances by Isadora, benefits dancers at all levels. The movement plays with weight and dynamics and the repertory is filled with movement opportunities for dramatic expression. In addition to giving students insight into dance history it also offers a new way to experience dance technique through flow, nature imagery, literary references and music. Our college teaching program offers your students a glimpse of modern dance history as well as ways to imagine the impact of Duncan’s ideas for 21st century dancers.
We are committed to supporting a lively and relevant study of dance history for the next generation. Our offerings are flexible and can be focused to reflect current interests and areas of emphasis in your dance program.
We look forward to hearing from you.
contact: [email protected]
Embodying four generations of the Duncan legacy, members of the Dances by Isadora have studied with keepers of the flame, Julia Levien, Hortense Kooluris, Annabelle Gamson, and Sylvia Gold. Dances by Isadora offers rarely seen dance gems from Duncan’s repertoire in programs that bring this dance of breath and spirit to a new generation. The group is dedicated to the growth of new work and reconstructions which comment on the past while looking to the future. Dances by Isadora has recently performed at Danspace Projects’s Dance Access Series presenting their Beethoven Project and at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center’s Fridays at Noon series on a program entitled Isadora Duncan in the 21st Century.
Dancer, choreographer and educator, Catherine Gallant, was introduced to Isadora Duncan’s work when she saw Annabelle Gamson perform on PBS in the late 1970’s. She began her study of the technique of Isadora Duncan with Julia Levien, (a student of Anna and Irma Duncan) in 1982. Ms. Gallant is the founder (along with Patricia Adams) of Dances by Isadora which has brought the work of Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) to vibrant life for audiences in the US and abroad since 1989. Along with Catherine Gallant/DANCE, the NYC based group is dedicated to the growth of new work and reconstructions which comment on the past while looking to the future. Dances by Isadora and Catherine Gallant/DANCE recently performed at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center and at Jacob’s Pillow on the Inside/Out Series. She currently performs in Jerome Bel’s new work Isadora Duncan. Catherine is a full-time dance educator at PS 89. She and her students are featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, PS DANCE! Catherine is on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL). She holds a BFA in Dance from Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Dance from Temple University.
Ms. Gallant is currently on the Duncan Archive Committee and is a regular contributor to the duncanarchive.com. Ms. Gallant is a full-time NYCDOE dance educator at PS 89 in Manhattan where she explores dance with students in Pre-K through fifth grade. She and her students were featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, PS DANCE! which illuminates the process of dance learning in public education. She served on the writing committee for the NYC Blueprint for the Arts in DANCE and has taught on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL). Ms. Gallant was an author of the Dance for Diverse Learners Supplement to the Blueprint and regularly leads professional development workshop for dance teachers in NYC Public Schools and has taught dance education workshops in Paris, Copenhagen, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Loretta Thomas has been teaching and performing for over 25 years. She performed with Michael Sokoloff Dance Ensemble and Austin Civic ballet in Texas. In New York since 1977, she performed the Duncan work with Lori Belilove & Dancers and Dances by Isadora and with Catherine Gallant/Dances in addition to presenting her own work throughout the Northeast and Texas.
Ms. Thomas studied modern dance under scholarship with Merce Cunningham, with master Duncan teachers Julia Levien and Hortense Kooluris, ballet with Maggie Black, childhood education with Ellen Robbins among others in 92 St.Y Dance Education Lab and Chinese movement forms with Grandmaster Yu Cheng Hsiang.
Ms. Thomas has taught at Michael Sokoloff Dance Studio and parochial schools in New York and New Jersey and in a workshop at the Houston High School for the performing arts, Vassar College and at the Isadora Duncan International Symposium. She is currently on faculty at Mark Morris Dance Center and her Moving Visions Studio. The Moving Visions Dancers have performed recently at Actors Fund Mark O’Donnell Theater and Baruch Performing Arts Center as well as St Mark’s Church with Dances by Isadora, the Paul Taylor Youth Ensemble Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Taste of Dance, and the Kids Café Showcase.
Francesca Todesco
Francesca is of Swiss Italian origin and trained in several modern dance techniques and styles. She has been a dancer with Catherine Gallant/Dance and Dances by Isadora since 2000, a member of Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble since 2003 and assists with coaching the Sokolow repertory, as well as performing with Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion. Francesca has taught technique and repertory works in the U.S. and abroad. She has run her own children program in Hoboken, NJ from 2006 to 2016.
Marie Carstens, is a board certified dance movement therapist, certified movement analyst, licensed creative arts therapist (NY), licensed massage therapist (NY), dancer and choreographer. She trained classically in dance performance at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri- Kansas City, then received her Master’s of Science in Dance Therapy from Hunter College, City University of New York in 1996. Marie worked full-time as a dance/movement therapist and later as a clinical director at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, and then at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center until 2014. She continued dancing and choreographing throughout this time steeping herself in the work of early modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan. Marie attained a teaching certificate in Isadora Duncan Studies from the Isadora Duncan International Institute (1997) under the tutelage of Jeanne Bresciani. She subsequently studied and performed with Lori Belilove (Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation), with Lynn Armentrout with whom she created and co-directed the Duncan Dance Collective (2000-2010). Marie also performed for choreographers Michiyo Sato, Rina Rinkewich (Return of the Sun), in NYC and Paris, and from 2010 to present with Catherine Gallant (Dances by Isadora, NYC). Marie attained her Certification in Laban Movement Analysis from Laban/Bartenieff and Somatic Studies International - an affiliate of the Laban Institute of Movement Analysis, in 2008. She left full time hospital-based work in 2014 to spend more time with her young daughters. She now balances motherhood with performance, private practice in dance/movement psychotherapy, in-home and group dance/movement therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease as well as massage therapy practice. She is also an adjunct lecturer at Queens College teaching Introduction to Dance/Movement Therapy and Analysis of Dance/Movement.
Dancer, choreographer and educator, Catherine Gallant, was introduced to Isadora Duncan’s work when she saw Annabelle Gamson perform on PBS in the late 1970’s. She began her study of the technique of Isadora Duncan with Julia Levien, (a student of Anna and Irma Duncan) in 1982. Ms. Gallant is the founder (along with Patricia Adams) of Dances by Isadora which has brought the work of Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) to vibrant life for audiences in the US and abroad since 1989. Along with Catherine Gallant/DANCE, the NYC based group is dedicated to the growth of new work and reconstructions which comment on the past while looking to the future. Dances by Isadora and Catherine Gallant/DANCE recently performed at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center and at Jacob’s Pillow on the Inside/Out Series. She currently performs in Jerome Bel’s new work Isadora Duncan. Catherine is a full-time dance educator at PS 89. She and her students are featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, PS DANCE! Catherine is on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL). She holds a BFA in Dance from Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Dance from Temple University.
Ms. Gallant is currently on the Duncan Archive Committee and is a regular contributor to the duncanarchive.com. Ms. Gallant is a full-time NYCDOE dance educator at PS 89 in Manhattan where she explores dance with students in Pre-K through fifth grade. She and her students were featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, PS DANCE! which illuminates the process of dance learning in public education. She served on the writing committee for the NYC Blueprint for the Arts in DANCE and has taught on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL). Ms. Gallant was an author of the Dance for Diverse Learners Supplement to the Blueprint and regularly leads professional development workshop for dance teachers in NYC Public Schools and has taught dance education workshops in Paris, Copenhagen, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Loretta Thomas has been teaching and performing for over 25 years. She performed with Michael Sokoloff Dance Ensemble and Austin Civic ballet in Texas. In New York since 1977, she performed the Duncan work with Lori Belilove & Dancers and Dances by Isadora and with Catherine Gallant/Dances in addition to presenting her own work throughout the Northeast and Texas.
Ms. Thomas studied modern dance under scholarship with Merce Cunningham, with master Duncan teachers Julia Levien and Hortense Kooluris, ballet with Maggie Black, childhood education with Ellen Robbins among others in 92 St.Y Dance Education Lab and Chinese movement forms with Grandmaster Yu Cheng Hsiang.
Ms. Thomas has taught at Michael Sokoloff Dance Studio and parochial schools in New York and New Jersey and in a workshop at the Houston High School for the performing arts, Vassar College and at the Isadora Duncan International Symposium. She is currently on faculty at Mark Morris Dance Center and her Moving Visions Studio. The Moving Visions Dancers have performed recently at Actors Fund Mark O’Donnell Theater and Baruch Performing Arts Center as well as St Mark’s Church with Dances by Isadora, the Paul Taylor Youth Ensemble Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Taste of Dance, and the Kids Café Showcase.
Francesca Todesco
Francesca is of Swiss Italian origin and trained in several modern dance techniques and styles. She has been a dancer with Catherine Gallant/Dance and Dances by Isadora since 2000, a member of Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble since 2003 and assists with coaching the Sokolow repertory, as well as performing with Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion. Francesca has taught technique and repertory works in the U.S. and abroad. She has run her own children program in Hoboken, NJ from 2006 to 2016.
Marie Carstens, is a board certified dance movement therapist, certified movement analyst, licensed creative arts therapist (NY), licensed massage therapist (NY), dancer and choreographer. She trained classically in dance performance at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri- Kansas City, then received her Master’s of Science in Dance Therapy from Hunter College, City University of New York in 1996. Marie worked full-time as a dance/movement therapist and later as a clinical director at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, and then at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center until 2014. She continued dancing and choreographing throughout this time steeping herself in the work of early modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan. Marie attained a teaching certificate in Isadora Duncan Studies from the Isadora Duncan International Institute (1997) under the tutelage of Jeanne Bresciani. She subsequently studied and performed with Lori Belilove (Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation), with Lynn Armentrout with whom she created and co-directed the Duncan Dance Collective (2000-2010). Marie also performed for choreographers Michiyo Sato, Rina Rinkewich (Return of the Sun), in NYC and Paris, and from 2010 to present with Catherine Gallant (Dances by Isadora, NYC). Marie attained her Certification in Laban Movement Analysis from Laban/Bartenieff and Somatic Studies International - an affiliate of the Laban Institute of Movement Analysis, in 2008. She left full time hospital-based work in 2014 to spend more time with her young daughters. She now balances motherhood with performance, private practice in dance/movement psychotherapy, in-home and group dance/movement therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease as well as massage therapy practice. She is also an adjunct lecturer at Queens College teaching Introduction to Dance/Movement Therapy and Analysis of Dance/Movement.