Resident Performing Troupe of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation

Photographs by Vladimir Lupovskoy

Under the artistic direction of Lori Belilove, The Isadora Duncan Dance Company creates and performs works that highlight the unique qualities of Isadora Duncan's repertoire, ranging from early pieces to the later tragic solos, all with a purity of style and execution of movement hailed by the international press.

The all-female company is a spirited ensemble of highly trained dancers, both mature artists and fresh faces on the New York dance scene. Each dancer has received training and private coaching in Duncan technique from noted Duncan authorities. The dancers are distinguished by their deeply felt connection to Isadora and to Artisic Director Lori Belilove's interpretive vision and aesthetic. As a creative team, the ensemble delves into new artistic territory as it explores ways to deliver the essence of Isadora into the 21st Century.

“This is Duncan dancing of unusual vigor, physical weight and whole-heartedness.
The dancers stood out for their lyrical, beautifully shaped arms and hands... emotions and gestures rose out of the dancing rather than any look of acting. Throughout the program one felt much closer to (Duncan) the artist than to the romantic legend.”
Jennifer Dunning,
The New York Times

“Lori Belilove stands out... fervently committed performances... insights and revelations... sensuality... brilliant.”
Anna Kisselgoff,
The New York Times

As the resident performing troupe of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, The Isadora Duncan Dance Company has toured dance festivals in Europe, Mexico, South America, and Canada. In Athens, Greece, the Company's performance in Isadora's newly restored home received extensive national TV coverage. The Company toured Cologne, Aachen, and Bonn, Germany, and also appeared at the Design Exchange in Toronto, Canada. In 1996 they were invited to perform at the Theater of the Russian Army in Budapest for dignitaries welcoming modern dance back into their country.

The Company has appeared nationally in diverse settings ranging from the college and university circuit to performing arts centers, museums, and outdoor festivals. For example, in Ohio they have performed at the Dayton Art Institute, the Victoria Theater, Oberlin College, and Wright State University. On tour in California they performed at Theater Artaud and City College of San Francisco.

The Board of Directors and Artistic Advisors, composed of numerous dance luminaries, historians, and advocates, formed the corporation to give the general public and dance community a deeper understanding of the artistic heritage of Isadora Duncan.

Today the notion still exists that when Isadora died, her dancing died with her. It is, however, through the dancers in her school and performing companies throughout the world that Duncan's art continues as a classic contribution to the world of dance — reaching far beyond her own lifetime — affecting the very core of today's concept of dance.

Photographs and articles of The Isadora Duncan Dance Company have appeared in numerous international dance publications and periodicals including Dance Magazine, Ballet Internationale, Korean Times, Dancar Magazine (Brazil), Lears, and the Greek-American, with photo layouts in Fitness Magazine. Most recently the Company has appeared in the book, Dance Photos published by Dance Ink.

The Company has performed to national and international acclaim in dance festivals around the world and in such prestigious New York venues as the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, Whitney Museum of American Art's Equitable Series, 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, Duke Theater on 42nd Street, and Symphony Space. The Company has also appeared seasonally at their own intimate and well-attended “Salon Performance Series” held at the Isadora Duncan Foundation Studio in New York

Lori Belilove
Lori Belilove's direct lineage and prestigious performing career have earned her an international reputation as the premier interpreter and ambassador of the dance of Isadora Duncan. She has been hailed as “ ...one of the most impassioned and authentic Duncan interpreters around.” (Janice Ross, Oakland Tribune). Through her performances, master classes, and workshops, children, college students and professional dancers have experienced the purity, timelessness, authentic phrasing, and musicality that has been passed down to Lori through the direct line of Isadora Duncan dancers. Among her teachers were Anna Duncan and Irma Duncan, two of the six adopted artistic daughters of Isadora.

Ms. Belilove received a BFA in dance, religion, and classical studies from Mills College, Oakland, CA. She trained extensively in the modern technique of Doris Humphrey as a private student of both Eleanor King and Ernestine Stodelle, original members of the Humphrey-Weidman Dance Company.

Belilove has toured extensively both nationally and internationally including Brazil, Korea, West Africa, Canada, Mexico and Europe. She maintains a studio and school in New York City and is considered an important source for the documentation and interpretation of the Duncan technique and repertory. She is the leading dancer in the award-winning PBS documentary 'Isadora Duncan: Movement From the Soul' narrated by stage and screen actress Julie Harris.

In 2003 she staged and danced the leading role as Isadora in the new dance-theater work, Isadora… No Apologies. Held at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street, the show ran for two weeks to sold-out houses. Deemed “irresistibly joyous” by Jack Anderson of The New York Times, Anderson wrote, “Through her dancing, Ms. Belilove, a Duncan authority, makes this great choreography seem eternally fresh.” At Peter Norton Symphony Space in March 2004 Lori premiered Isadora Into the 21st Century, called “ingenious” by Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times, the evening featured two of her newest choreographic works, Perfumes of the Night, a modern Isadora waltz for four women set to a revised score of 'Valse Triste' by Sibelius, and Wind Sail, a dance inspired by a friend’s voyage of 1,000 days at sea and set to a piano concerto by Michael Nyman. In 2007 her latest work, The EveryWoman Series: The Red Thread, an emotionally charged suite of dances exploring the lives of women through different phases, had its world premiere to critical and audience acclaim at the Ailey Citigroup Theater.