Allegretto (inspired by Isadora Duncan's work from 1908) choreography by Catherine Gallant

Between 1904 and 1908 Isadora Duncan performed solo to the second, third and fourth movements of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. She danced onstage accompanied by a full orchestra lead by luminary conductors including Walter Damrosch. Much of the original work was lost but Maria Theresa Duncan, one of the six adopted students of Isadora, created her own group version of the work which was last performed in 1979.

Catherine Gallant of Dances by Isadora has created a new choreography which honors Duncan's spirit and musical imagination.

The reconstruction/ reimagining process used the Beethoven score, quotes from Maria Theresa Duncan, reviews from Duncan's performances of the work, photographic images, oral history and fragments of gestures.

In our process we asked, How does a dance exist when it is over? What happens to a dance when it becomes “lost”? The Allegretto and Presto sections from Isadora Duncan's untitled work to Beethoven's Symphony No.7 Op.92, were performed in 1979 when Maria Theresa Duncan presented a group reconstruction of this work with her Heritage Company. Originally Duncan performed three movements of the symphony as a solo and was accompanied by a full orchestra. This dance is an important representation of Duncan's musical intelligence and marks her primary foray into abstraction as a catalyst for her dance making process. Critics of the time were outraged at her choice to dance to Beethoven and called it a “sacrilege”. This reconstruction, or more aptly, “reimagining” project, is a significant historical and educational undertaking and reanimates the work by enlivening the extant version from the Maria Theresa lineage and expanding the choreography of the Allegretto and Presto sections into group works. This dance bridges the ephemeral divide of time and movement knowledge as it honors Duncan’s spirit through our own interpretation. Along with our deep understanding of the technique and repertoire of Duncan we have used the beauty of the music to guide the choreography. It is both Duncan’s dance and our dance.



This video is from performance on June 25, 2016 at Danspace/St. Mark's Church. Dance Access Series
(video by Nel Shelby Productions)


Loretta Thomas, Michelle Cohen, Francesca Todesco, Eleanor Bunker, Natalia Brillante, Margherita Tisato, Charlotte Hendrickson, Erica Lessner and Megan Minturn

copyright Dances by Isadora