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Following the Example of Isadora Duncan Students Learn to Move from Within
When my daughter was three, she begged to attend a modern dance class. Her illustrious dance career ended one month later when, self-conscious and too embarrassed to dance, she begged to quit. For seven years, she steadfastly refused to try any type of dance. Imagine my surprise when she accepted an invitation to a class conducted by Rebecca Bachar, Fairfield's premier instructor of Isadora Duncan Dance. After all, I couldn't entice her into ballet, modern, jazz, tap, or even folk dance. But after one class with Bachar, she was hooked. And this spring, she performed with 15 others in an hour-long recital.
Bachar directs "Nature's Dance," a class based on the techniques and philosophies of Isadora Duncan, the mother of modern dance. In "Nature's Dance" children learn to interpret music and creatively express their hearts and minds through natural, graceful movements.
"Inspiring dance movements come from deep inside the heart," says Bachar. "This allows one to resonate with the beauty and wholeness of life. When a child feels the freedom that naturally occurs with Duncan Dance, the ability to move and create are boundless. It enlivens and uplifts both the dancer and audience, and expresses each child's innate beauty, elegance, and joy."
What originally began as a private lesson for a friend three years ago quickly evolved into a popular dance program. Classes are designed for children from the ages of 3 to 18, and classes sometimes overlap, enabling younger and older dancers some collaborative time.
Isadora Duncan Follows the Wave
Isadora Duncan was a revolutionary in the dance world of the early 1900s. Although trained in ballet, the predominate dance of that time, she rejected its rigidity and formality. By experimenting with her own natural movements and rhythms, she discovered the impulses for movement began in her solar plexus, then continued to other parts of her body, like the ripple of a wave. Her experience produced movements fluid and dynamic.
"Isadora had an intimate relationship with music," says Bachar. "She felt it in her mind, spirit, heart, and body, every organ, every cell. She thoroughly experienced, and joyfully expressed, the absolute essence of the music she heard."
Influenced by the art and theater of ancient Greece, which used motion to express human sentiment, Duncan incorporated elements of Greek culture in her dance, including her hallmark loose, flowing tunics, considered scandalous in her day. Duncan met with little initial success in the United States, but was immensely popular in England, Europe, and Russia, strongly influenced Russian ballet, and later received accolades in the U.S.
Emphasizing Interpretation
Bachar's classes are conducted in the full spirit of Duncan's philosophies. They incorporate specific Duncan dances, but also leave plenty of opportunity for teacher and student interpretations.
"When we work on a theme in class, I provide a variety of predominantly classical materials--books, pictures, poems, or related objects--to invoke the mood. I offer guidance and suggestions; specific instructions and steps are gently given, but I emphasize individual interpretation. The movements come from the energy generated by each dancer as she feels and expresses the theme and music. "
Classes also involve choreography and dance technique, including work on the barre.
"Duncan barre work differs from ballet in that the body is more relaxed. Knees are not locked, and pointed ankles replace pointed toes, both of which are safer for the physiology. In Duncan Dance, the whole body is connected. When one part moves, the rest is affected, and the energy is allowed to flow."
Dances are often choreographed by students as well as Bachar. This creative freedom excites her students.
"Dancing with Rebecca is liberating," says nine-year-old Lisa Matt. "When I do Duncan Dance, I'm myself and nobody else. Whenever I dance, I feel I can know anything, go anywhere, be anything."
Twelve-year-old Rachel Todt, who for years had danced on her own, appreciates the spontaneity of Duncan Dance.
"At first, I was surprised to find a class that encouraged me to create my own dances. You can't make mistakes with Duncan Dance and I don't feel pressure. Dancing is effortless, and when I stop I just feel happy, beautiful, and so much better about myself."
"Rachel was able to come into this group as an older child who never before performed Duncan Dance," says her mother, Barbara Fjeldheim. "She was accepted right away. For brand-new dancers, this is a wonderful place to start."
"Duncan Dance also expresses the feminine side of life," says Cathy Matt, mother of Lisa. "Rebecca gives Lisa a chance to develop this part of herself. She encourages and nourishes pride in each girl's feminity."
Bachar has been dancing since she was three and has studied and performed traditional ballet and other forms of dance for the last 30 years. Four years ago she discovered Duncan dance master Jeanne Brescanni, a New York University professor and former soloist with the Isadora Duncan Commemorative Dance Company. She has studied and performed with Brescianni extensively in New York as well as in Greece and Albania, and is currently enrolled in her graduate-level certification program.
My once self-conscious, reserved daughter is eager to return to "Nature's Dance" in the fall and has volunteered to do solo work. My four year old is ready to join her. And nothing will stop Lisa Matt. "Dancing is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite things to do. To dance is to breathe. That's mainly why I dance."
