![]() ![]() A cast of 25 dancers, including former American Ballet Theatre principal Veronika Part, will portray everyone from family and collaborators to Vladimir Lenin and Soviet citizens. and Europe, and blends classical pointework with modern movement that evokes her lyrical, Grecian-inspired style. Photo by Doug Gifford, Courtesy Segerstrom Center for the Arts.Ĭhoreographed and directed by the Mariinsky Theatre’s Vladimir Varnava, ISADORA traces Duncan’s life in the U.S. Even being part of The Royal Ballet, I still fight for my freedom to gain artistic strength.” In search of that freedom, Osipova has continually pursued outside contemporary projects. “I feel I understand Isadora,” Osipova says, “as dancers striving always to gain artistic freedom and our unique individuality. during her lifetime, she spent much of her career in Russia and other parts of Europe and married a Russian poet. ![]() ![]() This month she takes another stride on that path by starring in ISADORA, an evening-length narrative work about Isadora Duncan that premieres August 10–12 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California.īorn in San Francisco in 1877, Duncan pioneered modern dance and broke ground for independent women artists. She is working to innovate the Duncan technique for the 21st Century with contemporary music selection, expanded and developed movements and challenging choreography.Since stepping down as a Bolshoi Ballet principal in 2011, prima ballerina Natalia Osipova, now a principal with The Royal Ballet, has been on a quest to express her own artistic voice. Valerie firmly believes that Duncan Dance is a vital aspect to the dance of today and that all dancers can benefit from its unique focus on musicality, artistry, personal expression and openness. Since discovering Duncan Dance in 1992, Valerie has focused on building, preserving and learning more about Isadora's gorgeous, timeless and inspired technique of dance and repertory of dances. She served as the founding Chair of the Isadora Duncan Archive committee and project. The organization aims to bring together practitioners of the Duncan community to expand the reach and breadth of the Duncan work throughout the world. Valerie has helped spearhead the formation of the Isadora Duncan International Symposium as an original member of the Organizing Committee. Her new choreographies in the Duncan Dance technique have been well received and performed around the country, including the National Portrait Gallery, Freer/Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian, National Cathedral, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Paris/Ballys in Las Vegas, Mercy College in New York and many other venues. Valerie is building a performing aspect to the Duncan technique in the Maryland and DC areas with performances throughout the year. She has taught Duncan Dance/Free Movement for the Academy Ballet School at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, at Strathmore-CityDance in Rockville, as well as several other dance studios in the Annapolis, Baltimore and DC areas. She graduated from the ICONS Choreographic Institute program in 2021. She is a member of Dance ICONS a global network of choreographers. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, served as the President of the Word Dance Theater Board of Directors ( and earned a Master's of Fine Arts degree in Dance at the University of Maryland in 2012. ![]() Valerie is a Teaching Artist with the John F. Valerie currently resides in Maryland, with her son, Luke. She also acts in musical and play productions along the East Coast. Valerie has taught the Duncan technique at the Isadora Duncan Foundation and Steps on Broadway in New York City, as well as at schools in Princeton, NJ, Gainesville, FL, Annapolis, MD and the Washington, DC area.ĭancing since age three, Valerie originally studied ballet, tap and jazz at schools and companies such as the Virginia Ballet, the School of Performing Arts in Orlando Florida, Brigham Young University and the University of Florida. Valerie performed with Sonke-Henderson's DuncanWorks Children's Dance Theater in Gainesville, Florida. Valerie has studied and performed as a Company Member with the prestigious Lori Belilove & Company in New York City, and has studied with Duncan Dance Masters Lori Belilove, Jeanne Bresciani, Barbara Kane, Julia Levien and Hortense Kooluris, as well as other Duncan Dance teachers including Carrie Tron, Roberta Hoffman, Lynn Armentrout, Marie Carstens and Jill Sonke-Henderson. Valerie Durham is a direct lineage Duncan Dancer who has studied the Isadora Duncan technique since 1992. ![]()
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