Dance Currents Inc. Presents 'One Hundred Years of Modern Dance/A Test of Time'

Dance Currents Inc. is presenting a concert of nine Modern dances by famous choreographers as well as a panel following the performance discussing how Modern dance does or does not withstand the test of time. The dances are Narcissus by Isadora Duncan; Incense by Ruth St. Denis; Mazurka and Tango by Ted Shawn; Three Brahms Waltzes by Charles Weidman; The Pond and the Cage by Anna Sokolow; Rainbow Etude by Donald McKayle; Limon Etude by Carla Maxwell; Parsons Etude by David Parsons, and Battle Etude by Robert Battle. Modern and Contemporary dancers and choreographers in the Boston area will be on the panel.

The following is a description of the guiding idea: According to Isadora Duncan in her essay The Dance of the Future (1902), "The dancer of the future will be one whose body and soul have grown so harmoniously together that the natural language of that soul will have become the movement of the body." We can now look back in 2017 and reflect on her statement. The choreographers whose dances will be presented are a few of the major figures of Modern Dance. Many Modern Dance artists have struggled to connect themselves to their current time, or to comment on it. Movement as intelligence and feeling, whether it be the natural world, the hard edge of city life or the complexities of our time has been the province of Modern Dance ever since Isadora Duncan's prediction. Where are we now, after more than one hundred years? One Hundred Years of Modern Dance celebrates change itself, the change of human beings searching for the dance of their time and place, and that of the future.

It is important to keep this legacy of Modern Dance alive because the heart of it sparks that movement which turns thought into action, through rhythm, gesture and feeling. If we are to recognize that "We are all part of one another", as Barbara Deming says, this open, accepting dance attitude encourages empathy and allows for the vulnerability and experimentation necessary to change ourselves and our world. The dancers are Samantha Govoni, Lauren Previte, Avery Saulnier de Reyes, Ali Smith and Meredith Wells, with guest artist Janelle Gilchrist.

One Hundred Years of Modern Dance/The Test of Time, November 17 and 18th at 8pm. Green Street Studios, 185 Green Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 Tickets: $23 for adults, $20 for students, seniors or Boston Dance Alliance members. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

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