A Tribute to our Essential Heroes: Varshiavianka

Choreography Isadora Duncan (1924) Repetiteur Andrea Mantell-Seidel Dancers Julia Faris, Allyn Ginns Ayers, Isabelle Haas, David Harris, Matthew Huefner, Benicka J. Grant, Renee Roberts, Joshua Rosado, Anthony Velazquez The essential workers on the frontline of this COVID-19 pandemic – in healthcare, in the postal service, in the supermarket, and all those keeping our countries running while so many of us are sheltering at home – are the heroes of today. We at Dance NOW! Miami are sharing this video with you of Isadora Duncan’s powerful “Varshiavianka,” recorded at one of our rehearsals, as a tribute to all who fight. While the piece was originally inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, and choreographed by Duncan as a call for the impoverished Bolshevik workers to rise up against oppression, it is incredibly timely as the world is now “at war” against the oppressive threat of a deadly virus. Isadora Duncan was an American pioneer of concert dance at the turn of the 20th century whose innovative free-spirited style broke with the dominant rigidity of ballet and led to what is now called modern or contemporary dance. DNM was originally going to be presenting reconstructions of four essential works of Duncan’s for our annual “Masterpiece In Motion” series at our spring concert, canceled due to the coronavirus. “Varshiavianka” has been restaged by Andrea Mantell-Seidel, the past Artistic Director of Miami's Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble. Please note that the dancers are in rehearsal costumes only, performing at an informal showing in the company’s home at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. This piece is sponsored in part by Citizens Interested in Arts, the Miami Salon Group, the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida (Section 286.25, Florida Statutes); the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners; the City of Miami Beach Department of Culture, Tourism and Economic Development, and other sources.

Dance NOW! saluted the frontline workers of the pandemic with this video of Isadora Duncan’s Varshiavianka. Filmed in rehearsal at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, this 1924 piece, originally inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917, is a tribute to all who fight—all who run into the heat of battle for the cause, knowing they may  not survive. This and other work of Isadora Duncan was restaged on DNM by Andrea Mantell Seidel and was to be performed in March of 2020.