Once Wild: Isadora in Russia
“On the way to Russia, I had the detached feeling
of a soul after death making its way to another sphere…
I actually believed that the ideal state,
such as Plato, Marx and Lenin had dreamed it,
had now, by some miracle, been created on earth.”
- Isadora Duncan, 1921
Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4 at 8 p.m., Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m.
DAVIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, GONDA THEATRE
Tickets: Go to http://performingarts.georgetown.edu/
or (202) 687-ARTS (2787)
$25 General/$18 Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Senior/$10 Student
Post-performance reception on May 3 and discussion with artists on May 4.
Never one to miss a revolution, Isadora Duncan arrived in Russia in 1921, determined to ignite its children’s minds through a new school of dance. Immersed in the spirit of the time, Duncan created some of her most groundbreaking, soulsearing works. Her story, as dramatic as its surrounding history, comes to life in this unique collaboration that weaves Duncan’s own dances with a newly commissioned play, world-premiere choreography, and original score.
In this progressive multi-disciplinary production, Word Dance Theater joins forces with Georgetown University’s Davis Performing Arts Center and award-winning stage director Derek Goldman (Our Class) to produce the theatrical collaboration Once Wild: Isadora in Russia. Written by Helen Hayes Award-winning playwright Norman Allen (Nijinksy’s Last Dance), with original music by renowned composer Dominik Maican, and choreography by Cynthia Word (Preludes: Duncan, Sand and Chopin), Once Wild steps across creative boundaries to offer a bold, new vision of seminal artist Isadora Duncan, her work, and her years in Bolshevik Russia.
In keeping with the company’s cross-disciplinary spirit, the central role of Irma Duncan, Isadora’s adopted daughter, will be shared by actress Kimberly Schraf and dancer Ingrid Zimmer. Philip Fletcher, known for his work with Synetic Theater, portrays volatile Russian poet Sergei Esenin, and Cynthia Word dances the lead role of Isadora.
Read about our journey in creating our latest work in our blog “The Art of Creating”.
The Collaborators
The Cast
Our Sponsors
Previews and Reviews
5/4/13, “Isadora is captured in ‘Once Wild’”, Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post
5/2/13, “Once Wild”, Ekaterina Brancato, Dimen∫ionΣ
4/23/13 “‘Once Wild’ explores Isadora Duncan’s varied facets beyond dancing”, Sarah Kaufmann, Washington Post
4/29/13 “Word Dance’s ‘Once Wild’: Isadora in Russia’ premieres May 3″, Robert Devaney, The Georgetowner
5/2/13: “Russian Adventures”, Patrick Folliard, Washington Blade
Media Kit
Leading Washington Artists Reach Across Disciplines for World Premiere Dance-Theatre Collaboration
About the Collaborators
What People are Saying About Word Dance Theater
Press Images Credit: Theo Kossenas, Media4Artists)
Passage
Varshavianka
The Collaborators
Cynthia Word, Director of Choreography
Artistic Director of Word Dance Theater
Cynthia Word is the Founder and Artistic Director of Word Dance Theater a non-profit performing arts organization founded in 2000. Born and raised in Abilene, Texas, Ms. Word has a Bachelor of Science for the University of Texas/Austin, but began her Modern Dance training at the University of Illinois with choreographers Beverly Blossom, Chester Wolenski, Mary Anthony, and Sarah Rudner. She later received her Master in Fine Arts from The George Washington University, where she served on the teaching faculty. Based in Washington, DC, Ms. Word and Word Dance Theater create Isadora Duncan-based dance/theater productions, blending compelling story, live music, and the dances of Isadora Duncan to create theatrical productions that are powerfully engaging to audiences. Her most recent creation, co-produced with the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University, is entitled Once Wild: Isadora in Russia and will premiere May 3 thru 5, 2013 at the Davis Performing Arts Center, Washington DC.
In addition to her dance/theater productions, Word has performed as a soloist in Austria, England, Scotland and Iran. In 2009 she toured Greece as a featured artist with the Isadora Duncan International Institute. The IDII awarded Cynthia the prestigious Maria-Teresa Duncan Award for Excellence in November 2010 for the mix media theater/dance production Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin which presented for the first time since 1949 Isadora Duncan’s choreography to Chopin’s “The Twenty Four Preludes”.
Derek Goldman, Theatrical Director
Artistic Director of the Davis Performing Arts Center
Derek Goldman (Davis Performing Arts Center Artistic Director) is Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University and an award-winning director and playwright/adapter, developer of new work and published scholar, whose work has been seen around the country and internationally, Off-Broadway, and at major regional theaters including Steppenwolf in Chicago, Lincoln Center, Arena Stage, Folger Theater, Round House, Syracuse Stage, Theater J, Everyman Theater, Synetic Theater, Forum Theater, the Kennedy Center, and many others. He is the author of more than 25 professionally produced plays and adaptations, and has directed more than 75 productions. His recent production of The Brothers Size at Everyman Theater was named Baltimore Magazine’s “Best Production of the Year.” Recent/upcoming projects include Our Class at Theater J and the World Premiere of Young Robin Hood at Round House, Clementine in the Lower Nine at Forum, and Once Wild with Word Dance Theater, premiering at Georgetown in May. Founding Artistic Director StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance (Chicago and Chapel Hill, NC); Executive Board member/ US Delegate of the UNESCO Chair / ITI (International Theatre Institute); Delegate ITI World Congress, China; Ph.D. in Performance Studies, Northwestern University. At Georgetown he is honored to teach extraordinary students in Directing, Adaptation, Political Theater, Global Performance, Acting Shakespeare, and more. This past summer he and Ambassador Cynthia Schneider co-hosted a major international convening at Georgetown on Global Performance, Civic Imagination, and Cultural Diplomacy, part of a new initiative called the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.
Carlos César Rodríguez, Musical Director, Pianist
Carlos César Rodríguez is a musician of brilliance and versatility recognized as a virtuoso pianist who not only generates excitement in the Hispanic and Spanish repertoire, but also displays an extraordinary flair for Mozart, the romantics and the avant-garde scores. He has recorded for Omicron and Brioso labels and has won the highest critical acclaims for his CD of Spanish music, España en el Corazón, distributed by Brioso Recordings. He is an expert on early instruments and is privileged to have access to the Smithsonian Institution’s rare collection. Mr. Rodríguez was chosen by the Smithsonian to perform during its 300th year celebration of the piano. He was also invited to participate in the 150th anniversary celebration of the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Rodríguez has won acclaim as music director of Mozart operas and Zarzuelas (Spanish operas), and as a composer, arranger, and improviser of ballets, Spanish dance scores, and Latin-Jazz/Pop compositions. Currently, Mr. Rodríguez is a member of the piano faculty at the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC, and guest artist and coach for the Domingo/Cafritz Young Artist Program with the Washington National Opera.
Norman Allen, Playwright
Norman Allen’s work has been commissioned and produced by the Kennedy Center (The Light of Excalibur), the Shakespeare Theatre Company (On the Eve of Friday Morning), and the Karlin Music Theatre in Prague, where his contemporary Carmen (score by Wildhorn & Murphy) ran for four years, and recently premiered as a 3D film. While playwright-in-residence at Signature Theatre, Allen premiered Melville Slept Here, Nijinsky’s Last Dance (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Play), and In the Garden (Charles MacArthur Award, Outstanding New Play), with subsequent productions across the United States and Europe. Current and upcoming projects include an adaptation of George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, funded by a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts, and productions of Carmen in Japan and Korea. He was recently named a member of the Playwrights Arena development program at Arena Stage. In addition to his work for the theatre, Allen has provided essays and commentary for WAMU-FM (NPR), and for leading national publications, including Smithsonian and the Washington Post. Photo by Teresa Castracane.
Dominik Maican, Composer
Tudor Dominik Maican was born December 16, 1988 in Koln, Germany. At the age of 11 he was received at the Juilliard School of Music, Pre-College Division. There he studied composition with Dr. Andrew Thomas, Ira Taxin, and privately with Milton Babbit, and piano with Olegna Fuschi. Mr. Maican received top honors at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory’s Competition for Young composers, Italy’s Cultural Association’s 7th Annual International Competition for solo instrument (piano), Vancouver, and Canada International Competition for Choral Music to name only a few. He received the 2007 Presidential Scholar and has been received at the White House by President George W. Bush, he has been featured in the Washington Post newspaper and many other publications, NPR radio programs “From the Top”, and “All Things Considered”. The same year, NBC named Maican the Amazing Child of the Year. Maican was Composer in Residence at Dumbarton Concerts Society 2006-2011 and commissioned him for a major work every year. Most recently, he was commissioned by Musica Nova Ensemble of Contemporary Music from Paris, France to write a septet, which opened the 2011 International Music Festival in Bucharest, Romania. Also, he has been commissioned to write a trio for “From the Top”, the very well-known music show on NPR.
Ingrid Zimmer, Associate Director of Word Dance Theater
Ingrid Zimmer received a B.A. in Dance/Theatre from Pomona College where she was trained in the Limon Technique. Upon graduating, she moved to Europe where she toured, performed and studied dance at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany under the artistic direction of Pina Bausch. Ms. Zimmer has been dancing professionally, teaching and choreographing in the Washington, DC, area for the last 14 years. She has danced with local companies Bowen McCauley Dance, and Rincones and Company. Ms. Zimmer has performed in national and international venues including the Kennedy Center, Jacobs Pillow, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, and the Gran Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporanea in Monterey, Mexico. Ms. Zimmer is currently in the Certificate Program at the Isadora Duncan International Institute where she is learning Duncan’s original choreography and pedagogical techniques.
James Garver, Sound Designer
James Bigbee Garver creates sonic inventions, soundscapes and music for live performance, film and interactive media. He is currently based in Washington, DC where his designs have been heard at Theater J, the Studio, Synetic, Scena, and Solas Nua Theatres, Cultural DC’s Source festival, at Strathmore for CityDance Ensemble, and at Georgetown University. In New York City his designs have been heard at Performance Space-122, The 92nd Street Y, Joyce SoHo, Japan Society, The Atlantic Theatre Company School, American Museum of Natural History, and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center on Long Island. His Off-Broadway credits include Lincoln Center and Theater Row. In 2006 he created the Tiny Dance Film Series (tinydancefilms.com) with choreographer Peter Kyle. He has scored and co-directed ten dance films for the series which have been on view throughout the U.S., Europe, and South China. His ongoing association with Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA continues this Spring with a new production of The Tempest. More information at bigbee.org.
Judy Hansen, Costume Designer
Robbie Hayes, Lighting Designer
Jared Mezzocchi, Projection Artist
Our Sponsors
The following are proud sponsors of Once Wild:
Banner Associates LLC
Banner Management-Hallmark
James Bellas
Bender Foundation
Bernstein Family Foundation
Betsy Drapela
Yahya Fiuzi
Margaret Johnson and Ray Ottenberg
Silver Marketing Inc.
Nancy Squires
Steele Family Foundation
Michael and Debbie Thawley
Pamela White
Mrs. Charles Word
Constance Zimmer and Rob Hetem
Thank you to the following for their generous support of Once Wild:
Vladimir Angelov