Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin
Press KitWorld Premiere November 4, 2010 – Lansburgh Theatre, Washington, DC
“soul stirring artistry”
- Charleston Today
“the dance season’s most
historically significant event”
-Washington Post
Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin is an innovative and historic dance/theater fantasy exploring the dynamics among these three boundary-breaking artists – Isadora Duncan, Frederic Chopin, and George Sand.
Downloads:
Press Kit
Press Images
Click Here to hear Artistic Director Cynthia Word and pianist Carlos Cesar Rodriguez on Spoleto Today. (Interview begins at time 13:10)
Reviews:
Comments from dance critic Dottie Hayes
Charleston Today
Piccolo Spoleto 2011
The Washington Post
The Story
In this bold artistic exploration, Chopin is at the apex of a time-traveling love triangle. Frederic Chopin composed his masterpiece, 24 Preludes, while wintering in Majorca in 1838-39 with 19th century novelist and lover George Sand — a journey that was artistically and personally complicated for both Sand and Chopin, but gave birth to these exquisite musical compositions as well as to Sand’s memoir, Winter in Majorca. Sixty years later, circa 1899, Isadora Duncan found inspiration in Chopin’s 24 Preludes and brought them to new life with her unique and powerful choreography and performed them for international audiences.
“Themes focusing on the quest for creative expression and
the seeking of the ideal – in art or love -
made the evening’s robust material rich and accessivle for all.”
-Leslie Hyde, Producer of The Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival
Follow these revolutionary artists as they aspire to find their own romantic notions of beauty and freedom, while struggling with who and where they were in time and place.
Featuring the masterworks of revolutionary artists Isadora Duncan, George Sand, and Frederic Chopin, Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin is a progressive, unique and sophisticated integration of dance, live music and theater.
Noted by The Washington Post as “the dance season’s most historically significant event”, Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin presents the complete collection of Isadora Duncan’s original choreography to Chopin’s 24 Preludes – a feat that no other dance company, including Isadora Duncan herself, has achieved. Click Here to learn more about this historical achievement.
Conceived and Produced by Maria-Theresa Duncan Award recipient, Cynthia Word.
Written and directed by Helen Hayes Award Winner Mary Hall Surface.
Live Piano accompaniment by Chopin virtuoso Carlos Cesar Rodriguez.
Dance re-staging by Word Dance Theater commissioned by dance archivist Jeanne Bresciani, Director of the Isadora Duncan International Institute,as conveyed to her by Marie-Theresa Duncan.
Click Here to learn more about the creators of Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin.
If you are interested in mounting this historic, new production, please contact Artistic Director,
Cynthia Word at cynthia@worddance.org.