![]() ![]() A few company dancers are graduates of her children’s troupe, which she called the “Beliloveables,” after Duncan’s Isadorables. It is a reward, a byproduct of a discipline that opens the body to release self and soul.ĭuncan always worked with and believed in children, and so does Belilove. Tip: Avoid striking poses keep the movement flowing throughout and pause with resonance. Step 1: “Gathering Focus”: Lying down face down, keep the weight into the floor, with bent knees held together and rock legs, hips and torso side to side. “The upper and lower halves of the body are connected as the impulse ripples all the way from head to feet.” “I love what happens with the spine,” she says. Here, Belilove shares this sequence demonstrated step-by-step by Rose (Note: all images are courtesy Belilove). It moves through Isadora’s three levels of focus-earth, the horizon line and sky-gathering strength from the earth, inviting others on an equal plane, and ultimately offering a “gift to the gods.” Step by Step “The Hayley” begins face down on the floor and ends with an opening to the heavens. ![]() Hayley Rose, a student of Belilove since the age of 10 and now a leading company member, is a “quintessential product” of this training. Rose’s unhurried, dynamic flow inspired a movement sequence that has become a fixture in Belilove’s class, and a microcosm of Duncan’s aesthetic. And never hurry, but never be late.’ So the spontaneous quality of this listening, with the body leading before the limbs, makes you think ‘Oh, she’s in the moment!’ But it’s trained, it’s actually trained.” What you see is this underpinning of breath-a kind of buoyancy right under the midriff point and under the armpits, so your arms never press close to your sides.”Īnother key quality of Duncan technique that Belilove describes has to do with musicality, as taught by Irma Duncan. “Irma said, ‘Listen to the music as if you’re hearing it for the first time. “It begins with initiating movement from the solar plexus-Isadora’s ‘mirror of the soul’-and using the breath as support. “This is Duncan technique,” explains Belilove. Designed for all levels and styles, the class culminated with a dash across the room in which the dancers seemed to be propelled by a magical tailwind and lifted by the air itself. She also buttressed her skills with related disciplines: ballet, yoga, Zena Rommett Floor-Barre, Gyrotonic, and especially the Humphrey-Weidman technique-emphasizing weight, momentum and lyricism.Ī recent class at Belilove’s spacious studio in Chelsea included several of her company members, plus a cross-section of young New Yorkers studying everything from classical ballet to hip hop, as well as Duncan devotees Zooming in from as far away as Brazil. She studied with Irma Duncan and other members of Duncan’s original “Isadorables,” as well as second-generation Duncan dancer Hortense Kooluris. Belilove fell in love with Duncan’s aesthetic on a visit to Athens when she was 12 years old and has been a practitioner ever since. ![]()
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