Isadora Duncan was a revolutionary in the ballet world and she has inspired many an artist. Amongst them are two choreographers who created ballets about her. The first was Frederick Ashton who created Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan. The second was Kenneth MacMillan’s Isadora. Now Vladimir Varnava, choreographer of the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia, has created his own ballet. Isadora, which stars Natalia Osipova, is having its world premiere this weekend at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa.
Duncan was a native to California. During her career she enchanted artists, writers and audiences. But her life was cut tragically short when she died at the age of either 49 or 50 (depending on what date she was actually born) when the scarf she was wearing got caught in the wheels of the car in which she was riding and she was pulled out of the vehicle and broke her neck. It was a horrific end to such an inspirational dancer.
But where would ballet be without great tragedy along with great acclaim? It’s a perfect role for a ballerina. Osipova, who plays the title character, is a principal dancer with the London’s Royal Ballet.
There will be four performances of Isadora as part of this world-premiere.
Photo by: Doug Gifford
