Certificate Program in Isadora Duncan Studies I:

The Training

An accredited program held throughout the year in intensive sessions across the globe

The European Certificate Program in Isadora Duncan Studies

Directed by Jeanne Bresciani, M.A., M.A., I.M.A., Ph.D., (Former Fulbright Scholar in Dance and Kress Fellowship in the History of Art). The European Certificate Program was created in tandem to the original, Certificate Program in Isadora Duncan Studies I: The Training in Duncan’s technique, choreography, pedagogy and philosophy, founded at New York University’s Graduate School of Education, Department of Dance within the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in 1989 becoming the first Duncan accreditation program in the world. The Bresciani-IDII lineage encompasses years of intensive study and performance with Hortense Kooluris and Julia Levien of the Anna and Irma Duncan heritage, childhood dance training and young adulthood internship with Anita Zahn of the Elizabeth Duncan School, mentorship with Victor Seroff, Isadora’s biographer, and most notably, Bresciani’s years as protege to, Maria Theresa Duncan up to her 90th year as the “last dancing Isadorable.”

These original training seminars are based in the United States and continue among three sites unique to dance, Tempio di danza, IDII’s Mother House and natural precinct in upstate New York, the 92Y Harkness Dance Center in New York City, historic home of legendary Modern Dance founders in America, and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY., adjacent the New York City Ballet’s perennial summer festival site. The European Certificate Program draws upon the same principles of training and education as its American counterpart within preeminent, international locations annually since 2016. Building upon study tours and performances in Italy, France, Greece and Ireland since 1992, the European CP is comprised of concentrated studio sessions and field work drawing from the unique stores of art, history, dance community and culture that remarkable locations possess and that international collaborations foster. Inspiration, ideas and influences translate with immediacy from site visits into studio seminars and comprehensive studies via the dance of Isadora Duncan culminating in world class performance opportunities.

 

Program highlights include:

  • Intensive studio seminars exploring Isadora’s international oeuvre in locations of historical, natural, artistic and cultural import fulfilling IDII’s 32 studio hour per week requirement. A total of 7 week’s training must be completed for graduation and teaching certification. The European Certificate Program can be combined with CPI course week offerings in the United States or China as per the director’s discretion.
  • Field trips and official visits with site-specific movement explorations and lecture demonstrations at esteemed institutions
  • Individual and group choreographic research and artistic worksharings across media
  • Rehearsal and performance opportunities

Past European Certificate Programs:

May, 2016 – Vallauris, France – Isadora Duncan in France: An Enduring Passion

Held within the magical impressionist landscape of the French Riviera, to dance adjacent Picasso’s famed Madoura pottery atelier and original casting factory, students and professionals alike had the rare opportunity to experience artistry through new lens of conception in situ. Drawing from the genius of Renoir, Matisse, Chagall, Cocteau and others as well as collaboration with associates of the Ballet de Monte Carlo, the inaugural European Certificate Program embodied Duncan’s devotion to the artistic richesse of Europe.

Residency : Studios Actuels de la Danse

Sponsorship: Galerie Madoura

Performance: Studios Actuels de la Danse

 

June, 2017 – Delphi, Greece – Isadora Duncan & the Greek Fire

At the “Navel of the World,” The Festival for the Reinstatement of the Delphic Games connects artists of all disciplines together within the spirit of the Delphic ideal, second only to the Olympic Games in ancient times. Art, music, dance, poetry, theater, song, philosophy, myth and sport were all examined through Duncan’s dance and her foundational Greek impetus. The Festival for the Reinstatement of the Delphic Games is a mission spearheaded by the IDII since 2005 and today is in conjunction with Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies and the Delphic Ecumenical Union.

Residency: The Festival for the Reinstatement of the Delphic Games

Sponsorship: Mayor and Town of Delphi, Greece, Delphic Ecumenical Union, Skidmore College

Performances: The Delphi Museum, Angelos and Eva Sikelianos Museum, Delphi Palace Amphitheater

 

October, 2018 – Warsaw, Poland & Environs – Frederic Chopin & Isadora Duncan in the Transformative Landscape of the Arts

The heart of ‘Isadorian’ Romanticism is her extensive oeuvre to Chopin, explored and enlivened in Warsaw and environs through in-depth classwork and rehearsal with virtuoso pianist, Carlos Cesar Rodriguez. Site visits of surpassing natural and cultural beauty epitomized the Polish spirit and were brought to culmination in stirring performance at venues sacred to the Chopin legacy.

Residency: Villa Artes Liberales

Sponsorship: The Kosciuszko Foundation, New York and Poland, University of Warsaw, Potocki Palace, Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art, Billy Rose Foundation

Performances: The Chopin Museum, the Museum of Romanticism (Opinogóra), Villa Artes Liberales (University of Warsaw), Zespół Szkół Sióstr Nazaretanek

 

May, 2019 – Venice, Italy & Environs – Isadora in Primavera Eterna

Situated upon the serene Adriatic and her adjoining terra, students and professionals experienced the centuries old festival traditions of Venice rich in creative content while placing dance in prismatic artistic perspective within originating palatial sites of music and theater history. The IDII has promoted the lively arts and culture in Venice intensively for nearly a decade via educational initiatives and performances in conjunction with preeminent Venetian ambassadors, artists and culture bearers.

Residency: Palazzo Zenobio

Sponsorship: Collegio Armeno Moorat-Raphael, Skidmore College

Performances: Villa Pisani at Stra