The Global Search for Education: Lori Belilove: Why Duncan Still Moves Us
This month, audiences can stream Dance in New York on the Planet Classroom YouTube Channel.
Dance in New York invites viewers into the world of Isadora Duncan dance, guided by Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation (IDDF). Celebrating Duncan as the mother of modern dance, the film highlights her philosophy of freedom, flow, and emotional authenticity, inspiring dancers to embrace movement as a dance-for-life practice. Through personal reflections and rehearsal footage, the film shows how Duncan’s technique — passed down body-to-body across generations — cultivates technical mastery and expressive artistry. Recognized globally as Duncan’s leading interpreter, Belilove and her company keep this legacy vibrant, offering a joyous, uplifting, and timeless journey into the heart of modern dance.
The Global Search for Education is pleased to welcome Lori Belilove.
This film captures dancers evolving from students to company members. Can you recall a moment during filming when you saw a dancer truly “become” a Duncan artist?
Oh yes… numerous times! I will witness these subtle awakening moments in the face and eyes that reflect such an understanding that an artist is born. They have joy and awareness in their movements as they achieve the combination of understanding the technical challenge along with a sublime moment of artistic expression.
Dance in New York highlights Duncan’s dance-for-life philosophy. How do you translate that philosophy into daily class or rehearsal so it lives in the body?
Oh, that’s a big question. We are in the process of creating a teaching manual to accompany our Teacher Training Certification that will clarify many of these points in detail, but I can say simply that by working with the whole body as an energy, the Duncan technique can build in the body such that the philosophy is truly understood. Another way to say this is that experiencing the movement brings a dance-for-life into a way-of-life embodiment.
Several dancers speak about the simplicity and beauty of Duncan movement. Why do you think this simplicity still captivates audiences today?
Well, it is like the universal appreciation of a flower or the ocean. Because Isadora went to nature as one of her important inspirations, she reflects that simple beauty in her work. As people flock to the phenomenon of nature, be it the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls, Duncan dance locks into these basic truths of timeless beauty.
When you watch this film, what emotion or story do you hope resonates most with someone discovering Duncan for the first time?
Good question. My hope is that someone seeing the film and then seeing the work and hearing the stories and conversations of Duncan dancers studying the work, that they identify with something in themselves that they are searching for. In a deep sense, I hope people recognize the honesty in the training and in the truthfulness of dance.
C. M. Rubin and Lori Belilove
Don’t miss Dance in New York — now streaming on the Planet Classroom YouTube Channel. This film is curated by Planet Classroom.