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C. Carlson & E. Schwartz : Hommage à Isadora Duncan au Musée Bourdelle

Carolyn Carlson Company 2003

Choreographer(s) : Carlson, Carolyn (France) Schwartz, Elisabeth (France)

Present in collection(s): Carolyn Carlson Company

en fr

C. Carlson & E. Schwartz : Hommage à Isadora Duncan au Musée Bourdelle

Carolyn Carlson Company 2003

Choreographer(s) : Carlson, Carolyn (France) Schwartz, Elisabeth (France)

Present in collection(s): Carolyn Carlson Company

en fr

Hommage à Isadora Duncan

"If there is one thing
What symbolizes my art,
It is the freedom of the woman,
And his postage
From the shackles of conventions ... "
Isadora Duncan


On  the occasion of Women's Day on March 8, 2003, dancer and choreographer  Carolyn Carlson will perform a tribute at the Bourdelle Museum to the  great dancer Isadora Duncan, whose Antoine Bourdelle was inspired by the  bas-reliefs and frescoes of the Théâtre des Champs- Elysées. Isabelle Schwartz, an Isadorian dancer, will sketch a journey through the museum.
"All my muses," said the sculptor, "are gestures taken during the flight of Isadora Duncan".
A  round table will also be held on the theme The Woman, Sculpture and  Dance with Carolyn Carlson and Isabelle Schwartz, led by Annette Mattox,  dancer and sculptor.
(Text from the press release of the Bourdelle Museum - March 8, 2003)
Filmed March 8, 2003 at the Bourdelle Museum, Paris.


Source: Cinémathèque de la danse.

Carlson, Carolyn

California-born Carolyn Carlson defines herself first and foremost as a nomad. From San Francisco Bay to the University of Utah, from the Alwin Nikolais company in New York to Anne Béranger’s in France, from Paris Opera Ballet to Teatrodanza La Fenice in Venice, from the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris to Helsinki, from Ballet Cullberg to La Cartoucherie in Paris, from the Venice Biennale to Roubaix, Carlson is a tireless traveller, always seeking to develop and share her poetic universe.

She arrived in France in 1971 the beneficiary of Alwin Nikolais’s ideas about movement, composition and teaching. The following year, with Rituel pour un rêve mort, she wrote a poetic manifesto that defined an approach to her work that she has adhered to ever since: dance that is strongly oriented towards philosophy and spirituality. Carlson prefers the term ‘visual poetry’ to ‘choreography’ to describe her work. She creates works that express her poetic thoughts and a form of complete art within which movement occupies a special place. 

For four decades, Carlson has had significant influence and success in many European countries. She played a key role in the birth of French and Italian contemporary dance through the GRTOP (theatre research group) at Paris Opera Ballet and Teatrodanza at La Fenice.

She has created over 100 pieces, a large number of which are landmarks in the history of dance, including Density 21.5, The Year of the Horse, Blue Lady, Steppe, Maa, Signes, Writings on Water and Inanna. In 2006, her work was rewarded with the first ever Golden Lion given to a choreographer by the Venice Biennale.

Nowadays, Carolyn Carlson is director of two organisations: the Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson, an international centre for masterclasses, residencies and creating new works, which she founded in 1999 and the National Choreographic Centre Roubaix Nord-Pas de Calais until December 2013, which produces and tours shows all over the world.


More information: en.carolyn-carlson.com

Schwartz, Elisabeth

Elisabeth Schwartz - dancer, choreographer, historian, trained in New York studying ballet with Margaret Craske, modern technique with Merce Cunningham, and Viola Farber. During this time quite by accident she began studying the dance of Isadora Duncan with Julia Levien, world renowned specialist in the repertory of Isadora Duncan. Since her return to Paris is 1984 she has presented solo and group works of Isadora Duncan with her company L’Onde at Festival de Monpellier, Chateauvallon, Biennale de Lyon…and in Prague, Geneva, Budapest and Berlin. In 1996, she became certified as a CMA and began teaching Effort Shape at the Université Paris VIII Saint Denis. Ms. Schwartz has done extensive research on “free dance” and has collected film archives of dancers from the beginning of the century. This montage has been presented at Cinémathique Francaise in Paris and throughout France. She has also written many articles on dance specifically analyzing the styles and techniques of Rudolf Laban, Ted Shawn, Mary Wigman, Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham, and Velska Gert.


In addition to La Danse Libre, Ms. Schwartz has been part of a number of film projects in France including Jaillissements (1990 DIRECTOR: Raoul SANGLA) a film which evokes the artistic proximity of Auguste RODIN and Isadora DUNCAN through the communal movements of sculpture and dance. This contemporary interpretation of Isadora DUNCAN's dance reveals its innate modernism. Recently she appeared in interviews and danced in the Elizabeth Kapnist film, Je n'ai fait que danser ma vie.

Elisabeth holds a PhD in Arts and Performance (with a focus on Isadora Duncan) from the Université Charles De Gaulle, Lille 3, France, under the direction of professor Claude Jamain.


Elisabeth Schwartz is a nationally known and respected dancer and teacher throughout France and is now the Inspectrice de la danse for Les ecoles des arts de la Ville de Paris. She has made innovations in dance offerings and implementations for teachers and students. Ms. Schwartz is also a certified Labanotation reconstructor and has used her expertise to set historic works on professionals as well as students. In one recent project she set Ted Shawn’s Polonaise on the French Hip Hop group Acsendance. Ms. Schwartz recently directed dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet in two Duncan solos,performed as part of the special event, 20 dancers for the 20th century. Her openness to mix historic and contemporary forms has brought divergent audiences together to celebrate the past, present and future of dance as an evolving art form.


Source : Website of Isadora Duncan’s archives


More information :

http://www.isadoraduncanarchive.org/dancer/108/ 

Hommage à Isadora Duncan

Choreography : Carolyn Carlson

Interpretation : Carolyn Carlson

Other collaborations : Musée Bourdelle de Paris, Cinémathèque de la danse

Production / Coproduction of the choreographic work : Elisabeth Shwartz, Annette Mattox

Duration : 38'38

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