Dance, it is known, is an 'ephemeral' art. Nevertheless, from the first rudimentary notation systems to the most sophisticated video recordings, attempts have always been made to keep alive a cultural heritage that, by its very essence, only really exists in the time of performance.
It is precisely from this passionate perspective, aimed at bringing some original creations from the past back onto the stage, that the work of the American Annabelle Gamson has developed, dedicated mainly to the myth of Isadora Duncan (1877/1927), the heroine of that expressive renewal of gesture that lies at the origin of modern dance.
Trained with Julie Levien, Irma Duncan's pupil, Gamson was soon able to approach the study of Isadora's dance. Among her teachers, besides Levien, were Katherine Dunham, Helen Platova, Etienne Decroux and May O'Donell. Since 1974, the date of her first public appearance in honour of Duncan, Gamson has been recognised as the principal and best interpreter of the famous artist's dances. Two years later, two solos by Mary Wigman were added to the repertoire.
Gamson's skill lies in having been able to give solo choreographies that had been absent from the stage for several years, an emotional freshness that does not exist in many staging operations. It is no coincidence that the artist has enjoyed numerous successes in recent years and has won prestigious awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship or, in 1990, the Bessie Award.
Intelligent and well-prepared, she has succeeded in founding a group of talented dancers whose names are particularly well known in famous New York companies: one thinks of Risa Steinberg, Sue Bernhard and Sarah Stackhouse, former dancers of the José Limón Dace Company, today respectively involved in the staging of works by Limón himself (Steinberg), in choreography (Bernhard), and in teaching and creation (Stackhouse).
In recent years, Gamson has signed numerous solo dances herself, for the inspiration of which the work on Isadora was decisive. The interesting film 'On dancing Isadora's dances', presented last year on PBS television, should be mentioned in this connection.
In Rovereto, the Annabelle Gamson/Dance Solos presents two programmes: the evening of the 11th is a tribute to Isadora Duncan. On stage are dances created between 1903 and 1905 to music by Chopin and some later solos to music by Gluck, Brahms, Soriabin, Strass.
On the 12th, the appointment is dedicated to the lesser-known Eleanor King (1906/1991), solo dancer in the original company of Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, two of the most famous pioneers of 'modern dance'.
In honour of King, who was active on the American stage for a good fifty years, a retrospective of her solo works was presented in New York in '88 by Annabelle Gamson. On stage in the first and third part of the evening in Rovereto were solos created by Gamson to music by Brahms and Mozart (Tanzlieder and Requiem); in the second part, dances by Eleanor King.
