Dancer Spotlight - Isadora Duncan

Many do not know who the “mother of dance” is considered to be. Angela Isadora Duncan (1877 - 1927) was an American and French dancer. Duncan performed to acclaim throughout Europe throughout her prime dancing years. Breaking with the convention of the dance society during her time, Duncan envisioned dance to be a style of free and natural movements inspired by the classical Greek arts and mythologies. Duncan took inspiration from ancient Greece dance and combined it with her American love of freedom. Duncan moved away from her first style of dance (rigid ballet) and towards an unconventional philosophy of natural movement. Due to this, Isadora Duncan has become one of the most enduring influences on contemporary art culture and is credited with inventing what came to be known as “modern dance”. Duncan believed dance was meant to encompass all that life had to offer—joy and sadness. Duncan was determined to “dance a different dance,” throughout her life and to tell her own life story through abstract, universal expressions of the human condition. Duncan did not just defy social customs in the dance world, but in all aspects of her life as well. Duncam was viewed as an early feminist, declaring that she wouldn't marry and then had two children out of wedlock due to these beliefs. Isadora Duncan’s death was as dramatic as her life, when on September 14, 1927, she met a young driver in Nice and suggested they go for a spin in his open-air Bugatti sports car. As the car took off, she reportedly shouted to her friends, “Goodbye my friends, I go to glory!” Moments later, her trailing hand-painted scarf became entangled in the rear wheel, breaking her neck instantly. Duncan's legacy as well as her dance techniques are carried on in the formation of the Isadora Duncan Heritage Society, by Mignon Garland, who had been taught dance by two of Duncan's key students.

Dancer Spotlight - Misty Copeland

After only three months of ballet classes, Misty Copeland was en pointe. Ballet prodigy Misty Copeland was born on September 10th, 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri. She was raised in San Pedro, California. In her younger years, Copeland faced many rocky patterns, as her parents were divorced and lived in various home scenarios— from her step father being divorced and living with her mother’s boyfriends. However, Copeland’s resilience still made her an ambitious and intelligent child. Despite starting her ballet studies late at the age of thirteen, Copeland proved to hold a magnitude of talent. Although ballet studies were always hard to maintain due to her family’s lifestyle, many people believed in Copeland’s talent and have helped keep her dreams alive. Copeland started her ballet studies at the Lauridsen Ballet Center, then at San Francisco Ballet School, and at the American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Investive on a full scholarship. Soon after, her efforts proved fruitful. In 2000, Copeland joined the American Ballet Theater and in August of 2007 was appointed as a Soloist. In 2008, she was the only African American ballerina in the company. Since 2015, she has been a Principal Dancer. Copeland is passionate and proud of her role as an African American dancer in the predominantly white world of ballet. One of her biggest achievements was being the first African American to star in New York’s Swan Lake— one of the most prestigious ballerina roles. Copeland says “My fears are that it could be another two decades before another black woman is in the position that I hold with an elite ballet company… if I don't rise to principal, people will feel I have failed them." Copeland stands as a sign of hope and power for young Blacks and People of Color for the future of diversity in the arts.

Dancer Spotlight - Stephanie Kurlow

Stephanie Kurlow is a 17-year-old dancer from Australia who is known as being the world’s first Hijabi ballerina. Kurlow grew up in the suburbs of Sydney to a Russian mother and Australian father. It was there that Kurlow discovered dance at the age of two and also where her "loves and thrives through the process of ballet” began. At the age of 9, Kurlow converted to Islam along with the rest of her family. At the same time, however, Kurlow quit dancing as she could not find a studio that matched with her family’s new beliefs. Instead of letting her daughter’s love and talents of dance to go wasted, Kurlow’s mother opened her own dancing academy where her daughter could stay true to her faith and love of dance. As Kurlow has stated, many Australian dance studios did not provide classes for girls who were different, from aboriginals or for girls who chose to wear a hijab. So her mother’s all inclusive performing arts studio is imperative to the awareness and solution of this problem. When Kurlow started to dance again, she remained loyal to her personal beliefs and danced wearing a hijab and conservative clothing despite the backlash she received. Although young and not a professional dancer quite yet, Kurlow has been awarded many scholarships, such as one to the highly acclaimed Royal Danish Ballet summer school in 2018. Stephanie Kurlow has also worked with companies such as Converse and Lenovo in several campaigns once Kurlow herself, and the message of inclusivity she is trying to spread, caught the world’s attention. Kurlow is currently on her way to complete her goal of becoming the world’s first Hijabi ballerina to work for a professional ballet company, an achievement that will mean so much to Kurlow, but so much more to all the girls around the world watching and looking up to her.