8th Annual Dionysian Festival
Celebrating the 128th Anniversary of Isadora Duncan’s Birth
Mary Sano Studio of Duncan Dancing, San Francisco
May 28 -- 8 PM
May 29 -- 3 PM
Isadora Duncan was born May 26, 1877, in San Francisco, a third generation Irish San Franciscan, granddaughter of 49ers. Paris correspondent Janet Flanner ("Genet") and many others thought her the most influential woman culturally--from her ideas on education and deportment to fashion--of the first decades of the 20th century. And she's long been acknowledged as the first great personality in Modern Dance, spurring developments in the other arts, from California to Siberia.
This weekend, Mary Sano--Isadora's principal exponent in her native city--will hold her annual Dionysian Festival at her 5th St. studio in downtown San Francisco, not only featuring Isadora's choreography and her own, performed by herself and her company of Duncan Dancers, but a diverse program of performing artists, including Harupin-Ha, the original Butoh troupe in America, G. Hoffman Soto (long associated with Anna Halprin) and Sotomotion, Bharata Natyam dancing of South India staged by Arul Francis, and Shoko Hikage playing koto with Mary Sano dancing solo.
Mary Sano brings Isadora's dance alive for the 21st century. No museum piece, Mary's vibrant style goes back to Isadora's inspiration in the beauty of natural movement, Romantic music and the aesthetics of ancient Greece--and adds her own wide-ranging study of many art forms. She's performed around the world, Budapest to Tokyo, and has taught dancers of all ages. Mary Sano is a third generation Duncan Dancer, her teacher a student of Isadora's adopted daughters.
Performances are in Mary Sano's dance studio, with natural light from the west, in an informal atmosphere of community and celebration.
Shows are Sat. May 28 at 8 and Sun. the 29 at 3, 245 Fifth St. between Howard and Folsom. Info & reservations: (415) 357-1817. Admission: $13 res. $16 door
