Terpsichore- Muse of Dance and Lyric Poetry
Dancing the Muses with Duncan Dance South
Partnering with the Centennial Performing Arts Studio and Artistic Director of Duncan Dance South, Meg Brooker, dances inspired by the art of Christy Lee Rogers will be performed in the East Gallery and in the Naos on January 26, 2025 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM.
RSVP in advance for FREE museum admission for this performance.
Early modern dance artists Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) and Florence Fleming Noyes (1871-1928) drew inspiration from Ancient Greek art, philosophy, myth—and especially from the muses. While these artists were inspired by the range of feeling and expressive quality of all nine muses, their choreographic work is inextricably linked to Terpsichore, the Muse of the Dance. Duncan developed her dance technique through her studies of the line and shape of the body in Ancient Greek art, and choreographed Bacchantes, the Three Graces, and dances dedicated to Apollo and Dionysus, among other Greek gods and mythic figures. For Noyes, each of the nine muses evoke a different quality or feeling, and Terpsichore “expresses joy of motion.” Inspired by Christy Lee Roger’s photographs exhibited as The Muses, this event features performances of original Duncan choreographies as well as a workshop exploring and developing movement from Duncan's iconic Waterstudy.
rsvp on eventbrite.
Valkyrie Rose Photography
ABOUT THE EVENT:
In connection with the Christy Lee Rogers: The Muses exhibit, The Muses Educational Series will encourage visitors to imagine, engage, and create based on inspiration gained from The Muses through a series of hands-on workshops and events connected with each of the nine Greek Muses. Sessions will be held at the Parthenon, off-site, or virtually — all through partnerships with Nashville creatives and beloved local institutions. Inspired by the Greek Muses and their unique areas of influence, the workshops will include modern dance instruction, comedy improv, writing seminars, and more to enhance the exhibition’s impact on our local community.
ABOUT MEG BOOKER:
Meg Brooker is Artistic Director of Duncan Dance South and serves as Professor of Dance and Director of The School of Performing and Visual Arts at The University of Southern Mississippi. She is a founder and steering committee member of the Isadora Duncan International Symposium and a former member of Lori Belilove & Company, Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, NYC. She specializes in the early modern dance techniques developed by Isadora Duncan and Florence Fleming Noyes. Her creative research includes embodied, kinesthetic, and traditional archival methodologies and results in new choreography and performance, often in collaboration with visual artists and musicians. For fifteen years (2005-2019), she traveled and performed extensively in Russia as a legacy Isadora Duncan dancer. Recent credits include featured interviews and dance performance for Season 2: Episode 5 of Io e Lei: Isadora Duncan for SkyArte (Italy). Meg has performed in national and international venues including The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum, Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Blanton Museum of Art (Austin), the Art Monastery (Italy), Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art (St. Petersburg), American Center of Moscow, PROJEKT Fabrika (Moscow), the People's Friendship University of Russia/RUDN (Moscow), the Tchaikovsky Museum (Votkinsk), the ancient Greek ruins at Chersonesos (Crimea), Kalamata International Dance Festival as a guest with Isadora Duncan Dance Group London/Paris (Greece), the Dora Stratou Theatre as a guest with the Isadora Duncan Dance Company (Greece), the Ruth Page Center for the Arts and Joffrey Theatre as a guest with Duncan Dance Chicago. In the Southeast, Meg’s work has been produced by the Hunter Museum of American Art and the Nashville Parthenon. Awards and grants include USM’s Creative Activity Innovation Award, MTSU’s Creative Activity Award, Career Service Award from Women’s and Gender Studies (MTSU), Outstanding Teaching Award from Women and Gender Studies (MTSU), Mississippi Presenters Network, Mississippi Artists Roster, Dancer Laureate (Murfreesboro, TN), Dance Chair for the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy, National Endowment for the Humanities grant for the Noyes School of Rhythm Archives, among others. Meg has presented scholarship for Society of Dance History Scholars, Congress on Research in Dance, Dance Studies Association, National Dance Educators Organization, and Women in Dance Leadership. Meg holds an MFA from The University of Texas at Austin and a BA from Yale. www.duncandancesouth.org.
DUNCAN DANCE SOUTH is a regional dance company focused on preserving and passing on the works of early modern dance artists Isadora Duncan and Florence Fleming Noyes and on creating new works rooted in these early modern dance techniques. Activities include masterclasses, workshops, residencies, and performances. Performance history includes Orpheus Reimagined in collaboration with Portara Ensemble, produced by Metro Dance and the Nature Conservancy at the Parthenon in Centennial Park, Nashville, TN and Live at the Hunter, a concert in response to the Power, Passion & Pose exhibit of dance photography by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory, NYC Dance Project. Additional projects include a collaboration with Houston-based pianist Sherry Cheng for the Hattiesburg Art Council and the ongoing Dance of Freedom project, featuring contemporary reconstruction of a suffragist choreography by Florence Fleming Noyes.
THE MUSES EDUCATIONAL SERIES SPONSORS:
Centennial Park Conservancy
Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation
NEXT MUSES EDUCATIONAL SERIES EVENT:
Polymnia- Muse of Pantomime and Sacred Poetry