Inspired by the ideas of the great dance innovator Isadora Duncan, our classes combine contemporary dance information with Duncan’s vision that it is not necessary to change the body to meet a certain image of dance. She took dance back to a more natural approach and we have added the current knowledge of technique, taking her once revolutionary ideas and updating them for the dancers of the time.

Our classes allow the body to find its own line, turnout and extension without force or stress. Therefore, the child’s body continues to develop naturally while learning technique and movement expression. What we strive for in our classes is well-rounded dancers with technique that is in harmony with the structure of each individual body; a dancer who is able to execute challenging technique while retaining creativity and the thrill of dancing.

Our instructors, who have studied everything from Ballet and Modern to folk dance and Chinese healing forms and martial arts, infuse the Duncan tradition with a strong technical approach and an understanding of movement based on the natural structure of the body.

In articles in the Downtown Express newspaper, “Parents describe her ( Thomas) as a strict teacher who instills a sense of discipline. “The kids love her.” said Erica Weldon (parent of a student). “It’s not that she’s an easy teacher. But they respect her. They want to be with her.” Another parent Sarah Reetz said, “You have to stay focused and try. That’s what she cares about.” “You don’t have to have a certain look”, said Weldon. “And everybody gets to be in the recital.” “Students can also do their own choreography.” Student Isabella Schiller (11 years old) said, “I really enjoy it because (I learn) a lot about improvisation, how to keep the beat. I try to keep the audience’s attention.” “Her explanation about what kinds of movements and music she prefers in her original choreography sounded sophisticatedly abstract.”

As Beneficial as Ballet Class for the Professional Student

For dancers seeking professional training, these classes offer a new way to approach technique which can enhance other styles and help extend their lives as dancers through a more balanced approach to technique. Through stressing a more natural alignment than is taught in many dance forms, students find more strength and support from the hips and legs which allows for greater freedom in the body.

Students find a understanding of the use of gravity as a tool toward the improvement of technique allowing the body to move with less effort and stress. These ideas were discovered by Duncan through her studies of natural movement in her rebellion against the limitations of ballet technique and have long been used by the Chinese in their movement forms and martial arts.

In the current dance world, technique has crept back toward a more balletic use of the body and seems to have forgotten the revolutionary changes brought at the turn of the century by Duncan and other early Modern dance innovators. This seems to have caused modern dancers to lose touch with the dance as contemporary form free in the body and spirit. As Duncan said “The highest intelligence in the freest body”.

19 Murray Street, 3rd Floor  between Broadway and Church Street
In Tribeca near 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, N, R, A, E, and C Trains
e-mail: lthomasdance@aol.com

office (212) 608-7681 hours 9-6  
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