Isadora Now: Triple Bill review, Barbican Theatre – A stylish, thoughtful and bold production

This all-female programme revives Isadora Duncan’s pioneering Edwardian works

Frederick Ashton’s lyrical ‘Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan’ is performed in the capital (Barbican)

★★★★☆

Viviana Durante’s celebration of Isadora Duncan evokes her as a radical artist and present-day influence. It’s a stylish, thoughtful programme that reaches from recreations of Duncan’s own dances to a bold new work by Joy Alpuerto Ritter, danced with imposing force.

Durante, former Royal Ballet ballerina, has a knack for uncovering dance history. Her Kenneth MacMillan programme made a strong case for the choreographer’s very early works; now she’s turned to a much earlier figure. With her bare feet and flowing draperies, Isadora Duncan was an international sensation in the Edwardian era, a modern dance pioneer who also had a huge influence on ballet.