Research

Heard on Campus: Elisha Clark Halpin on Isadora Duncan

 “She convinced her mother to let her quit school at the age of 10, and she focused on teaching dance full-time, making money for her family teaching dance. She and her sister said that they were starting the ‘new foundations’ of dance. Later, when Isadora was talking about this ‘new foundation;' she said, ‘We had no idea what we were doing. We just did what we felt. We taught improvisation. We knew we didn’t want the kids to look just like us, and we wanted them to find themselves through music.’”
–Elisha Clark Halpin, Penn State assistant professor of dance, on the ‘Mother of Modern Dance,’ Isadora Duncan.

Elisha Clark Halpin hosted the fifth Research Unplugged conversation of the spring season the gallery of Penn State's Downtown Theatre on Wednesday, April 15. An attentive group of colleagues and community members enjoyed her discussion of “Reviving Isadora: Staging Works by the Mother of Modern Dance,” which included entertaining performances by seven student dancers from the Penn State School of Theatre. A  podcast of the event will be available on iTunesU and the Research/Penn State Web site http://www.rps.psu.edu/ on Monday, April 20.

Research Unplugged is an informal lecture series hosted by Penn State's Office of Research Publications and held at noon Wednesdays in Penn State's Downtown Theatre Center. The afternoon begins with a brief introduction of the topic, followed by an open floor for questions, comments and discussion. The event is free to the public. Complimentary coffee and light refreshments are served. For information, visit http://www.rps.psu.edu/unplugged

Elisha Clark Halpin Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated November 18, 2010

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