Dance Clips

Explore our collection of dance performances and archival footage

Earth Trilogy at Greenspace

Earth Trilogy explores the human impact upon the natural world in three sections. The first is based on Isadora Duncan dances that have rhythms and properties of our natural environment at their core, dances that celebrate the wonders of water, earth and air. The second section depicts how humankind has destroyed the precious natural world that we, as a species, have taken for granted. Surreptitiously, our own waste products, a product of our self-indulgence and self-centeredness, destroy us. The final section— the women’s choir Willow—is a statement of possibility, a hymn embodied in music and movement to honor our earth.

1815.1s Earth Trilogy, Fast Forward for Greenspace

Colorsong Universe at LICM

ColorSong Universe incorporates movement, music, a paper sculpture and other objects, animated slides of the Colorsong paintings, of artist Susan Ruth Cohen, and special effects. The work depicts a universe of matter, auras and relationships. ColorSong Universe opens with the artist assembling a paper sculpture. When a dancer enters the space and flippantly takes it apart, havoc ensues. Colors and energy are let loose in a flurry of expression and movement. With original music created for the work by Paul Joseph.

2206.2s Colorsong Universe

Emergence for Video

A made for video version of Emergence, filmed at the LI Children's Museum, in 2008. "Emergence" reflects the concept of systems that come together, break down and ultimately attempt to reform. The work illustrates this concept through allusions to biology, physics and human society. The beginning of the piece reflects formation through biological frameworks. The breakdown is represented by references to viruses invading cells. The collapse is further depicted through explosive, random energy such as the spread of cancerous cells in a body or a society that no longer restrains itself. When this energy burns out, what is left are broken, isolated pieces that attempt to reform and recreate connections. This fails but an underlying force of self-organization is manifest, opening up new possibilities for new systems.

526.7s Emergence for Video

Alone (Do you Hear Us)?

Alone (Do you Hear Us?) consists of 3 solos performed within spheres and orbits. The Movement motifs are shared but each dancer has individual variants. The music shares these concepts. Each dancer is performing to her own song from the same (Celtic) album however the music is overlaid. At times, one piece or another is dominant but often two or three pieces are heard at the same time The work addresses the sense of following one’s own voice without distraction or wavering. The dancers each must hear their own music exclusively through the mix and the focus they must have in order to carry out their part a main theme of the piece.

375s Alone (Do You Hear Us?)

Emergence, HATCH Performance 2008

"Emergence" reflects the concept of systems that merge, break down and reform. This concept is illustrated with allusions to biology, physics and human society. This basic theme runs throughout the piece in every section. It is also a theme that ties the whole work together. The beginning of the piece reflects formation with allusions to cells or molecules merging and dividing. The breakdown is represented by a foreign body invading cells such as a virus. The collapse is further depicted through explosive, random energy such as the spread of cancerous cells in a body or a society that no longer restrains itself. This energy burns itself out; what are left are broken, isolated pieces that attempt to reform and recreate connections. This fails but an underlying force of self-organization that is manifest throughout the piece (the ropes and pulleys) takes over, opening up new possibilities for new systems. The mood of piece varies throughout the work. At points it is slow and amorphous at other points explosive.

1003.1s Emergence (for HATCH)

Polonaise in C Minor Op. 40 No. 2

Created by Irma Duncan in 1932 for her company, the work stems from Irma's work with Isadora. She was given the challenge of finishing this work. It was reconstructed by Julia Levien in 1984 for Duncan Dance Continuum, uner the direction of Judith Landon. Ms Jucovy performed in the piec at that time, and reconstructed it for Dance Visions NY in 2025 for "The Body Resilient." This piece expresses the timeless theme of oppression and despair giving way to hope and possibility.

515.9s The Body Resilient

Evening (Zoetropsis): Dance Film

"Zoetropsis": Finding one’s way in a universe where endings and beginnings are inextricably intertwined. "Zoetropsis" (Evening) is a multi-disciplinary art film created by Beth Jucovy based on the final section of an original poem, "The Subject and Power," by Kyra Jucovy. The full poem depicts a metaphorical journey following a river from the spring to the mouth of the ocean. Evening is the point when the river is destined to dissolve into the ocean. “Gravity, Desire are the forces that pull us forth, but Violence is the force that pushes us on.” Footage recorded at Cedarmere and outdoor spaces across the US that the artists accessed during the summer of Covid-19. Cedarmere is the historic estate of American poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). His most famous poem, "Thanatopsis," is a meditation on the cycle of life, a theme whose philosophy is echoed in Kyra Jucovy's poem "Evening."

1582.7s Evening

Subway Windows

“Subway Windows,” performed at Gold Hall, Hewlett Woodemere Library “Subway Windows,”takes its inspiration from “The Subway Series” paintings by contemporary visual artist Ilene Isseks. The artwork is displayed in the background imagery throughout the piece. In the work, groups of diverse subway riders attempt to engage in the NYC ritual of ignoring each other. As the subway proceeds the riders’ anonymity dissolves, personalities emerge, and interactions occur. The interactions are at times humorous and at other times profound, the riders have found a mutual space where they are authentic, learn about each other and develop rich, albeit transient, relationships. As their destinations approach, the riders begin to revert to their original guarded selves, before bursting into a frenzied celebration of the subway and city that never sleeps. Directed by choreographer Beth Jucovy, the work is created in collaboration with the eight diverse dancers/choreographers. Video montage created by Anthony Pepitone from The Subway Series by Ilene Isseks, and photos of the dancers by Abby Dias. t

1720.2s Art & Music in Motion

Through the Portals

First created by Beth Jucovy in collaboration with Visual artist Susan Ruth Rohen, Through the Portals depicts dancers as colors that begin as one entity. The colors separate and establish independent identity. As the dance proceeds, the colors interact in various groupings, evolving and changing. Through the Portals developed out of Ms. Jucovy’s 2014 theatrical ballet ColorSong Universe, also an an interpretation of Ms. Cohen’s Colorsong paintings and poem. Both artists reworked their original Colorsong interpretation in order to go deeper “through the portals” of their initial explorations. The result is a more abstract and complex work. The work has been restaged in full for this 2024 program of Art and Music in Motion.

932.9s Art & Music in Motion