BIOS

DANCES WE DANCE/PERFORMING ENSEMBLE (DWD) was formed in 2020 under the artistic direction of Francesca Todesco, carrying forward a rich legacy originally established by legendary dancers, teachers, and choreographers Betty Jones and Fritz Ludin in New York in 1970. Betty and Fritz’s mission of nurturing new generations of dancers led to over 50 years of dedicated teaching and choreographing around the world. Upon their retirement in 2019, they entrusted Francesca with the leadership of the organization, ensuring the continuation of their vision and artistic values.

Guided by this heritage, Dances We Dance trains dancers in classic and contemporary works, commissions new choreography, and offers educational programs that connect historical and modern perspectives. Since its New York debut in 2022, the company has commissioned new works by Catherine Gallant, Rae Ballard, Mark Bankin, Annmaria Mazzini, Hannah Howell, Francesca Todesco and Rosy Gentle; re-staged repertory works by Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Ted Shawn and Anna Sokolow. The company has performed in New York, Paris, and Athens, and appeared at the 2023 Battery Dance Festival in NYC. DWD continues to honor the roots of modern dance while fostering creativity and collaboration among artists from around the world. In 2025 alone, DWD has hosted workshops in Paris, Athens, Rome, and New York, coordinated the annual Isadora Duncan Birthday Celebration in Central Park, presented its fourth NY Season and led a spring workshop culminating in two beautiful evenings of dance at the Center at Park West on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. We are honored to present our first   

full-evening performance at PLYFA in Athens, Greece.  www.danceswedance.org

FRANCESCA TODESCO (Artistic Director, DWD) is a New York–based dancer and educator with extensive training in the Sokolow, Humphrey-Limón, and Duncan techniques. She credits her artistic formation to esteemed teachers including Jim May (recipient of the Martha Hill Award for Lifetime Achievement), Catherine Gallant, Loretta Thomas, Betty Jones, Fritz Ludin, Gail Corbin, and Deborah Carr. Since joining Catherine Gallant/DANCE & Dances by Isadora in 2000, Francesca has performed and taught Isadora Duncan’s works internationally. She has also collaborated with numerous choreographers and companies in New York City, among them Deborah Carr Theatre Dance Ensemble and Rae Ballard’s Thoughts in Motion. A founding member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, she danced with the company for over sixteen years and continues to contribute to the preservation and reconstruction of Anna Sokolow’s repertory and archives. Under the leadership of Jim May and alongside her accomplished colleagues, she discovered the profound emotional truths at the heart of performance.

Dedicated to passing on the legacy of historical modern dance, Francesca has organized workshops featuring master teachers, and for more than a decade directed her children’s program, Every Little Movement, in Hoboken. A dedicated advocate for modern dance preservation, she is a member of the American Dance Guild, serves on the Isadora Duncan Archive Committee, and is part of the Planning Committee of the Duncan Legacy Project, which is organizing the 2027 Isadora Duncan International Symposium in Paris. An internationally sought-after teacher and coach, she has recently worked with groups in London, Paris, and Athens. In 2020 she founded her own company, Dances We Dance, as a platform for both preservation and innovation—launching a new generation of Duncan dancers while continuing to create and perform new works. Alongside directing DWD, Francesca teaches Isadora Duncan exploration classes for adults in Manhattan and regularly leads workshops in Paris and Athens.

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ISADORA DUNCAN (1877-1927), born in San Francisco, revolutionized dance with her groundbreaking approach to movement and expression. Rejecting the rigid structure of classical ballet, she shed traditional costumes like ballet slippers and corsets, opting instead for simplicity and natural movement that echoed the rhythms of nature. Duncan sought to develop a dance vocabulary that would illuminate the human spirit and its connection to the world around us. She was among the first choreographers to create dances set to music that wasn’t composed specifically for dance, drawing from composers like Chopin, Brahms, Schubert, and Scriabin. Her bold, unrestrained style shocked American audiences, who found her bare limbs and unconventional approach daring. Unfazed by controversy, Duncan set off for Europe, and later Russia, where her boundless spirit inspired visual artists, poets, and choreographers.

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DANCES WE DANCE/PERFORMING ENSEMBLE

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KATHLEEN CARAGINE is a New York City based modern/contemporary dancer who began her dance training at the age of three in Danbury, Connecticut. Her training continued at Hofstra University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a minor in Exercise Science. Currently, she is teaching dance and Pilates in Connecticut and NYC/Brooklyn. Kathleen has had the pleasure to perform works throughout NYC and abroad by Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Ted Shawn, Catherine Gallant, Rae Ballard, Annmaria Mazzini and Francesca Todesco. She is a founding member of Dances We Dance under the direction of Artistic Director Francesca Todesco.

COLLEEN EDWARDS (she/her) is a dancer and teaching artist based in Brooklyn, NY.  She graduated from Hofstra University where she studied Dance and English Literature and has since had the opportunity to perform across NYC, internationally, and on live national television. As a founding member Dances We Dance, she has had the pleasure of performing works by Isadora Duncan, Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey, Francesca Todesco, Catherine Gallant, Rae Ballard, and Annmaria Mazzini, while learning and exploring the techniques and works of early American modern dance pioneers under the artistic direction of Francesca Todesco. Colleen also performs with Mark Bankin Dance Theatre and The NeoPolitical Cowgirls, and studies Argentine Tango. As a teaching artist, Colleen shares her love of movement with the students at WR Arts and the School at Peridance. 

ROSY GENTLE Originally from Spokane Washington, Rosy began studying dance at the age of three and received a BA in dance and environmental studies from the University of Washington. She has studied ballet, modern dance and most recently Argentine tango. Since moving to New York, she has danced with Moving Visions Dance, Dances by Isadora, Rae Ballard, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, Heidi Latsky Dance, Cross Move Lab, Studio Apartment, SMUSH gallery, and Mark Bankin. She has also performed internationally in Athens, Paris, and Berlin. As a founding member of Dances We Dance Rosy has studied the movement of Isadora Duncan and had the opportunity to assist in teaching Duncan technique and repertoire in Athens and Paris. She presented her work as a choreographer in Dances we Dance 2025 fall season. 

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JULIE DUBOIS (guest artist) is a dancer and dance scholar. She has explored several movement practices since childhood: classical dance, contemporary dance, and archery. She worked for several years with the Ile de Danse company, which specializes in improvisation and instant composition. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne University, she obtained a Master’s degree in Dance at Paris 8 University. During this period, she discovered Duncan dance and focused her research on the question of heritage and lineage in the work of Isadora Duncan. In 2022, she created the solo Lisa\dora, dedicated to Lisa Duncan. In 2024, she co-founded the dance collective PIEDEBICHES which produces choreographic interventions aimed at linking popular and academic knowledge through dance. 

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