Francesca Todesco (Dancer/Choreographer/Artistic Director) is of Swiss-Italian origin and received her dance education in Switzerland, Germany, and the U.S. After short performing career in St. Louis, she moved to New York City in 1998, where her love for Classical American Modern Dance grew. Over the years, Francesca has performed in the repertory of renowned choreographers, including Isadora Duncan, José Limón, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Anna Sokolow. She credits her strong training to teachers such as Jim May (recipient of 2024 the Martha Hill Award for lifetime achievement), Betty Jones, Fritz Ludin, Catherine Gallant, Loretta Thomas, as well as and various members of the Limón Dance Company between 1998 and 2010.

 

Francesca has been a long-standing member of Catherine Gallant/DANCE and Dances by Isadora since 2000, where she continues to explore and share the legacy of Isadora Duncan. Her dedication to the Duncan technique has led her to perform and teach worldwide, including in Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece, the U.K., and Brazil. She is regarded as a 4th-generation Duncan dancer, with extensive knowledge of the Duncan's repertoire.

From 2003 to 2019, Francesca was a dancer with the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, a company led by Jim May, committed to preserving the works of American Modern Dance pioneer Anna Sokolow. She helped reconstruct many of Sokolow's iconic pieces, such as Rooms, Dreams, and Kurt Weill, and participated in tours and collaborations, including the European and U.S. premières of La Nef des Fous in 2004 and 2006, a piece born out of the collaboration of David Parker and the French wind quintet Le Concert Impromptu. Francesca has also been involved in preserving Sokolow’s legacy through archival work, completing a project for the Library of Congress on behalf of the Sokolow Ensemble.

 

Francesca's versatility as a dancer has led her to collaborate with numerous artists and companies, including Deborah Carr, Gail Corbin, Anabella Lenzu, and Mare Nostrum Elements Movement Theater, where she performed in Mediterranean Voices at the La MaMa Theater. She has also worked with guest choreographers such as David Parker, Rae Ballard, and Andrew Jannetti.

 

In 2006, Francesca appeared in a short film directed by Barbara Allemand and was featured in a documentary about her life as an immigrant in the U.S., directed by Roberta Grasselli.

 

In addition to her performance career, Francesca founded Every Little Movement Academy of the Arts (ELMAA), a center for creative dance and movement based on the philosophy of Isadora Duncan, which ran for 10 years. ELMAA offered dance education to children and adults, organizing performances and workshops, including regular appearances at the annual Isadora Duncan Birthday Celebration in Central Park.

 

An internationally sought-after teacher and coach, Francesca has led workshops in Sao Paulo, London, Paris, and Athens. For several years, Francesca organized a series of workshops titled Historical Modern Dance, inviting master teachers to share their knowledge.

 

In 2020, Francesca founded her own dance company, Dances We Dance (DWD), which has since staged three seasons in New York and performed internationally, notably re-staging Ted Shawn’s 1926 Choeur Dansé at the 2023 Battery Dance Festival. With DWD, Francesca enjoys creating new choreographic works and aims to cultivate the next generation of Duncan dancers. She broadens her dancers’ exposure to diverse dance styles by regularly inviting various choreographers to set both new and repertory works on the company. Notable collaborators include Catherine Gallant, Rae Ballard, Mark Bankin, Annmaria Mazzini, and Gail Corbin.

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Francesca continues to teach Isadora Duncan exploration classes in New York and leads annual workshops in Paris and at the Isadora & Raymond Duncan Dance Center in Athens.

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updated 10/2024