IDA, "A DANCE OF MASTERPIECES"
- giorgimarchiori
- Oct 21
- 3 min read
What greater pleasure could there be for a dancer, mime, and doctor of Greek philosophy than to create a performance about Ida Brun — the Danish dancer-mime who, in the early 19th century, enchanted intellectuals all across Europe with her performances?
A true “star” of her time, she was the muse of the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen, who dedicated a bust to her that is now displayed at the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen.
But her "attitudes" were admired by many other contemporary artists, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, August Wilhelm Schlegel, Christoph Kniep, and Madame de Staël, who described her art as follows:
“I have already said that sculpture in general has suffered from the complete neglect of the art of dance; the only manifestation of this art in Germany is Ida Brun, a young woman whose social position excludes her from artistic life. She has received from nature and from her mother an extraordinary talent for representing the most moving scenes or the most beautiful statues through simple gestures. Her dance is nothing but a succession of ephemeral masterpieces that one longs to preserve forever…”
Of course, it is impossible to reconstruct her dance exactly.
But one can draw inspiration from her work and start from the principle of attitudes to tell — through the harmonious union of the arts of dance and pantomime — the mythological stories hidden behind each sculpture.
A dancing sculpture, coming to life to tell its story.
And thus appear Medea, Andromache, Psyche, Daphne…
The Performance
We are in Thorvaldsen’s studio. We see him at the very moment of creating his sculptures… finally, he sculpts a dancing girl.
Just like in the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea, she comes to life.
He dances with her… or perhaps with his memory.
So let’s go back in time: we imagine being in a salon of that era, musicians are playing, and Thorvaldsen invites Ida to tell (in her own way)... he gives her a shawl, and she recounts the story of the Golden Fleece, bringing Medea and her tragedy to life.
Then the sculptor shows her an apple, and Ida immediately understands the suggestion — she takes on the form of Venus with the golden apple, that same apple which caused so many human tragedies with the Trojan War… And so, our protagonist transforms into Andromache and reveals to us the terrible consequences of that war, with the farewell that Hector, her husband, bids to her and their child. They will never see each other again: he will die in battle at the hands of Achilles, their child will be thrown from the walls of Troy, and Andromache will be enslaved by the very man who killed her son.
Then it’s Ida’s turn, and she tells one of her favorite myths — that of the “blind” and nocturnal love between Cupid and Psyche.
As the evening draws to an end, while dancing a saltarello, Ida brings with her a laurel wreath to crown Thorvaldsen… and to tell the story of the origin of this tree, sacred to the god Apollo.
Here she is then, dancing the tragic pursuit of Daphne and Apollo, with a little nod to Bernini’s magnificent sculpture.
This performance took place at Sygehusgrunden, in Holstebro, and was organised by Svenning Hoffmann Sørensen.
With the excellent musicians Fernando Viani on piano, Machiko Ozawa on violin, and Simone Tolomeo on bandoneon and musical direction.
Before the show, art historian Margrethe Floryan from the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen gave a lecture and guided the tour of Thorvaldsen's reliefs.
A truly wonderful evening blending art, music, and dance.
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