IAN SPENCER BELL

Ian Spencer Bell--dancer, choreographer, poet

Two Impromptus

Solo with music by Franz Schubert (Four Impromptus, Op. 90, D. 899, No. 1 in C Minor and No. 3 in G-Flat Major), performed by Lauren Aloia

13 minutes

Premiere: June 19, 2025, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Edge feature

Lovers Loop

Solo improvisation, poem, and mixed choreography (Musical Moment No. 3 by Isadora Duncan and Mad Scene from Giselle, after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa)

10 minutes

Premiere: June 19, 2025, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Edge feature

Four Chopin Waltzes

Choreography by Isadora Duncan (Minute Waltz and Narcissus)

Duncan choreography (1904) staged by Catherine Gallant

Music by Frédéric Chopin (Waltz No. 5 in A-Flat Major, Waltz No. 6 in D-Flat Major, Waltz Number 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Waltz No. 8 in A-Flat Major), performed by Lauren Aloia

14 minutes

Premiere: June 19, 2025, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Edge feature

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Six Chelsea Love Poems

Solo with six poems

15 minutes

Premiere: June 8, 2024, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Edge feature

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Lyric Pieces

Solo and group work with music by Edvard Grieg (Lyric Pieces: Arietta, Notturno, “Gone,” “Remembrances”), performed by Lauren Aloia

10 minutes

Premiere: May 3, 2024, LaMama Experimental Theatre Club, New York City

Berkshire Edge feature

Rosing

Solo with six poems

10 minutes

Premiere: June 21, 2023, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Eagle feature

Albany Times Union preview

Berkshire Edge feature

Berkshire Edge preview

Rural Intelligence feature

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The Many Faces of Love

Choreography by Isadora Duncan

Duncan choreography (1910-1912) staged by Lori Belilove

Additional choreography by Ian Spencer Bell

Music by Johannes Brahms, 16 Waltzes, Op. 39, performed by Lauren Aloia

23 minutes

Premiere: June 21, 2023, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Berkshire Magazine feature

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Solo from Roaratorio

Choreography by Merce Cunningham

Staged by Patricia Lent

Music by John Cage, Roaratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake

Costume after the design by Mark Lancaster

3 minutes

Premiere: March 24, 2023

Roaratorio (1983) by Merce Cunningham © Merce Cunningham Trust.

Video

Banderole

Trio with poem

Original cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Vanessa Knouse, Joshua Tuason

35 minutes

Premiere: August 15, 2021, The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts

Prologue poem: March 11, 2021

Boston Globe highlight

Berkshire Eagle preview

Video clip

Duet

Trio with poem

Original Cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Gary Champi, Joshua Tuason

Lighting by Nick Houfek

25 minutes

Premiere: October 14, 2019, CounterPulse, San Francisco, California

The Dance Enthusiast essay

Bay Area Reporter preview

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Marrow

Solo with 10 poems

Lighting by Nick Houfek

20 minutes

Premiere: March 17, 2016, The Center, New York City

Interview and poem in Gulf Coast

Poems and process on Dante’s Old South Radio Show

Oberon’s Grove essay

Kahn & Selesnick photos

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Holler

Solo with poem

Five minutes

Premiere: March 11, 2015, Poetry Foundation, Chicago, Illinois

Culture Rover essay

Chicago Reader preview

Wallkill

Quartet with poem

Original Cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Mairéad Filgate, Jenna Liberati, Justin Rivera, Joshua Tuason

Lighting by Nicholas Houfek

25 minutes

Premiere: November 9, 2013, Temp Art Space, New York City

Notes on Wallkill

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Geography Solos

Solo with five poems

Lighting by Nick Houfek

20 minutes

Premiere: September 1, 2013, Ille Arts, Amagansett, New York

The New York Times review

Oberon’s Grove essay

Paste-up

Group dance with borrowed text from Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 recording of Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Original cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Joshua Tuason, Lindsey Jones, Courtney Lopes, Stevie Oakes, Mara Driscoll, Justin Rivera, Debra Bona, Oceane Hooks-Camilleri, Sally Kreimendahl, Vani Ramaraj

Lighting by Nicholas Houfek

20 minutes

Premiere: May 21, 2013, New York City Center Studios

Oberon’s Grove essay

Socket

Original Cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Nathaniel Darst, Mara Driscoll, Jenna Liberati, Joshua Tuason

Lighting by Nicholas Houfek

47 minutes

Premiere: May 30, 2012, New York City Center Studios

The New York Times review

Oberon’s Grove essay

Two-Minute Songs

Quintet with music of The Beastie Boys, The Beatles, Camille Saint-Saëns, Joni Mitchell, Felix Mendelssohn, Roy Orbison, J. S. Bach

Original Cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Fiona Brown, Nathaniel Darst, Jenna Liberati, Joshua Tuason

Lighting by Nicholas Houfek

16 minutes

Premiere: June 10, 2011, Merce Cunningham Studio, New York City

Split

Quartet to the sound of keys dropping; for Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art

Original Cast: Ian Spencer Bell, Fiona Brown, Jenna Liberati, Joshua Tuason

Lighting by Nicholas Houfek

12 minutes

Premiere: May 13, 2010, West End Theater, New York City

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