Duncan’s spirit

I read your “Critic’s Notebook” article on Isadora Duncan with gratitude [Dec. 25].

As a young dancer working with Martha Graham in the late 1950s, I fell in love with the words and images of Isadora. I carried on according to my own inspiration. Then in 1976, I met the young Lori Belilove.

I witnessed her exquisite portrayal of works from the Duncan repertory. Like Duncan’s, her technique was acquired through personal experience, immersion in the sister arts and dancing from her spirit out.

I too feel Isadora’s spirit has much to contribute to the world of dance 2006 and to humanity’s continuing cultural evolution.

MARLA SCHMALLE

San Francisco