Home of legendary dancer Isadora Duncan in Athens to be renovated

The historical house of Isadora Duncan, located in the metropolitan area of ​​Vyronos, is under reconstruction, as time has left its marks on the building in which the legendary American dancer spent several years.

The historic house on Kopanas hill in Vyronos will be renovated by the local municipality authorities so that it can continue its centuries-old life, while at the same time it will continue to house the Art and Culture Center unique in Greece.

Photo of the Duncan house, in the 50s of the 20th century.

Designed to ancient Greek standards, it was built in 1903 at a location chosen by the great American dancer of the time so that she could see the Acropolis and look out over the Saronic Sea in the distance.

One of the few spaces built specifically for dancing, and 120 years later, continues to serve as a place for dance art. This house was also home to great figures of art and literature such as Aggelos Sikelianos (his sister Penelope married Raymond Duncan), Konstantinos Christomanos and others.

Today it houses the Isidora and Raymond Duncan Center for the Study of Dance, established in 1980 and is a dynamic center for the study and research of dance art. It is also a meeting place for practice, theory and research for programs that explore the educational and philosophical foundations of dance, hosts dance groups as well as experiential research programs, and offers a support space for emerging artists.

In 2006, the center became one of the founders of the European Dance House Network EDN (European Dance Houses Network). For five years, 2010-2014, the center participated in the European MODULDANCE program, the largest cultural dance program funded by the European Union, to support quality forms of mobility for young artists in Europe.

In the 1980s, the municipality of Vyronos (named after the poet Byron), wishing to honor the contribution of Isidora Duncan, carried out a renovation of the building, which was completed in 1992.

However, time again left its marks, new and extensive damage appeared, so the current city government decided that it was necessary to carry out restoration work, which was studied by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The object of this study is the reconstruction of the building, as well as the restoration of the surrounding area.

“Cultural heritage is a priority for us,” Byron Mayor Grigoris Katopodis told APE-MPE. “There, on the hill, the Duncans built a house that functioned as one of the most important centers of culture at the beginning of the last century. After that, it remained abandoned and unused for many years, but was restored, and now there is a dance training center and a school.

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