ABOUT ME

Isabel Brandt, a senior in the BFA Dance Program and The Ohio State University, has been dancing since the young age of two. In Oak Park, Illinois, Brandt trained at the Academy of Movement and Music and was a company member in the resident performing arts company MOMENTA. During her time at the Academy and in MOMENTA, she became well-immersed in historical modern dance with the guidance of Sandra Kaufmann, a former company member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Brandt had the opportunity to perform historical works by legendary American Modern Dance choreographers such as Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, and Charles Weidman. In addition to historical modern, Brandt trained in ballet under Valery Dolgallo, a graduate and former teacher of the Vaganova Institute who later toured internationally with the Maly State Opera Ballet. Under the instruction of Dolgallo and coaching of JP Tenuta, Brandt had the opportunity to perform premiere roles in classical ballets by August Bournonville, Mikhail Fokine, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa. Brandt also had the privilege to train within the spectrum of contemporary dance under Sarah Cullen Fuller, a formal company member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and current member on the company’s board.​

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Since her time in the Department of Dance, Brandt has performed in Anna Sokolow's Rooms, reconstructed from Labanotation score with the guidance and coaching of Dr. Valarie Williams, Mara Frazier, and founding director of the Sokolow Dance Foundation, Lorry May. Brandt also performed Rooms throughout the state of Ohio with the DaNCe2U mental health awareness tour, which connected the underlying themes of Sokolow's choreography with present day mental health issues. Additionally, Brandt performed Martha Graham's Steps in the Street, reconstructed from Labanotation score with the guidance and coaching of Dr. Valarie Williams, Mara Frazier, and former principal with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Peggy Lyman Hayes. Brandt is projected to perform both Rooms and Steps in the Street throughout France in Spring of 2022.

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For her senior research distinction project, she is exploring the process of dance reconstruction and the pertinent role of dance notation by reconstructing a solo from Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels. After completing the Martha Graham School Winter Intensive and experiencing one-on-one coaching with Peggy Lyman Hayes, she will perform the solo in March of 2022.

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In the summer of 2021, Brandt worked as a summer intern with BalletMet under the guidance of the Director of Education. Brandt was also granted the Undergraduate Research Library Fellowship to research and create a descriptive guide to the unprocessed world dances in the Dance Notation Bureau Collection and the Toni’ Intravaia Papers. Brandt will also present her research at the 2022 International Council of Kinetography Labanotation Conference in Budapest, Hungary.