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The Delphic Preview 2025
Join us for this two-day gathering that celebrates the living spirit of the ancient Delphic Games through a contemporary lens—where myth breathes, music resounds, and the Muses rise anew. Presented by Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in collaboration with the Isadora Duncan International Institute, the Ecumenical Delphic Union, and the Committee for the Reinstatement of the Delphic Games, the Festival marks a vital step in the international movement to restore these sacred traditions globally.
Through lectures, performances, workshops, and discussions, participants engage with ancient Greek culture in vibrant, modern forms—poetry, dance, theater, sport, song, and ritual—culminating thematically in an experiential procession along the “Sacred Way.”
This “Delphic Preview” serves as a practicum for the upcoming full five-day Festival for the Reinstatement of the Delphic Games, to be held in Delphi, Greece, in Summer 2027, and extends into the Garden of the Muses, a growing archive of creative offerings in word, sound, and movement.
Presented by
Panos Kaltsis, Founder and President, Ecumenical Delphic Union
Jeanne Bresciani, Festival Founding Chair, Artistic Director, Isadora Duncan International Institute
with Committee Members
Rosemary Cooper, Isadora Duncan International Institute
Mary DiSanto-Rose, Skidmore College
Cynthia Word, Word Dance Theater
Schedule
Friday, August 22, 2025
Location: Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, D.C.
3100 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
9:30–10:15 AM
Opening Keynote – The Essence of the Delphic Flame
Jeanne Bresciani and Festival Organizers
Duration: 45 min
10:20–11:20 AM
Nick Lasky – Shamanic Journey to Encounter Your Muse on the
Sacred Way
Duration: 60 min
11:20–11:35 AM
Mid-morning break
11:35 AM–12:35 PM
Sandra Kammann – Sacred Journeys: Priestess, Goddess, Hymns of Orpheus
Duration: 60 min
12:35–2:00 PM
Mid-day Break
Duration: 1 hr 25 min
2:00–2:30 PM
Cynthia Word – Invocation to Sappho: Motion, Memory, and the Feminine Voice
Duration: 30 min
2:35–3:35 PM
Gareth Hinds – Visualizing the Epics: Adapting the Classics into Graphic Novels
Duration: 60 min
3:35–4:00 PM
Mid-afternoon break
4:00–4:45PM
Paris Katsivelos – Body as Oracle: Greek Roots of Physical Theater
Duration: 45 min
4:50–5:20 PM
Ravenna Wilde – Ripples: Duncan and Wilde
Duration: 30 min
5:25–5:55 PM
Michiyo Sato-Vagins – Dancing Mythological Creatures: Python and Black Tiger, White Wolf
Duration: 30 min
7:00 PM – Evening Performance (Separate ticketing / public performance)
🎭 The Oracular Spark
Featuring Jay Leeming, The Sword and Oar Company, Paris Katsivelos, Kathleen Hiley, Jacqueline Fernandez, and others
Register for Friday Night »
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Location: Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, D.C.
3100 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
10:00–10:45 AM
Mary DiSanto-Rose – Movement of the Nine Muses
Duration: 45 min
10:50–11:35 AM
Jay Leeming – Singing the River, Dreaming the Stone
Duration: 45 min
11:35–11:50 AM
Mid-morning break
11:50 AM–12:35 PM
Kathleen Hiley – The Great Mother Goddess: The Cycle of Womanhood
Duration: 45 min
12:35–2:00 PM
Mid-day Break
Duration: 1 hr 25 min
2:00–2:45 PM
Marina Gonta, Vince Gagliardi & Sofia Papadatou –
The Greek Muses of Antiquity
Curated by Marina Gonta
Duration: 45 min
2:50–3:20 PM
Tom Giles & Nicolas Lebrun – Sword & Oar Company
Duration: 30 min
3:25–3:55 PM
Vince Gagliardi – MANTO
Duration: 30 min
3:55–4:15 PM
Mid-afternoon break
4:15–4:45 PM
Jacqueline Fernandez – Isadora Duncan: Beyond the Frieze. Excerpts from The Art of the Dance
Duration: 30 min
7:00 PM – Evening Performance (Separate ticketing / public performance)
🎭 The Muses on the Sacred Way
Directed by Jeanne Bresciani
Presented by the Isadora Duncan International Institute, Cynthia Word, Michiyo Sato-Vagins, and guest artists
Register for Saturday Night »
The Performances
Friday Evening, August 22nd - 7pm
The Oracular Spark
An evening of dramatic poetry, spoken word, and dance inspired by the Delphic tradition of language as ritual. Artists engage mythic texts, original verse, and embodied performance to evoke the ancient union of voice and movement. Featuring Paris Katsivelos, Jay Leeming, Kathleen Hiley, Jacqueline Fernandez, Michiyo Sato, and others.
Saturday Evening, August 23rd - 7pm
The Muses on the Sacred Way
An evening of dance as Delphic expression—where myth, gesture, and classical form converge. Featuring Jeanne Bresciani and the Isadora Duncan International Institute Dancers, with guest artist Cynthia Word, the program includes original works and Duncan-based reconstructions alongside contributions from additional artists.
📍 The Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, D.C.
🎟 Free and open to the public - Outdoors, weather permitting
Please Note: In the event of inclement weather, outdoor seating and performance staging may be limited or adjusted. We recommend early arrival and will do our best to accommodate all registered guests.
Honored Guest Presenter
Paris Katsivelos
Paris (Paraskevas) Katsivelos is a Greek Actor, Director, and Professor of the Dramatic Arts. He comes from the island of Thassos, Greece. He has studied Acting, Directing, Stage Design – Costume design, Monody - Melodramatics, Kinesiology - Choreography, and Scenic Art. For more than four decades, he has taught Acting, Education of Speech, Improvisation, Specialized Dramatic Art Workshops, Special Dramatic Art Retraining Seminars for professional actors, in higher schools of dramatic art, theatrical Workshops, and at universities in Greece and abroad.
Presentations Coming to the 'Delphic Preview' 2025
Featured Presentation - The Greek Muses of Antiquity, Curated by Marina Gonta
Singing the River, Dreaming the Stone - Jay Leeming
Dancing Mythological Creatures: Python and Black Tiger, White Wolf - Michiyo Sato-Vagins
Visualizing the Epics: Adapting the Classics into Graphic Novels - Gareth Hinds
The Great Mother Goddess: The Cycle of Womanhood - Kathleen Hiley
The Death of Homer - Tom Giles and Nicolas Lebrun
Movement of the Nine Muses - Mary DiSanto-Rose
Shamanic Journey to Encounter Your Muse - Nick Lasky
Body as Oracle: Greek Roots of Physical Theater - Paris Katsivelos
Sacred Journeys: Priestess, Goddess, Hymns of Orpheus - Sandra Kammann
Isadora Duncan: Beyond the Frieze - excerpts from "The Art of the Dance" - Jacqueline Fernandez
Ripples: Duncan and Wilde - Ravenna Wilde
Invocation to Sappho: Motion, Memory, and the Feminine Voice - Cynthia Word
MANTO – Μαντώ - Vince Gagliardi
View Excerpts from the
2021 Leaders' Colloquia
Amidst the global pandemic the Delphic Preview was held onsite in Delphi, Greece amongst core committee members, presenters and delegates as an organizing, planning experience
Event Details:
Date: Friday, August 22nd through Saturday, August 23rd, 2025
Location: The Center for Hellenic Studies
3100 Whitehaven St NW, Washington, DC 20008
Schedule:
Coming Soon