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Martha Graham Dance Company at Skirball Center
Symbol of the modern dance movement continues to make history
Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch in Martha Graham’s Clytemnestra (Photo: Costas)
To say that Martha Graham’s works have a touching quality is too soft a word—they are gripping. We peer into her exploration of raw, human emotion; what makes people tick? This made Graham a sensation, mysterious yet relatable and truly contemporary. The company, which was founded in 1926, is in some ways a cornerstone of dance in New York, touring internationally and continuing to breathe life into Graham’s choreography.
Their New York season will be performed at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU from May 12–16. In a short span of time the company will pack many of Graham’s legendary dances into two programs.
At times it feels as though watching the company’s repertoire is like watching a little piece of history. Championed by critics, her cheorography was impactful and fresh. In writing for the New York Times, Clive Barnes called Graham “a living symbol of the modern-dance movement to the outside world.” Still today, from Japan to Los Angeles, the company is regarded as a leader of modern and contemporary movement.
Program A presents the full-length epic Clytemnestra. One of Graham’s famous Greek tragedy creations, the work will be seen in its entirety for the first time in decades. The story is the intense telling of the love and loss of Agamemnon Queen Clytemnestra.
Program B puts forth a wide spectrum of work. Sketches from ‘Chronicle’, which was first premiered in 1936; Errand Into the Maze, the battle of suspense and fear created in 1947; and the lighter Maple Leaf Rag, which debuted in 1990 with costumes by Calvin Klein and the ragtime music of Scott Joplin. Lamentation Variations was imagined and created by Janet Eilber (Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company and former Graham dancer) and was first performed at the Joyce in 2007. It is the interpretation, insight and translation of the famous solo “Lamentation” by three distinctly different and accomplished choreographers: Aszure Barton, Larry Keigwin and Richard Move.
In addition to the duel bill is a gala in honor of dancer, producer and showman Paul Szilard on May 14 with a special program and guests.
With such a range of works, the Martha Graham Dance Company’s New York season runs the gauntlet from the intensely emotional to the more jovial, a cross section into the expansive library of Graham’s choreographic contributions.