The amazing modernity of Martha Graham

The “Dancer of the century” is usually placed among the great geniuses, alongside Picasso or Stravinsky. Her legacy of 181 works is still - after her death in 1991 – the example of the extraordinary audacity with which she revolutionized contemporary dance. The patrimony of this inheritance is preserved and updated by the inheritance Martha Graham Dance Company.

In Errand into the Maze (1947), with the music of Gian Carlo Menotti, Martha Graham changed the perspective of the story of Teseo who travels to the labyrinth and faces the Minotaur. Here, the narration is through the eyes of Ariadne descending into the labyrinth to battle this half man, half beast. The rendition of the story created a female protagonist, who conquers both her fear and the beast, dancing a mythological voyage as a metaphor of a voyage into the self.

Canticle for Innocent Comedians is a reimagining of the last Graham work from 1952, which was lost. It returned in 2022 with a new choreography by Sonya Tayeh, recipient of Emmy and Tony awards. Based on the Graham style, it is reminiscent of a Greek chorus who come together and seek, in the words of the original poem that which “binds the halves of first and last/ to single troth in time”. The music is by the jazz pianist Jason Moran.

In CAVE, initiated by dancer Daniil Simkin, Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter returns with one of his high impact creations of great international acclaim. He investigates the mix of tecno club scene dancing and Rave style events, with his powerful kinetic energy: the result is CAVE, a simply staggering piece.
 

Errand into the Maze. Premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre of New York on February 28, 1947.

Canticle for Innocent Comedians. Inspired by the 1952 work of Martha Graham. Concept of the new by Janet Eilber. Premiere at the Soraya Center, Northridge University of California on March 19, 2022.

CAVE. Premiere at the New York City Center on April 6, 2022.