<img src="http://www.ballet-dance.com/200310/mgdcgallery/images/medea.jpg" alt="" />

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS 2005 NEW YORK SEASON, APRIL 6-17, 2005

MAJOR COLLABORATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE NEW SEASON WITH A WORLD PREMIERE BY MARTHA CLARKE AND COSTUMES BY OSCAR DE LA RENTA

The Martha Graham Dance Company will return to New York City Center’s Mainstage Theater to present its 2005 New York Season, April 6-17, 2005, with a major world premiere by Martha Clarke. The repertory also includes revivals of Primitive Mysteries (1931) and Deaths and Entrances (1943). Oscar de la Renta is designing new costumes for Deaths and Entrances. Every performance will feature live music, highlighting commissions of music by important composers that are a hallmark of Martha Graham’s rich legacy.

Martha Clarke noted choreographer and theater artist will bring to life the theatrical imagery inspired by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in a world premiere. This is the first commission by the Company’s Artistic Directors Terese Capucilli and Christine Dakin. The dance will also feature a commissioned score from Italian composer Franco Piersanti — the Company’s first new score since 1978, reviving Martha Graham’s long tradition of working with commissioned music. Artistic collaborators include lighting designer Chris Akerlind, costume designer Donna Zakowski and scenic designer Roberto Hernandez.

Said Martha Clarke, "I am thrilled to be invited by Artistic Directors Christine Dakin and Terese Capucilli to create a new work for the Martha Graham Dance Company. I have loved Francisco Goya's etchings "Los Caprichos" for many years; they possess a remarkable range of emotion and commentary that are universal and timeless. Their haunting themes present the potential for the heightened theatricality associated with Graham's own unique and extraordinary work. It is an honor to be given the opportunity to contribute to the Company's next steps into the future" Enigmatic, controversial and harrowing, Francisco Goya’s “Los Caprichos” were published in 1799 at a time of social repression and economic crisis in Spain. The series of 80 etchings deals with themes such as the Spanish inquisition, abuses of the church and nobility, witchcraft, prostitution and animals acting like humans.

Ms. Capucilli and Ms. Dakin commented, “Like Martha Graham, Martha Clarke is known for her unique theatrical sensibility which brings together a diversity of the finest artists, for a fusion that expands the potential for creating unique new work which blends extreme physical and dramatic elements. We are committed to exploring the theatrical elements of Martha Graham's work and continuing her tradition of artistic collaborations. Working with Martha Clarke will challenge our extraordinary dancers' dramatic and technical abilities as they create this new theatre/dance work. It will enrich their performance of the Graham repertory and bring our audiences an exciting new theatrical experience in the Graham aesthetic.”

The Company’s 24 dancers will perform classics of Martha Graham’s masterworks from the early 1930’s through the late 1950’s, such as Sketches from Chronicle (1936), El Penitente (1940), Appalachian Spring (1944), Cave of the Heart (1946), Errand Into the Maze (1947) and Embattled Garden (1958). A 26-member orchestra will perform music for the repertory commissioned by Martha Graham from renowned composers Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Hunter Johnson, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Martha Graham’s mentor Louis Horst.

For the revival of Deaths and Entrances, a wrenching drama of desire and repression, Oscar de la Renta is re-conceiving Martha Graham’s original 1940’s costumes for a dance inspired by the 19th century lives of the Bronte sisters. According to Christine Dakin, Terese Capucilli, “Our invitation to him follows Graham's tradition of collaboration with brilliant contemporaneous artists. Re-imagining the original costumes, Oscar de la Renta's talent for dramatic yet human design, will draw the 1840's lives of the Brontë sisters through the lens of Graham's 1940's creation of the characters, into beautiful present life."

Primitive Mysteries is a tour de force of ecstatic revelation, and this revival will feature a new edition of the score prepared by Music Director Aaron Sherber, who worked from a Horst manuscript to restore musical details that have been missing from this piece for 40 years.

Five dances – Appalachian Spring, Errand into the Maze, Embattled Garden, Cave of the Heart and Sketches from Chronicle – feature sets by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who worked with Martha Graham in one of the most legendary artistic collaborations of the twentieth century. The fruits of their partnership will be featured in an exhibition, Noguchi and Graham: Selected Works for Dance, at The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, opening December 2, 2004, running concurrent with the 2005 New York Season and through May 1, 2005.

Vogue’s Editor-at-Large André Leon Talley, who, after performing as a guest artist with the Company last year, has taken on a new role as Chairman of the Martha Graham Dance Company Committee, which develops projects to support the Company and its special events. The gala opening of the New York Season on April 6, 2005, promises to be as spectacular as last year’s celebration. To purchase tickets to the gala, please contact Joan Morgan or Amanda Martignetti at 212-921-9070 or e-mail mg@jfm2productions.com. Individual ticket prices range from $500 to $2,500 and tables from $5,000 to $25,000.

For more information or press tickets, contact:
Jonathan Marder jongsmltd@earthlink.net
General Strategic Marketing
413 West 14 Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10014
646 638 2479
646 638 2529 fax

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NEW YORK 2005 SEASON PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

On the schedule below, please note that there are earlier curtain times on weekdays and for the Sunday evening performance. Both matinees on Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17 are at 2:00PM.

PROGRAMS:

PROGRAM A
Errand into the Maze
El Penitente
World Premiere (Martha Clarke)
Sketches from Chronicle

PROGRAM B
Cave of the Heart
Primitive Mysteries (revival)
Appalachian Spring

PROGRAM C
Embattled Garden
Deaths and Entrances (revival)
Sketches from Chronicle

PROGRAM D (Family Matinee)
Embattled Garden
Errand into the Maze
Appalachian Spring

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Wed, April Opening / Gala :: Program A :: Curtain at 7:00PM

Thu, April 7 :: Program B :: Curtain at 7:30PM

Fri, April 8 :: Program C :: Curtain at 8:00PM

Sat, April 9 :: Program A :: Curtain at 8:00PM

Tue, April 12 (Pre-performance talk with Martha Clarke) :: Program A :: Curtain at 7:30PM

Wed, April 13 :: Program B :: Curtain at 7:30PM

Thu, April 14 :: Program C :: Curtain at 7:30PM

Fri, April 15 :: Program B :: Curtain at 8:00PM

Sat, April 16 Post-performance talk Meet the Dancers :: Program D :: Curtain at 2:00PM

Sat, April 16 :: Program A :: Curtain at 8:00PM

Sun, April 17 :: Program B :: Curtain at 2:00PM

Sun, April 17 :: Program A :: Curtain at 7:00PM

For performance tickets, contact CityTix® at 212-581-1212, www.nycitycenter.org or the New York City Center Box Office on West 55 Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Ticket prices range from $24 to $80, with a 15% discount for two or more performances.

<small>[ 08 December 2004, 04:47 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

It's always good to read about a new season for the Martha Graham Dance Company, especially when the future was balanced on a knife edge in the recent past.

This announcement sees some important innovations:

- It will be fascinating to see how choreogrpher Martha Clarke employs the distinctive technique of the Graham dancers.

- The revival of "Deaths and Entrances" will feature new costumes, which is sure to displease purists, but shows a desire to keep the repertory alive for current audiences.

- In contrast, "Primitive Mysteries" will see a return to the original score after extensive research.

From discussions with one of the Graham dancers in London, there is a spirit of looking afresh at interpretations of the Graham classics, which in my view is vital to keep the repertoire alive. It's worth bearing in mind that Shakespeare is performed in a markedly different style today than it was in the 1960s, never mind the 1660's.

Looking forward to the next London visit.

<small>[ 08 December 2004, 05:05 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

<img src="http://www.noguchi.org/images/fall-garden.jpg" alt="" />

THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM

For Immediate Release
December 22, 2004

"SECOND SUNDAYS" -DIALOGUES ON ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND DESIGN- BEGIN JANUARY 9

Inaugural event-moderated by Harvey Lichtenstein-brings together visual and performing artists for lively panel discussion.

WHAT
The Noguchi Museum launches the public-programming series "Second Sundays." This season's programs explore the relationship of the visual and performing arts, in honor of the Museum's current exhibition, Noguchi and Graham: Selected Works for Dance.

The inaugural program is a panel discussion moderated by Brooklyn Academy of Music's legendary Harvey Lichtenstein. Celebrated choreographers Bill T. Jones, Molissa Fenley, and Ralph Lemon; sculptors Bjorn Amelan and Nari Ward; and painter Roy Fowler talk about the collaborative process of bringing together the visual and performing arts to produce "the dance."

WHEN
Sunday, January 9, 2005, at 3:00 p.m.
(Subsequent discussions are on February 13, and March 13.)

WHERE
The Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road at Vernon Blvd.
Long Island City, New York

ADMISSION
Free with Museum admission
Adults $5; seniors and students $2.50; children under 12 admitted free

SHUTTLE BUS
Weekend shuttle-bus service is available between midtown Manhattan and the Museum.
Information: 718-204-7088, or www.noguchi.org.

THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM
Established and designed by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) in 1985, the Museum presents a comprehensive selection of the artist's work in interior galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden, all designed by Noguchi. Included is a full range of his works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects and gardens, stage sets, and his Akari Light Sculptures. The Museum's active program of temporary exhibitions complements its ongoing installation of works from the collection.

Hi all,

It has been quite some time since my last entry here and I must say, a very busy time as well. The Company is currently preparing for our long awaited performances in Kennedy Center as well as our New York Season in April. You can get a glimpse of our other touring schedule on www.marthagrahamdance.org
I have been also working on the Young Artists Program, a full scholarship based dance program for teens, which I am now directing .I will soon post more info on it soon.

I just wanted mostly to let you know, we are very much alive and kicking (of course from our pelvis!)

Good to hear from you Tadej and we look forward to learning more about your work on the scholarship programe for teens.

Here's a direct link to the MGDC 2005 schedule:

http://www.marthagrahamdance.org/company/

I've consolidated two topics:

Toba Singer posted 25 October 2004 12:04 AM
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Martha Graham Dance Company, Mondavi Center, Davis, California, October 23, 2004

The Martha Graham Company, its place in American History, legacy to the universal vocabulary of dance, singular choreography and roster of great dancers, could cause us to view it as a museum, rich with retrospective treasures, were it not for the timeless technique that birthed it. That technique is the pulse of the company, regardless of who is dancing the roles today, as compared with earlier periods in its groundbreaking history. A generational comparison is, by definition, ahistorical. The earliest dancers, Gertrude Shurr, May O’Donnell, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, Pearl Lang, and those they invited to join them: Bertram Ross, Mary Hinkson, Yuriko, Lucas Hoving, and those they taught—the current artistic directors, Christine Dakin and Terese Capucilli--made the art under the mastery of Ms. Graham. Now they curate it and share it with the artists in today’s company, and ultimately with new audiences. There is, of course, a different mood in the company, as there is a different mood among those who today defend Cuba from threatened military invasion by the U.S. government, compared with that of “Los Barbudos” who made the revolution against U.S. occupiers in the late 1950s.

Capucilli and Dakin stood up to the exclusive claims on Graham's work made in court by Ron Protas, and won a victory that brought this substantial body of work back to SRO audiences. Christine Dakin spoke to me briefly after the performance, and noted that today's audiences are “focused” and “educated” and altogether delightful to dance for.

So when the opening strains of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, played by the well-tempered U.C. Davis Symphony Orchestra, introduced the audience to Graham’s signature Americana piece by the same name, there was a palpable readiness on both sides of the proscenium to fully experience the range of Martha Graham work. The minimalist set, by Isamu Noguchi, offers a slice of a white-shingled clapboard house, a bench with a churn and enough supports to suggest that there’s more here that's not seen. It’s all ye know and all ye need to know, because it represents the youthful simplicity that characterized every region of post-Revolutionary America: New England, the Great Plains, the Southern Plantations, and the Prairie territories. Here is what the pioneer farmers set down in broad strokes, leaving room for embellishments when and if the future proved itself a loyal fixture.

The algebra of the set harmonizes with Ms. Graham’s choreography, where the energy transfers in the interstices between steps and combinations. Graham called them “transitions.” The cartoonist, Jules Pfeiffer, lampooned the naturalist themes that dancers inspired by Graham copied. Yet, for young-feeling people of all ages, Graham classes were purgative. Not a single rib was left unchallenged by a rigorous technique that refreshed the body and spirit like nothing else.

What’s held and pushed under The Revivalist’s homespun suit, or The Bride’s extravagant peach gown, or by the quartet of Followers, whose dancing intones like a Greek Chorus, is the phenomenology of Graham. A coltish prance spells fecundity, a sleek arm gesture throws invisible grain. It’s plain, but glamorously cinematic at the same time. The Followers are like poetic quatrains that chime perfectly into the violin, flute, dulcimer and piano.

Mauricio Nardi gives us a Revivalist whose exorcism turns his ribs into tuning forks. The Bride, is danced so faithfully to Ms. Dakin’s interpretation by Virginie Mécène, that she could easily be taken for Dakin’s double. The arm spirals at the end confer a kind of halo of fertility, not the religious “cult of the virgin” kind, but more like the diurnal barnyard variety that captures the imaginations of children in the “Charlotte’s Web” story. The descant signals nightfall, and leaves the Husbandman and his Bride alone in their new togetherness, alone with nothing but the cold comfort of the stark landscape. The celebrants exit, and the audience catches a last, lingering glimpse of the way we were when we were the very youngest of the Americas.

Errand Into the Maze has a deceptively simple set, an outcropping of random branches, sprouting from what would appear to be the dark side of the moon. The branches are the axes of a maze of good and evil, explored with no holds barred by two dancers, Fang Yi Sheu and Martin Lofsnes.

Fang slowly dials in the space between the branches, deft and calculating on her way downstage. Then she boldly crisscrosses her own swivel-hipped steps. Her costume opens audaciously and we see that it is veined arbitrarily, like the branches in the maze. Mr. Lofnes is a painted tribal icon, with a horned headdress and a branch skewered across his back and under his arms. The dancers circle each other on bent knee, and he frightens her into an off-count body roll. She snags a vine-like rope that hangs up in the vortex of the branches. He’s suddenly back, posing in ritual penchées, falling to the floor, still skewered. He tacks her into place, as he steps deliberately around and over her supine body. He pulls her onto his back, where she’s balanced low on his spine. She reconquers her space in a series of hallmark Graham one-foot ronds de jambes à terre, slapping her knees as her body descends to the floor. He runs kicking backward as he goes, and then she shudders across his inclined body, disposing of him with triumphal straight-knee, then bent-knee battements. It’s all about good and evil, loss of power and retrieval. It’s frightening and funny; many think it’s what underlies the war games and the money.

El Penitente is the classic Graham story ballet, offered in the modern idiom. In this piece, we see three of the younger dancers in the company, Christophe Jeannot, Maurizio Nardi and Elizabeth Auclair, as the Penitent, Christ Figure and Mary (Virgin, Magdalen, Mother--pay close attention “Da Vinci Code” fans), respectively. Utilizing a banner on crosspieces, and a cart made of wooden dowels, the story of the Crucifixion is unfurled. The piece is ritual, yet references pagan touchstones in its rudimentary enactment of the New Testament story. The exception is a very Nikiya/Salome-like seduction, danced by Auclair, where she is outfitted in a stunning fuchsia turban.

The program’s closing piece, “Diversion of Angels” is built around The Couple in White, The Couple in Red and The Couple in Yellow, with remaining company members costumed in Sepia tunics (women) and tights (men). Perhaps because the work is more diffuse than theatrical, it reveals weaknesses in the dancers’ technical development—or perhaps there are some injuries that inhibit full-out execution, especially among male corps members. The coryphées of women look a little shell-shocked. Overall, what elevates the piece and lifts us, are the welcome “up” accents, which distinguish the work in this program from all other iterations of modern dance, which tend to trend floorward.

The audience was ebullient at having the Martha Graham Dance Company back. A new generation of dancers is being recruited, trained, and conditioned to offer audiences the deepest possible interpretations of this work. Re-knitting the company’s continuity with its past will take time; it is clearly a privilege for those who get to do it. The company will selectively add to its repertoire from choreographers whose work is in keeping with the Graham spirit. Martha Clark was cited as an example of such an artist. Now that the company owns Ms. Graham’s work again, it will begin to be set on other companies that are in the best position to prepare their dancers for it, technically and artistically. All of this moves the work of Martha Graham through yet another transition. It will be fascinating to watch the company rediscover its center in the breadth of appreciation that is waiting, watching and welcoming of work whose classicism spirals the spine of its iconoclasm.

I've consolidated two topics.

The Graham Company was in Portland on Wednesday, October 27, 2004. Here is a background piece by Martha Ullman West in The Oregonian:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1098532518109380.xml?oregonian?alas

Bob Hicks reviews the performance:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/109913808149470.xml?oregonian?alap

"SECOND SUNDAYS"-
DIALOGUES ON ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND DESIGN-
CONTINUE ON FEBRUARY 13

JULIE TAYMOR and MING CHO LEE discuss the artistic vision and process behind their work.

WHAT
The Noguchi Museum continues the public-programming series "SECOND SUNDAYS." This season's programs explore the relationship of the visual and performing arts, in honor of the Museum's current exhibition, "Noguchi and Graham: Selected Works for Dance."

The second program will be introduced by celebrated architect HUGH HARDY, who will briefly discuss Noguchi's collaboration with Graham. Following this, Ming Cho Lee, one of America's foremost scenic designers, will join with virtuoso designer and director Julie Taymor, in a discussion of their collaborative experiences and their vision of the stage as a sculptural space. The program will conclude with a Q & A WITH THE AUDIENCE.

WHEN
Sunday, February 13, 2005, at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE
THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM
9-01 33rd Road at Vernon Blvd.
Long Island City, New York

ADMISSION
FREE WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION
Adults $5; seniors and students $2.50; children under 12 admitted free

SHUTTLE BUS
WEEKEND SHUTTLE-BUS SERVICE IS AVAILABLE BETWEEN MANHATTAN AND THE MUSEUM.
Information: 718-204-7088, or www.noguchi.org.

THE NOGUCHI MUSEUM
Established and designed by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) in 1985, the Museum presents a comprehensive selection of the artist's work in interior galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden, all designed by Noguchi. Included is a full range of his works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects and gardens, stage sets, and his Akari Light Sculptures. The Museum's active program of temporary exhibitions complements its ongoing installation of works from the collection.

Thoroughly Modern Martha

By Lisa Traiger
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, February 18, 2005; Page WE22

more

In a Martha Graham Evening, The Women Take Command

By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 19, 2005; Page C01

more

from recent touring:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050314-9999-1c14martha.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050315-9999-1c15martha.html

more:

http://www.sandiego.com/critichome.jsp

Many thanks Tadej for these links to interesting reports on the San Diego visit. I missed Virginie Mecene as The Bride in London and will hope to see her when the Company is next over here. Congratulations on the positive comments on your own performance in "Appalachian Spring"; I know from seeing you in London that they are fully justified.

Did any of our Southern Californian posters see these performances?

<small>[ 15 March 2005, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

"The public seems baffled," Graham noted, "but moved in some way they do not understand."

I do hope the MGDC brings "Deaths and Entrances" next time they come to London. The stunning image with the NY Times article is definitely worth a look. Featuring Graham, Jane Dudley, John Butler, Merce Cunningham, Erick Hawkins and Sophie Maslow, it's a self-contained history of American modern dance.

I note that, as usual and as she was always first to fess up to, Martha Graham is centre-stage.

<small>[ 04 April 2005, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>