The Martha Graham / Isamu Noguchi collaboration EMBATTLED GARDEN is part of MGDC season at the Rose Theater (photo by Nan Melville)
Rose Theater
10 Columbus Circle, Broadway at West 60th St.
March 16-20, $48-$133
212-721-6500
www.marthagraham.org
www.jalc.org
Since 1926, the Martha Graham Dance Company has been one of the most famous and influential dance companies in the world, boasting some 181 works from such choreographers as Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Pascal Rioult performed by such superstars as Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Margot Fonteyn. Under the current leadership of executive director LaRue Allen and artistic director Janet Eilber, MGDC, continuing the legacy of its legendary iconic founder, will be at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater March 15-20, celebrating its eighty-fifth anniversary season by presenting several of its most exciting pieces from throughout its storied history, many of which are either choreographed by Graham or reference her directly. The season begins Tuesday with a gala honoring Robert Wilson and a revival of his Snow on the Mesa, which has not been performed in fifteen years, along with Maple Leaf Rag, Graham’s final ballet. On March 16 & 19, “New Revival / New Work” features Graham’s 1943 Deaths and Entrances and the world premiere of a commissioned piece by Taiwanese choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava. On March 17, “The Noguchi / Graham Connection” is explored in three collaborations between Graham and Queens-based Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi, Appalachian Spring, Cave of the Heart, and Embattled Garden. On March 18, “Wilson / Graham” includes Snow on the Mesa and Maple Leaf Rag. The March 19 matinee, “Political Dance Project,” features Dance Is a Weapon, a montage by Graham, Isadora Duncan, Jane Dudley, and others, in addition to a performance of Graham’s 1935 Panorama by thirty New York City high school students. The season concludes with the Sunday matinee “Wilson / Graham / Noguchi,” a grand finale of Snow on the Mesa and Embattled Garden in conjunction with the JapanNYC festival.