Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo is part of Martha Graham’s New York City Center season (photo by Carla Lope / Luque Photography)
Who: Martha Graham Dance Company
What: GRAHAM100
Where: New York City Center, 131 West 55th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
When: April 17-20, $55-$155
Why: The Martha Graham Dance Company returns to City Center for the first part of its three-year centennial celebration, “GRAHAM100,” consisting of six works that explore the past, present, and future of the troupe. “American Legacies” takes place April 17-20, consisting of a new production of Agnes de Mille’s 1942 classic, Rodeo, with music by Aaron Copland, reorchestrated with bluegrass flair by Gabe Witcher, costumes by Oana Botez, and visual design by Beowulf Boritt; Graham’s 1990 Maple Leaf Rag, set to music by Scott Joplin, with costumes by Calvin Klein; Graham’s 1944 classic, Appalachian Spring, with music by Copland, scenic design by Ismau Noguchi, and costumes by Graham; Hofesh Shechter’s 2022 CAVE, with music by Shechter and Âme; Graham favorite The Rite of Spring (1984), with music by Igor Stravinsky, set by Edward T. Morris, costumes by Graham and Halston, projections by Paul Lieber, and a new production concept from artistic director Janet Eilber; and the world premiere of Jamar Roberts’s We the People, with music by Rhiannon Giddens. Music for the Graham classics will be performed live by the Mannes Orchestra.
The gala on April 18 comprises Maple Leaf Rag, The Rite of Spring, and Graham’s 1932 Satyric Festival Song, which was reconstructed in 1994 by Diane Gray and Eilber to music by Fernando Palacios and will feature special guest FKA twigs, who is one of the gala honorees, along with Adrienne Holder and Dr. Donna E. Shalala. “As part of ‘GRAHAM100,’ we are interested in reframing iconic works of the twentieth century in ways that expand our views of that time and offer a more inclusive history,” Eilber notes in the program. “We hope our new production of Rodeo, which also features the most diverse cast to have ever performed the work, will resonate with today’s conversations about gender and inclusion while celebrating Agnes’s timeless and timely story about a young person who feels unable to fit in finding community on their own terms through dance.”
In a statement, Eilber added, “We’re thrilled to be working with Rhiannon Giddens, whose work often celebrates Black and immigrant artists who are foundational to American folk music. Pairing her with choreographer Jamar Roberts on programs with our new bluegrass production of Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo puts twentieth- and twenty-first-century Americana side by side and offers audiences a more expansive and inclusive way to understand our past. And our remarkable dancers somehow move seamlessly and brilliantly between styles and techniques that span decades.” Those dancers are Lloyd Knight, Xin Ying, Lorenzo Pagano, Leslie Andrea Williams, Anne Souder, Laurel Dalley Smith, So Young An, Marzia Memoli, Jacob Larsen, Alessio Crognale-Roberts, Richard Villaverde, Devin Loh, Antonio Leone, Meagan King, Ane Arrieta, Zachary Jeppsen, Matthew Spangler, Justin Valentine, Jai Perez, and Amanda Moreira.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]