Tag Archives: Maple Leaf Rag

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: AMERICAN LEGACIES

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.]

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY AT THE JOYCE

Anne Souder and Lloyd Mayor perform in Martha Graham’s “Dark Meadow Suite.” (photo by Hibbard Nash Photography)

Anne Souder and Lloyd Mayor perform in Martha Graham’s “Dark Meadow Suite,” which will be part of two-week season at the Joyce this month (photo by Hibbard Nash Photography)

The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
February 14-26, $10-$60
212-691-9740
www.joyce.org
marthagraham.org

The Martha Graham Company will explore various aspects of magical thinking in three separate programs in its winter season at the Joyce, taking place February 14-26. Program A consists of a world premiere by Annie-B Parson, inspired by Graham’s Punch and the Judy and with text by playwright Will Eno, and Pontus Lidberg’s Woodland, both of which were created for the company, and Graham’s Dark Meadow Suite and Maple Leaf Rag. Program B comprises a new work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui dealing with Sufi mysticism, Nacho Duarte’s Rust, and Graham’s Primitive Mysteries and Diversion of Angels. Program C features the new Parson and Cherkaoui works in addition to Graham’s Clytemnestra Act II and Maple Leaf Rag. There will be an All-City Panorama University Partners Showcase on February 18 at 2:00, with Graham classics Helios, Panorama, Plain of Prayer, Prelude to Action, and Steps in the Street performed by high school and college dancers from around the country, and the February 22 show will be followed by a Curtain Chat. The company, which began life as the Martha Graham Studio in 1926, is currently made up of dancers So Young An, PeiJu Chien-Pott, Laurel Dalley Smith, Abdiel Jacobsen, Lloyd Knight, Charlotte Landreau, Jacob Larsen, Lloyd Mayor, Ari Mayzick, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Ben Schultz, Anne Souder, Leslie Andrea Williams, Konstantina Xintara, and Xin Ying, under the artistic direction of former principal dancer Janet Eilber.

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY 2014 SEASON

New York City Center
130 West 56th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
March 19-22, $35-$95
212-581-1212
www.alvinailey.org
www.nycitycenter.org

After enjoying a terrific experience choreographing Rust for the Martha Graham Dance Company last year, Nacho Duato asked if he could create another piece for the famed company, and artistic director and former Graham dancer Janet Eilber jumped at the opportunity. The result is the tentatively titled Depak Ine, which will have its world premiere March 20 as part of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s too-brief upcoming season at City Center, which runs March 19–22. The season includes the Graham classics Appalachian Spring, Maple Leaf Rag, and The Rite of Spring in addition to two pieces by Andonis Foniadakis, one act of Clytemnestra and the world premiere of Echo. The Spanish-born Duato discussed the new commission and showed unadorned advance excerpts (as well as Graham’s Lamentation and a scene from Rust) at a recent “Works & Process” presentation at the Guggenheim, explaining how he choreographs to make the most of each dancers’ individual talent, something the performers were all smiles about at the reception afterward. Duato, who studied with the Martha Graham Dance Company when he was much younger and feels a kinship with Graham’s gestural sensibilities, talked about how he wanted to work with the women as well in the new commission, since Rust was for five male dancers. The former artistic director and current resident choreographer of the Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet company and the incoming head of the Staatsballett Berlin, Duato noted that the title, Depak Ine, might change — it is currently named for the musical piece by John Talabot that is used in it (along with Arsenije Jovanovic’s “Athos — Montana Sacra”) — and he also pointed out that he still had to figure out what to do with the last three minutes. Hopefully all will be in place by March 20, when this exciting work makes its debut.