The Martha Graham Dance Company’s spring 2024 New York season, entitled American Legacies, extends the Company’s exploration of American themes and marks the first of three New York seasons as part of GRAHAM 100, the Company’s three-year centennial celebration. 

The season features Martha Graham’s celebrated masterwork Appalachian Spring (1944), with a luminous score by Aaron Copland and a spare set by Graham’s longtime collaborator Isamu Noguchi. Graham’s powerful The Rite of Spring (1984) and her witty Maple Leaf Rag (1990), her last complete work, with music by Scott Joplin and costumes by Calvin Klein, will also be presented. Music for the Graham classics will be performed live by The Mannes Orchestra under the direction of David Hayes.

Jamar Roberts, one of New York’s most in-demand choreographers, has created a new group work for the Company entitled We The People. The piece features a score by Grammy-winning composer Rhiannon Giddens. Discussing the work, Roberts said, “We The People is equal parts protest and lament, speculating on the ways in which America does not always live up to its promise. Against the backdrop of traditional American music, We The People hopes to serve as a reminder that the power for collective change belongs to the people.” Costume design by Karen Young and lighting by Yi-Chung Chen.

The program also includes a brand-new production of Agnes de Mille’s 1942 classic, Rodeo, with Aaron Copland’siconic score reorchestrated for a six-piece bluegrass ensemble by multi-instrumentalist and composer/arranger Gabe Witcher. All the elements of the Company’s new production of Rodeo are designed to broaden the conversation about this iconic work of Americana while remaining true to de Mille’s humorous and heartfelt story about a young, independent misfit searching for love. The work was set by de Mille repetiteur Diana Gonzalez, and features new costumes by Oana Botez, projected visual design by Beowulf Boritt, and lighting design by Yi-Chung Chen. The new production was co-commissioned by The Soraya at California State University, Northridge, and premiered there in September 2023.  

Completing the program is Hofesh Shechter’s rapturous CAVE, a visceral collective movement experience with an electronic score by Shechter and German duo Âme. CAVE is presented in association with Hofesh Shechter Company and was produced in partnership with Studio Simkin. It premiered at New York City Center in April 2022.

“The range of the Company’s repertory this season showcases the profound interaction between iconic classics and entirely contemporary creations,” says Graham Company Artistic Director Janet Eilber. “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 20th- and 21st-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.”