The world-renowned Martha Graham Dance Company returns to The Joyce Theater with two exciting programs, October 26–October 31, 2021. The season features works by acclaimed choreographers Andrea Miller, Pam Tanowitz, Elisa Monte, and Sir Robert Cohan and Graham classics Appalachian Spring, Steps in the Street, Diversion of Angels, and the newly recovered solo Immediate Tragedy. A special matinee program on October 30 will feature short works by up-and-coming choreographers, presented in collaboration with the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. 

The Joyce season will feature a world premiere by in-demand choreographer Andrea Miller, known for her visceral and evocative work. The piece will be performed by nine Graham dancers to a soundscape by Miller’s frequent collaborator Will Epstein. Costumes are by Oana Botez.

Pam Tanowitz’s witty, highly praised Untitled (Souvenir), created for the Company in 2019, will also be presented. Set to two scores by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, Untitled (Souvenir) draws on some of Graham’s lesser-known works, including Dark Meadow (1946) and The Legend of Judith (1962). The work intermixes Tanowitz’s original movement with elements of Graham’s vocabulary and phrasing, transforming the iconic material into something new. Costumes are by designers Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin of TOME. 

Works by two renowned choreographers and former Graham dancers will also be presented—Elisa Monte’s landmark duet Treading from 1979 with music by Steve Reich, and Sir Robert Cohan’s solo Lorenzo from Afternoon Conversations with Dancers, set to music by Nils Frahm.

The season also includes Graham’s celebrated masterwork Appalachian Spring (1944) with a score by Aaron Copland and set by longtime collaborator Isamu Noguchi. The stark, powerful Steps in the Street from Graham’s 1936 anti-war work Chronicle will be presented along with her joyous and lyrical Diversion of Angels (1948). Graham’s lost 1937 solo Immediate Tragedy, created in response to the Spanish Civil War, will also be presented. The solo has been reimagined by artistic director Janet Eilber using printed archival materials including a series of rare photographs by Robert Fraser. Composer Christopher Roundtree has created a new score for the piece.

The matinee on October 30 will be an eclectic program of new choreographic voices. The Graham Company is collaborating with the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center to present works by finalists of the Future Dance Festival, which was hosted by the 92nd Street Y in April 2021. These two institutions have an historic connection. Martha Graham and many of the pioneers of modern dance were championed by the 92nd Street Y in the early years of the emerging art form. The two organizations share a vision of drawing on the past to inspire and propel the form into the future. Conceived during the pandemic to connect emerging dance makers with dance company directors, the digital Future Dance Festival featured works from finalists around the world. Now, the 92nd Street Y and the Graham Company are working together to provide in-person performance opportunities for these exciting up-and-coming choreographers. The lineup includes Patrick Coker, William Ervin, Brian Golden, Burr Johnson, Vera Kvarcakova and Jeremy Galdeano, Beatrice Panero, Barkha Patel, Annie Rigney, and Nicole von Arx.

The dancers of the Martha Graham Dance Company are So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Laurel Dalley Smith,Natasha M. Diamond Walker, Lloyd Knight, Jacob Larsen, Lloyd Mayor, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell,Lorenzo Pagano, Anne Souder, Richard Villaverde, Leslie Andrea Williams, and Xin Ying.    

Performances are at The Joyce Theater October 26–October 31, 2021 (Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday at 7:30pm, Thursday and Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm and 7:30pm). The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), in Manhattan. Tickets range from $10 to $75. Prices are subject to change. Tickets can be purchased online at www.joyce.org or by calling JOYCECHARGE at 212-242-0800. For information about the Joyce Theater’s health and safety protocols, visit www.joyce.org.

 

Fall 2021 Season at The Joyce Theater

Program A

Tuesday, October 26, at 7pm; Friday, October 29, at 8pm; Sunday, October 31, at 2pm and 7:30pm

World Premiere by Andrea Miller

Appalachian Spring by Martha Graham

Diversion of Angels by Martha Graham

Immediate Tragedy by Martha Graham, reimagined by Janet Eilber

Program B

Wednesday, October 27, at 7:30pm; Thursday, October 28, at 8pm; Saturday, October 30, at 8pm

Untitled (Souvenir) by Pam Tanowitz

Lorenzo by Sir Robert Cohan

Treading by Elisa Monte

Steps in the Street by Martha Graham

Diversion of Angels by Martha Graham

Matinee on Saturday, October 30, at 2pm

A program of short works created and performed by finalists of the Future Dance Festival. Presented in collaboration with the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center. 

 

About the Martha Graham Dance Company 

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. Today, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that unite the work of choreographers across time within a rich historical and thematic narrative, the Company is actively working to create new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences. 

Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The Company has performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, Covent Garden, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt and in the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus theater on the Acropolis in Athens. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world. For more information about the Company, visit www.marthagraham.org.