BWW Reviews: CAVE OF THE HEART Inspires at 92nd Street Y

Martha Graham, the first dancer to perform at the White House, who received the United States' highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom at the Bicentennial, is peerless in her affirmation of an authentic American lexicon, as through the ineffable beauty of the human body in movement.

English simply does not capture the whole voice of the American people. It is through the arts where Americans truly speak their language.

For the Stripped/Dressed theme of this year's Harkness Dance Festival at the 92nd SteetY, the sparklingly eloquent Janet Eilber spoke of Graham's vocabulary, in translation, of course, into the English.

There are three elements to Graham's choreographic language: breath, spine, and fall. At its core, the "unfurling of the spine" is woven throughout the choreography. Prior to the show, members of the Martha Graham Dance Company exhibited the awesome sophistication and humbling discipline behind learning how to speak with the body.

The transition from Stripped to Dressed revealed the mastery behind dancers Peiju Chien-Pott, Ben Schultz, Anne O'Donnell, and Natasha Diamond Walker, who fell, "to rise" as Graham said, and exhaled to inhale. Denuded of European classicism, Graham's choreography impresses honest gravity and the transparency of effort born of an interwar American soul-searching.

The four dancers perform the mythical tragedy of love and betrayal between Medea and Jason, with an artistic poise expressively unique to each creative presence. The set by Isamu Noguchi, and costumes by Martha Graham herself, are impeccably vibrant, fitting perfectly within the marvelous intensity of the archetypal drama.

While Cave of the Heart has been the toast of the most impressive stages on Earth, the 92nd Street Y performance really provided an intimate evening through which to hear the incomparable nuances of what Graham said through the animate symbols of dance.

Photo by John Deane

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