MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY to Present Fall 2026 Studio Series

The Martha Graham Dance Company's Fall 2026 Studio Series will feature four events at the Company's new home at 1501 Broadway in Times Square. The series gives audiences an intimate look at the Company's work and legacy, from up-close performances of Graham classics and insights into the artistic and historical context of their creation to behind-the-scenes glimpses of newly commissioned works and other special events.

New this season, the Company is introducing pre-show movement activities that relate to the evening's performance. Ticket holders are invited to arrive at 6pm to explore some of the movements and ideas that are part of the program. No experience is necessary. These mini-movement experiences are designed to offer extra insight into the themes of the evening before the show begins. Ticket holders are also invited to stay following the show to enjoy a glass of wine and meet the artists.

All Studio Series events will take place at the Martha Graham Studio Theater, 1501 Broadway, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Tickets are $45 (general) / $25 (students/children). Tickets for the family matinee on December 12 are $10 for children under 12. The Fall 2026 Studio Series subscription is $135 and includes VIP seating. Those unable to attend in person can join the Company's digital membership for $20/month at https://www.patreon.com/marthagrahamdance, which includes Studio Series streams and much more. To purchase tickets for Studio Series visit https://marthagraham.org/studioseries/.

Fall 2026 Studio Series Schedule

Monday and Tuesday, September 28 and 29, at 6:30pm, with Pre-Show Games at 6pm
NEW@Graham: Movement Sentence Choir or How to Choreograph a Dance in a Matter of Minutes

This Studio Series evening will offer an inside look at the Company's recent world premiere On Freedom. Designed to celebrate the Company's 100th anniversary and the country's 250th, On Freedom was created using a process created by the 92NY's Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) – the Movement Sentence Choir. The process is an inclusive approach to dance-making that brings movers of all ages, genres, and abilities together to make a dance in a matter of minutes.

The cast of On Freedom, with choreographers Larry Keigwin and Taryn Vander Hoop, who is also a DEL facilitator, and composer Joel Weinhardt, will revisit highlights of the creative process and offer an inside look at how the dance developed in the course of three short rehearsals. The evening will conclude with a performance of the entire seven-minute work (which might change in the course of the evening).

Audience members are invited to arrive 30 minutes before the show to join Pre-Show Games. A DEL facilitator will lead everyone through a mini-Movement Sentence Choir process.

Monday and Wednesday, November 2 and 4, at 6:30pm, with Pre-Show Games at 6pm
GrahamDeconstructed: Lamentation Variations with Lar Lubovitch

An evening in conversation with choreographer Lar Lubovitch regarding the creative process, and, in particular, his approach to creating a Lamentation Variation.

In 2007, the Company invited three young choreographers to create short dances for the Company inspired by a film of Martha Graham dancing her iconic solo, Lamentation. Intended for a one-night-only performance, the choreographers were given a specific set of rules to follow as they created their variation. The end results were so moving and significant that Lamentation Variations became an ongoing project. Within the next decade, 15 variations came into being from a widely diverse group of artists.

As the 20th anniversary of Lamentation Variations approaches, the Company has commissioned four new variations from choreographers Pam Tanowitz, Shawn Ahern, visual artist Rashid Johnson with Claudia Schreier, and Lar Lubovitch.

Artistic Director Janet Eilber and Lubovitch will discuss his choreographic process and the challenges of taking inspiration from the past. The Company will perform his work in process as well as one or two of the earliest variations created.

Audience members are invited to arrive at 6pm to join the Pre-Show Games, learn some of the original gestures from Lamentation and perhaps invent a few of their own.

Wednesday, December 2, at 6:30pm
From Denishawn to Marilyn Monroe: Jack Cole Revealed!
A Conversation and Book Signing with Author Debra Levine and Dancing by the New Jack Cole Dancers

A celebration of the new biography Jazzed: Jack Cole and Twentieth-Century American Dance. The evening will feature a conversation with author Debra Levine, joined by Janet Eilber, Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Company, and Norton Owen, Jacob's Pillow Historian and Founding Director of Preservation. The program will also include a demonstration of Cole's distinctive dance vocabulary and a performance by the New Jack Cole Dancers led by Artistic Director Cam Loeser.

Jazzed is a biography of choreographer Jack Cole. In mid-20th Century, Cole's groundbreaking, sensual physicality fused Denishawn style to jazz and ballet and exploded on screen in films such as Gilda and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Cole was an unmistakable influence on such greats as Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, and Alvin Ailey, and his biography finally gives the artist his long overdue due.

Friday, December 11, at 6:30pm and Saturday, December 12, at 2pm and 6:30pm
Graham 2 Holiday Event

Martha Graham Dance Company's Second Company will present a festive holiday performance suitable for all ages. Crafts and snacks for the younger set will be part of this family matinee, as well as a photo session with the dancers.

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. It is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company.

Today, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that bring together 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.

Though Martha Graham herself is the best-known alumna of her company, the Company has provided a training ground for some of modern dance's most celebrated performers and choreographers. Former members of the Company include Merce Cunningham, Erick Hawkins, Paul Taylor, John Butler, and Glen Tetley. Celebrities who have joined the Company in performance include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Maya Plisetskaya, Tiler Peck, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo, FKA twigs, and Aurélie Dupont.

In recent years, the Company has challenged expectations and experimented with a wide range of offerings beyond its main-stage performances. It has created a series of intimate in-studio events, forged creative partnerships with the likes of Siti Company, Performa, the New Museum, Barneys New York, and the Greek Theater Festival in Siracusa, Italy, among others; created digital offerings with Google Arts & Culture, YouTube, and Cennarium; and created a model for reaching new audiences through social media. Artists who have created works for the Graham dancers in the last decade include Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Baye & Asa, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lucinda Childs, Marie Chouinard, Michelle Dorrance, Maxine Doyle, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Andonis Foniadakis, Liz Gerring, Larry Keigwin, Michael Kliën, Pontus Lidberg, Lil Buck, Lar Lubovitch, Josie Moseley, Richard Move, Bulareyaung Pagarlava, Annie-B Parson, Yvonne Rainer, Jamar Roberts, Hofesh Shechter, Bobbi Jene Smith, Pam Tanowitz, Sonya Tayeh, Doug Varone, Luca Veggetti, Gwen Welliver, and Robert Wilson.

The current Company dancers hail from around the world and, while always grounded in their Graham core training, can also slip into the style of contemporary choreographers, bringing technical brilliance and artistic nuance to all they do—from brand-new works to Graham classics to pieces from pioneers such as Agnes DeMille, Isadora Duncan, Jane Dudley, Anna Sokolow, and Mary Wigman.