Martha Graham Dance Company Will Host Centennial Celebration and More Winter/Spring Performances and Events

The Martha Graham Dance Company will present GRAHAM100, a celebration of the company formed 100 years ago by visionary choreographer Martha Graham.

Widely recognized as one of the most influential artistic forces of the 20th century, Martha Graham presented her first performance with a supporting group of dancers on April 18, 1926. Since that date, considered to be the launch of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Graham's groundbreaking and uniquely American style of dance has influenced generations of artists and continues to captivate audiences worldwide. To mark its Centennial, the Company has organized an extensive series of programs and events exploring the diversity and depth of Graham's extraordinary artistic legacy. GRAHAM100 features performances, exhibitions, film screenings, publications, and educational activities that reflect both the Company's legacy of innovation and its forward-looking vision for the future.

The Company's New York Season, April 8-12, at New York City Center, features three of Graham's greatest masterworks, Chronicle (1936), Night Journey (1947), and Appalachian Spring (1944), each with iconic stage designs by Isamu Noguchi; Graham's solo Lamentation (1930); and the joyous Diversion of Angels (1948). The season continues the Company's mission of presenting works by some of today's most exciting choreographers, bringing Graham's work in conversation with a new generation of dance makers. The City Center program features the world premiere of a solo by Jamar Roberts for leading Graham dancer Lloyd Knight, with a commissioned score by Stahv Danker, and the New York premiere of En Masse by Hope Boykin, set to newly discovered music by Leonard Bernstein arranged by Christopher Rountree. The program also includes recent works created for the Company by Hofesh Shechter and Baye & Asa.

Music for the Graham classics and En Masse will be performed live by The Mannes Orchestra under the direction of David Hayes. The Company's New York City Center schedule is below.

The GRAHAM100 Gala on April 17 will celebrate the Company's founding. The Company is thrilled to honor renowned dance educator and advocate Jody Gottfried Arnhold on this momentous occasion. The event will be held at The New York Public Library and will include dinner, dancing, pop-up performances, interactive activities, and special guest appearances. More details are forthcoming.

Just prior to the New York season, on March 27 and April 3, PBS will premiere a two-part, three-hour documentary about the Company's history and current work, produced by Partisan Pictures and executive produced by David Kener. Directors Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean have been embedded with the Company since mid-2022 and have created an in-depth portrait of Graham and the Company that includes extended danced segments from rehearsals and performances across the globe, as well as interviews with many generations of Graham artists. This two-part series offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Company, exploring Graham's legacy through the dancers who embody her work today. Woven throughout are the words of Martha Graham herself, voiced by Meryl Streep. 

Opening on January 18, The Church in Sag Harbor, NY, will present Martha Graham: Collaborations, an exhibition that examines the company's history through the lens of its artistic partnerships. These collaborations generated groundbreaking innovations in dance, sculpture, stage design, lighting, and musical composition. The multimedia exhibition will feature original sets by Isamu Noguchi, costumes by Donna Karan, Halston, and Graham herself, audio and visual presentations, and performance and interview footage with generations of dancers. The exhibition is curated by Oliver Tobin, commissioned expressly for The Church from a concept by Sheri L. Pasquarella. The exhibit runs through March 22.

On March 22, the Company will present a first look at Jamar Roberts's new work in advance of the Company's season at New York City Center in April as part of the Guggenheim's Works & Process. Created in part at a residency at The Church in Sag Harbor for Graham dancer Lloyd Knight, the new work is joined by excerpts from Roberts's We The People performed by Knight and other top dancers of the Graham Company. The evening will include a moderated discussion with Martha Graham Dance Company artistic director Janet Eilber.

From May 26 to November 7, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, located at Lincoln Center, will present a large-scale exhibition, Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance, curated by choreographer and writer Jack Ferver. The exhibit will display rarely seen archival materials from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Martha Graham archive, and offer insight into the genius and legacy of Graham. Several programs at the Library for the Performing Arts will accompany the exhibition.

The world premiere of in case of fire, speak, a collaboration between the Graham Company and PHILADANCO! with choreography by Tommie-Waheed Evans and featuring four dancers from each company, will be presented May 29-30. Evans will use archival material alongside new musical composition, writing, and visual design to create his response to Martha Graham's 1938 work American Document. The work will bring us back to Graham's essential question, “What is an American?" Framed by the sonic design of Uwazi Zamani, dancers from both companies come together on stage in a piece that invites us to imagine what an American voice could be at this moment in history. Presented as part of ArtPhilly and co-presented by Penn Live Arts and the Annenberg Center.

The Company's upcoming touring includes engagements this winter and spring in Ann Arbor, MI, Chicago, IL, Pittsburgh, PA, Cleveland, OH, Gettysburg, PA, Minneapolis, MN, Orange, CA, Berkeley, CA, Sarasota, FL, Purchase, NY, Chapel Hill, NC, Bennington, VT, Washington, DC, Spoleto, SC, Philadelphia, PA, Venice and Modena, Italy, and Riga, Latvia. This summer, the Company will return to the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for seven performances and a collaboration with Tanglewood. More information is available at: https://marthagraham.org/events/.