New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Will Launch Martha Graham Exhibit

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, located at Lincoln Center, will launch a new large-scale exhibition exploring Martha Graham and her Dance Company through the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s Martha Graham archive.

Part of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s centennial celebration, the exhibition, Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance, curated by choreographer, writer, and educator Jack Ferver, opens May 20, 2026.

The show 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 and the dance company. Several programs at the Library for the Performing Arts will accompany the exhibition, which runs through November 7, 2026.

This centennial exhibition traces the arc of Graham’s career, her groundbreaking company, and the constellation of collaborators who gravitated toward her curious mind. Graham didn’t just innovate dance—she rewired its DNA. By putting the raw psychology of the individual and social collective on stage, she redefined what movement could express—not just in dance, but across all art forms.

Born in 1894, Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Initially proclaimed as a great dancer, she started to fundamentally change the way dance looked and was perceived when she founded her Martha Graham Dance Company in 1926. 

Today, she is often placed alongside artistic household names who significantly impacted their medium. Ultimately, the reason she is recognized as one of the greats in dance history was because of her choreographic masterworks and her invention of a new and codified dance language. Her signature Graham technique, now used by dance companies all over the world, was the first of its kind that stood in contrast to classical ballet. 

The Jerome Robbins Dance Division at the Library for the Performing Arts acquired the Martha Graham Dance Company archive in 2020.

About The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts was founded in 1965 at Lincoln Center, and is dedicated to enhancing access to its rich archives of dance, theater, music, and recorded sound—to amplify all voices and support the creative process. As one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research centers—and one of the world’s largest collections solely focused on the performing arts—the Library’s materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, film screenings, and performances. The collection at the Library for the Performing Arts includes upwards of eight million items, notable for their extraordinary range and diversity—from 11th-century music, to 20th-century manuscripts, to contemporary hip-hop dance.