Martha Graham Dance Company Announces LAMVAR10

The Martha Graham Dance Company announces LamVar10: A Festival for New Work, a multiweek program celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Lamentation Variations, short commissioned works inspired by Martha Graham's iconic solo Lamentation.

Graham Company Artistic Director Janet Eilber created the Lamentation Variations project in 2007. Since then 14 of today's most noteworthy choreographers have been invited to create works based on Graham's 1930 signature solo, Lamentation. Over the next month, the Company will provide audiences around the world with the opportunity to watch rarely seen variations by renowned choreographers ranging from Yvonne Rainer to Aszure Barton via live-streamed performances and rehearsals and limited-release digital links. The celebration will culminate in a two-day NEW@Graham event at the Martha Graham Studio Theater on October 17 and 18, featuring the New York premiere of a variation by Lil Buck, a preview of a new variation-in-progress by Gwen Welliver, and variations by Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Larry Keigwin, Richard Move, and Doug Varone. The event will feature five variations each night and will include a discussion with several of the artists who have created variations over the years.

Inspired by the variations' choreographers and other world-famous artists such as Nacho Duato, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Annie-B Parson, and Marie Chouinard, who have created works for the Company, the Martha Graham Center is excited to also announce the launch of the Fund for New Work-a campaign to support the creation of vital contemporary dance that will augment the Company's classic Graham repertory. The fund will allow the Company to sustain Graham's spirit of ingenuity through new artistic creations inspired by her great legacy.

Schedule for LamVar10: A Festival for New Work

Wednesday, September 20, at 4pm (EST): Live-stream of Aszure Barton Variation

Wednesday, September 27, at 4pm (EST): Live-stream of Larry Keigwin Variation

Wednesday, October 4, at 6pm (EST): Live-stream of Kyle Abraham Variation

Tuesday, October 10, at 4pm (EST): Live-stream of Doug Varone Variation

Tuesday, October 17, and Wednesday, October 18, at 7pm: NEW@Graham, Martha Graham Studio Theater

Tickets for NEW@Graham are $25 in advance/$30 at the door, and can be purchased at: www.marthagraham.org/studioseries. Live-stream events are free. Video links are available for one month starting at $10. For updates and more information, visit www.marthagraham.org/live.

The Martha Graham Studio Theater is located at 55 Bethune Street, 11th Floor, in Manhattan.

Premiere dates for Lamentation Variations: Aszure Barton (2007), Larry Keigwin (2007), Richard Move (2007), Bulareyaung Pagarlava (2009), Josie Moseley (2010), Lar Lubovitch (2012), Yvonne Rainer (2012), Doug Varone (2012), Kyle Abraham (2015), Michelle Dorrance (2015), Liz Gerring (2015), Sonya Tayeh (2015), Lil Buck (2017), Gwen Welliver (2018).

About the Martha Graham Dance Company

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the development of contemporary 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, 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 Herod Atticus Theatre 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.