Promotions Announced at Martha Graham Dance Company for 2016-17 Season

The Martha Graham Dance Company announces the promotion of five Company members for the 2016-17 season. Abdiel Jacobsen and Xin Ying have been promoted to Principal Dancer, and Charlotte Landreau, Lloyd Mayor, and Lorenzo Pagano have been promoted to Soloist.

Abdiel Jacobsen, a native of Cote d'Ivoire, joined the Company in 2011. He performs in lead roles of Graham's repertory and in works by Nacho Duato, Robert Wilson, Sonya Tayeh, Luca Veggetti, Andonis Foniadakis, Michelle Dorrance, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Richard Move, and Bulareyaung Pagarlava. He partnered with Diana Vishneva in Errand into the Maze as part of the Company's gala in 2012. Jacobsen received a BFA in modern dance from the University of the Arts. He is also a professional competitive ballroom and Latin dancer/instructor, and a guest artist with the Cecilia Marta Dance Company.

Xin Ying was born and raised in Yichun, China. Since joining the Company in 2011 she has performed lead roles in Chronicle, Diversion of Angels, and Errand into the Maze, among others, and has created featured roles in several new works including those by Nacho Duato, Pontus Lidberg, and Marie Chouinard. She received the 2008 China Dance Lotus Award. She has been faculty at Sichuan College of Arts & Culture and a guest teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy and Nanjing University of Arts. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Martha Graham School and was a member of Graham 2.

Charlotte Landreau, a native of France, joined the Company in 2013. She dances lead roles in Graham classics including the Bride in Appalachian Springand the Chosen One in The Rite of Spring. She trained as a rhythmic gymnast and studied ballet, circus, acting, and modern dance at the Maurice Béjart School in Switzerland. In 2012 she received a scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School. Landreau danced with Graham 2 and was honored with the Pearl Lang Award.

Lloyd Mayor, a native Switzerland, joined the Company in 2012. He performs lead roles in Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Echo, and in Richard Move's The Show (Achilles Heels), first danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Mayor has a background in hip-hop and gymnastics and trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. In 2014 Mayor was honored with the Clive Barnes Dance Award recognizing young emerging artists.

Lorenzo Pagano is from Torino, Italy. Since joining the Company in 2012 he has danced lead roles in Graham classics such as Oedipus in Night Journey, and was chosen to create featured roles in new works by Andonis Foniadakis, Pontus Lidberg, and Nacho Duato. Pagano has danced at ImPulsTanz Wochen in Vienna and the Doris Humphrey Foundation in Chicago. He received scholarships to both the School at Jacob's Pillow and the Martha Graham School. He was a member of Graham 2.

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.