MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
March 14th, 2026
Artistic Director Executive Director
Janet Eilber LaRue Allen
The Company
Lloyd Knight Xin Ying Leslie Andrea Williams
Anne Souder Laurel Dalley Smith So Young An
Marzia Memoli Devin Loh Antonio Leone
Meagan King Ane Arrieta Zachary Jeppsen-Toy
Amanda Moreira Jai Perez Ethan Palma
Isabella Pagano Grace Sautter
Major support for the Martha Graham Dance Company is provided by
The Arnhold Foundation
Barbara and Rodgin Cohen
Geoffrey D. Fallon
Noah and Kyle Hawley
The Hayes Foundation
Howard Gilman Foundation
Christopher Jones and Deb McAlister
Christine Jowers and Rob Friedman
National Endowment for the Arts
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts,
with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature
Dr. M. Felicity Rogers-Chapman
Judith G. Schlosser
The Shubert Foundation
Lawrence Stein
Thompson Family Foundation
Inger K. Witter
Nadia Zilkha
The Artists employed in this production are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists AFL-CIO.
In the tradition of its founder, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance remains committed to being a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist organization, and will honor this pledge through its ongoing practices, policies, and behaviors.
Copyright to all Martha Graham dances presented is held by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. All rights reserved.
CHRONICLE
Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Wallingford Riegger†
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Lighting for reconstruction (“Steps in the Street”) by David Finley
Lighting for reconstruction (“Spectre–1914”, “Prelude to Action”) by Steven L. Shelley
Premiere: December 20, 1936, Guild Theater, New York City
Chronicle does not attempt to show the actualities of war; rather does it, by evoking war’s images, set forth the fateful prelude to war, portray the devastation of spirit which it leaves in its wake, and suggest an answer. (Original program note)
I. Spectre–1914
Drums—Red Shroud—Lament
Leslie Andrea Williams
II. Steps in the Street
Devastation—Homelessness—Exile
Laurel Dalley Smith
So Young An Ane Arrieta Meagan King
Devin Loh Marzia Memoli Amanda Moreira
Isabella Pagano Grace Sautter Anne Souder Xin Ying
III. Prelude to Action
Unity—Pledge to the Future
Leslie Andrea Williams Laurel Dalley Smith
So Young An Ane Arrieta Meagan King
Devin Loh Marzia Memoli Amanda Moreira
Isabella Pagano Grace Sautter Anne Souder Xin Ying
“Spectre–1914” reconstructed in 1994 by Terese Capucilli and Carol Fried, from film clips and Barbara Morgan photographs. “Steps in the Street” reconstructed in 1989 by Yuriko and Martha Graham, from the Julien Bryan film discovered by Dr. Barry Fischer. “Prelude to Action” reconstructed in 1994 by Sophie Maslow, with Terese Capucilli, Carol Fried, and Diane Gray, from film clips and Morgan photographs.
†This new recording, engineered by Fred Vogler and conducted by Christopher Rountree, was commissioned by and recorded at The Soraya at CSUN.
Finale from New Dance, Opus 18b (for “Steps in the Street”), originally composed for Doris Humphrey, orchestrated by Justin Dello Joio, used by arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Additional orchestrations by Stanley Sussman.
The 2025-2026 revival of Chronicle was commissioned by New York City Center.
TO THE BRINK AND BACK
Choreography by Jamar Roberts
Music by Stahv Danker
Costume design by
Lighting design by Becky Nussbaum
World Premiere: April 9th, 2026, New York City Center
Lloyd Knight
Live music performed by Stahv Danker
To the Brink and Back was made possible by support from The Hayes Foundation and the Martha Graham Commissioning Circle.
CORTEGE
Choreography by Baye & Asa
Costume Design by Caleb Krieg
Lighting Design by Yi-Chung Chen
Music by Jack Grabow†
World Premiere: April 18, 2023, The Joyce Theater, New York City
Laurel Dalley Smith Zachary Jeppsen-Toy Lloyd Knight
Antonio Leone Jai Perez Anne Souder
Leslie Andrea Williams Xin Ying
Cortege was made possible with a significant commissioning grant from The O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation. Major support for Cortege was provided by Christopher Jones and Deb McAlister, The Hayes Foundation, and The SHS Foundation.
Cortege was also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The creation of Jack Grabow’s score was supported by The Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
Production support was provided by the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Connecticut,
Technical support provided by Works & Process at the Guggenheim and the Catskill Mountain Foundation.
Baye & Asa are inspired by Martha Graham’s Cortege of Eagles to consider groups under attack in our time. Jack Grabow’ score reflects themes from Eugene Lester’s original score for the Graham work.
Intermission
NIGHT JOURNEY
Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by William Schuman†
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Adapted by Beverly Emmons
Premiere: May 3, 1947, Cambridge High School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
“And loudly o’er the bed she wailed where she / In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth / Husband from a husband, children from a child. / We could not know the moment of her death / Which followed soon.” – Sophocles
In Night Journey, it is not Oedipus but Queen Jocasta who is the protagonist. The action of the dance turns upon that instant of her death when she relives her destiny and sees with double insight the triumphal entry of Oedipus, their meeting, courtship, marriage, their years of intimacy which were darkly crossed by the blind seer Tiresias until at last the truth burst from him. The chorus of women, who know the truth before the seer speaks it, tries in vain to divert the prophecy’s cruel conclusion.
Jocasta Xin Ying
Oedipus Lloyd Knight
Tiresias, the Seer Ethan Palma
Leader of the Chorus Marzia Memoli
Daughters of the Night So Young An, Ane Arrieta, Laurel Dalley Smith,
Meagan King, Devin Loh, Amanda Moreira
†Used by arrangement with Theodore Presser Company, agent for Merion Music, Inc.
Martha Graham has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture. She single-handedly defined contemporary dance as a uniquely American art form, which the nation has in turn shared with the world. Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day, including sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composers Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Gian Carlo Menotti.
Graham’s groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.
Graham influenced generations of choreographers that included Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp, altering the scope of dance. Classical ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov sought her out to broaden their artistry. Artists of all genres were eager to study and work with Graham—she taught actors including Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Joanne Woodward to utilize their bodies as expressive instruments.
During her long and illustrious career, Graham created 181 dance compositions. During the Bicentennial she was granted the United States’ highest civilian honor, The Medal of Freedom. In 1998, TIME Magazine named her the “Dancer of the Century.” The first dancer to perform at the White House and to act as a cultural ambassador abroad, she captured the spirit of a nation. “No artist is ahead of his time,” she said. “He is his time. It is just that the others are behind the time.”
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 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 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. Among celebrities who have joined the Company in performance are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Maya Plisetskaya, Tiler Peck, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo and Aurelie Dupont.
In recent years, the Company has challenged expectations and experimented with a wide range of offerings beyond its mainstage performances. It has created a series of intimate in-studio events, forged unusual creative partnerships with the likes of SITI Company, Performa, the New Museum, Barney's, and Siracusa’s Greek Theater Festival (to name a few); created substantial digital offerings with Google Arts and Culture, YouTube, and Cennarium; and created a model for reaching new audiences through social media. The astonishing list of artists who have created works for the Graham dancers in the last decade reads like a catalog of must-see choreographers:
Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lucinda Childs, Marie Chouinard, Michelle Dorrance, 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, Sonya Tayeh, Doug Varone, Luca Vegetti, Gwen Welliver and Robert Wilson.
The current company dancers hail from around the world and, while grounded in their Graham core training, can also slip into the style of contemporary choreographers like a second skin, bringing technical brilliance and artistic nuance to all they do -- from brand new works to Graham classics and those from early pioneers such as Isadora Duncan, Jane Dudley, Anna Sokolow, and Mary Wigman. “Some of the most skilled and powerful dancers you can ever hope to see,” according to the Washington Post last year. “One of the great companies of the world,” says The New York Times, while Los Angeles Times notes, “They seem able to do anything, and to make it look easy as well as poetic.”
Staff
LaRue Allen, Executive Director
Janet Eilber, Artistic Director
Simona Ferrara, Deputy Executive Director
Ben Schultz, Rehearsal Director
Blakeley White-McGuire, Rehearsal Director
Lauren Mosier, Company Manager
A. Apostol, Director of Development Operations
Christina Convertito, Development Associate
Jacob Larsen, Partnership Coordinator
Susan Lamb, Finance & Administrative Assistant
Melissa Sherwood, Director of Marketing
Lorenzo Pagano, Director of Martha Graham Resources
Chloe Morrell, Production Supervisor
Yi-Chung Chen, Resident Lighting Designer
Becky Nussbaum, Associate Lighting Supervisor
Gabrielle Corrigan, Wardrobe Supervisor
Karen Young, Costume Consultant
Ashley Brown, Director of School
Tami Alesson, Dean of Students and Government Affairs
Virginie Mécène, Program Director/Director of Graham 2
Lone Larsen, Program Director
Amélie Bénard, Teens@Graham Program Director
Camille Nemoz, Administrative Assistant
Tyler Quick, School Assistant
Janet Stapleton, Press Agent
Regisseurs
Miki Orihara
Virginie Mecene
Peggy Lyman
Peter Sparling
Blakeley White-McGuire
Elizabeth Auclair
Lone Larsen
Tadej Brdnik
Masha Maddux
Maxine Sherman
Martin Lofnes
Anne Souder
PeiJu Chien Pott
Amelie Bernard
Board of Trustees
Javier Morgado, Co-Chair
Barbara Cohen, Co-Chair
Christopher Jones, Treasurer
Christine Jowers, Secretary
Judith G. Schlosser, Chair Emerita
LaRue Allen, Executive Director
Janet Eilber, Artistic Director
Amy Blumenthal
Geoffrey D. Fallon
Lorraine S. Oler
Nichole Perkins
Dr. M. Felicity Rogers-Chapman
Stephen M. Rooks
Lori Sackler
Lawrence Stein
Ellen Stiene
Inger K. Witter, In Memoriam
North American Representation
Jemma Lehner, Opus 3 Artists
(https://www.opus3artists.com/)
International Representation
LaRue Allen
Executive Director
(lallen@marthagraham.org)
Alumni Search
If you or someone you know has ever performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company or attended classes at the Martha Graham School, please send us names, addresses, telephone numbers and approximate dates of membership. We will add you to our alumni mailing list and keep you apprised of alumni events and benefits. Call +1.212.229.9200 or e-mail info@marthagraham.org.
The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is a not-for-profit corporation, supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Contributions in support of the Martha Graham Center will be gratefully received at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., 55 Bethune Street New York, NY 10014, or visit www.marthagraham.org/support.
For more information, visit www.marthagraham.org