Martha Graham Dance Company Announces Online Programming for 2020–21 Season

The Martha Graham Dance Company has announced its 95th season, which begins with a special Martha Matinee and the finale of The Eve Project on September 23. The season continues the Company's notable online programming bringing the groundbreaking, iconic work of Martha Graham and the Company's acclaimed contemporary choreographers to audiences around the world. While rehearsals and performances remain on hold, the Company is expanding its audience-access initiatives, offering a variety of ways for audiences and the global dance community to engage with the Company while social distancing. The fall and spring programs include all-new Martha Matinees, the Company's popular Studio Theater Series, virtual classes, mini-videos created by the Company dancers, and special events designed for audiences and the Company to meet and socialize.

"Experimentation with technology has always been a significant part of how we make our work accessible to all audiences," said Artistic Director Janet Eilber. "Our use of media onstage and off, our interactive projects online, and our substantial presence on social media have prepared us to face the digital urgency of the Covid crisis. Our 95th season will be enhanced by the new, virtual journeys we are creating-coordinating our many online events and offering context to the depth and breadth of the Graham legacy and all we do to move into the future. Our dancers are not only nimble onstage but in the creation of online artistry. We look forward to sharing all aspects of their talents in our 95th season-one that will be like no other!"

The monthly Martha Matinees and Studio Series events are curated thematically. A streamed series featuring gems from the archives and performances from the Company's vast repertory, Martha Matinees are hosted by Janet Eilber and include a live chat with Eilber and special guests. The new digital Studio Series will present livestreams and recordings as part of GrahamDeconstructed, which offers audiences an opportunity to hear about the artistic and historical context of Graham classics, and NEW@Graham, which provides a look inside the creative process of new works for the Company.

There will be a Zoom wrap-up event each month (a live Q&A session with Graham experts focused on the monthly theme) and virtual social gatherings with the Company, as well as exclusive mini-videos created by the dancers that take you inside their lives with insights into everything from the Graham Technique and classic roles to makeup, costuming, recipes, and life on the road. The Company dancers and faculty at the Graham School will also be teaching classes throughout the season via Zoom.

Martha Matinees will be free on YouTube for one month from the premiere date. All other events will be available starting at $3 per month via Patreon. Membership packages on Patreon are available at patreon.com/marthagrahamdance. A schedule of events is below. For more information, visit www.marthagraham.org.

2020-21 Schedule of Events

All events listed in Eastern Time

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Wednesday, September 23, and Saturday, September 26, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

Finale of The Eve Project, the Company's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. A film by Julien Bryan of Martha Graham in her masterwork Frontier from 1935 will be presented. The matinee will also include the premiere of 19 Poses for the 19th Amendment, a montage of submissions from the Company's Instagram challenge. The competition asked people to replicate poses of Graham and highlighted her revolutionary approach to representing women onstage. Winners of the challenge will be announced.

Tuesday, October 13, 7pm

GrahamDeconstructed

Prelude and Revolt - The Beginnings of Graham

This event will illustrate the beginnings of Graham's revolution in dance with narration by Janet Eilber. The earliest known footage of Graham dancing will be streamed alongside a recent performance by the Company in "Prelude to Action" from Graham's masterwork Chronicle (1936). The live chat feature will allow for discussion with Eilber and viewers during the stream.

Sunday, October 18, 1pm

Virtual gathering with the Company dancers to hear more about their lives and work during these unprecedented times.

Wednesday, October 28, 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events based on Graham's early history. Janet Eilber and other Graham experts answer questions from attendees.

NOVEMBER

Wednesday, November 4, and Saturday, November 7, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

Featuring Graham's masterwork Night Journey (1947), a reimagining of the tragedy of Oedipus as told through the eyes of his wife and mother Jocasta. The matinee will include rare clips of Graham as Jocasta onstage in the 1950s and in the complete film of the work directed by Nathan Kroll. Viewers are invited into the live chat discussion that takes place throughout the screening.

Tuesday, November 17, 7pm

GrahamDeconstructed

Night Journey - Graham's Greatest Greeks

A complete performance of Night Journey from 2016 will be deconstructed scene by scene. The annotation will include quotes from Graham and her collaborators, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composer William Schuman. The live chat will be open to viewers throughout the screening.

Wednesday, November 25, 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events centered on Night Journey with a Q&A with Graham experts.

DECEMBER

Wednesday, December 2, and Saturday, December 5, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

The matinee features clips from Graham's comedic Punch and the Judy (1941) starring Graham, Erick Hawkins, and Merce Cunningham alongside Annie-B Parson's multidisciplinary work I used to love you. Parson's work, inspired by and using elements of Graham's Punch, premiered at The Joyce Theater in 2017.

Tuesday, December 8, 7pm

Holiday Program - She Had a Sense of Humor

This event will focus on moments of humor throughout Graham's career illustrated with photos and film clips of Sally Rand, Robin Williams, Danny Kaye, and Olivia the Pig. A rehearsal of Graham's witty solo Satyric Festival Song from 1932 will be streamed live from the Graham Studio. The program will close with a performance by the Company in Maple Rag Leaf from 1990, the last work that Graham choreographed.

Sunday, December 13, 1pm

Virtual gathering with the Company dancers.

Wednesday, December 16, 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events focused on Graham's humor with a Q&A.

JANUARY

Wednesday, January 6, and Saturday, January 9, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

This matinee focuses on Graham's exquisite 1946 work Dark Meadow. Clips of Graham performing will be presented alongside a performance of the current Company in Dark Meadow Suite, a recent arrangement featuring highlights of the work, particularly Graham's unmatched choreography for the ensemble.

Tuesday, January 12, 7pm

NEW@Graham

This event focuses on Canticle for Innocent Comedians (1952), Graham's ode to nature and the elements and the Company's new reimagining of the work. The program will include a sneak preview of newly created choreography for Wind by Sir Robert Cohan, a Graham Company alumnus and renown choreographer. Excerpts from a film of Yuriko and Bertram Ross in Moon and Helen McGehee and Robert Cohan in Stars will also be presented. A recent performance of Lloyd Knight and Wendy Whelan in Moon will conclude the evening.

Wednesday, January 27, at 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events with a Q&A.

FEBRUARY

Wednesday, February 3, and Saturday, February 6, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

Featuring a film of today's Graham Company in Echo, created for the Company in 2014 by Andonis Foniadakis, who took inspiration from both nature and Greek myth. The dancers will join Janet Eilber in the live chat.

Tuesday, February 16, 7pm

NEW@Graham

A conversation with Andrea Miller about her new work Umbra, commissioned by the Company, and a livestream of a rehearsal of the work.

Wednesday, February 24 at 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events with a Q&A.

MARCH

Wednesday, March 3, and Saturday, March 6, 2:30pm

Martha Matinee

This event features Graham's 1939 work Every Soul is a Circus with archival clips of Graham herself as well as a 2012 performance by the Company at The Joyce Theater.

Tuesday, March 16, 7pm

GrahamDeconstructed

A livestream of a rehearsal of four duets for the Company's upcoming repertory, including excerpts from Graham's Acts of Lights, Every Soul is a Circus, and Night Journey and Troy Schumacher's The Auditions, which premiered at Peak Performances in 2019.

Wednesday, March 24, 5pm

Zoom wrap-up of the month's events with a Q&A.

Programs subject to change.

The Company's live performances in New York City and on tour scheduled for the spring will be announced in late fall.