Martha Graham Dance Company To Premiere New Works Alongside Graham Classics At New York City Center, April 6-10

The world-renowned Martha Graham Dance Company returns to New York City Center April 6, 7, 9, and 10 as part of the inaugural City Center Dance Festival. The Company's season features Graham masterworks Appalachian Spring and Chronicle, a world premiere by internationally acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter, co-produced by Studio Simkin, and the New York premiere of a new Canticle for Innocent Comedians, created by eight extraordinary choreographers, Sonya Tayeh, Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, Sir Robert Cohan, Jenn Freeman, Juliano Nunes, Micaela Taylor, and Yin Yue, and set to an original score by renowned composer Jason Moran.

"It's staggering to think that we are premiering nine new creations by nine exciting and diverse choreographers at New York City Center in April," said Graham Company Artistic Director Janet Eilber. "Creating new work has never been more challenging than in the past many months, which makes the accomplishments of the choreographers, our dancers, and the entire creative team even more resonant. Each of these dances provides a visceral, ecstatic, and even cathartic response to the restrictions the world has endured."

The season features the world premiere of CAVE by celebrated UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter. A visceral exploration of collective movement, sound, and shared kinetic energy, CAVE is performed by ten Graham dancers and international ballet star Daniil Simkin, who also, with Studio Simkin, serves as the project's creative producer. Music is by Hofesh Shechter and Âme. Costumes are by Taylor McNeill and lighting design is by Yi-Chung Chen.

"It has been my absolute pleasure and honor to work with the Graham Company-a group of incredibly talented, generously hardworking, humble, and fully committed dancers who connected with my work fully, a work that is made to stir and inspire the driving beat of the body, and by that to awaken that euphoric human spirit with a sense of togetherness. I couldn't have hoped for a better match than these fierce dancers for this work," said Shechter.

"Hofesh Shechter's CAVE blends the transcendence of performative dance with the communal spirit of a nightlife event," said Daniil Simkin. "Hofesh and the Graham Company share an understanding of movement that connects to a primal experience. After a long period of isolation, this is the time to join together in a search of ourselves and what it means to be human."

Another highlight this season is the new Canticle for Innocent Comedians inspired by the themes and format of Graham's 1952 work. The original work was built around eight virtuosic vignettes that each celebrated a different aspect of nature and our relationship to it. Though the work was well received, there is little record of it, and it is considered lost. Artistic Director Janet Eilber conceived the new production in which the vignettes have been created by eight different choreographers of diverse dance backgrounds.

Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh, the lead choreographer for Canticle, was tasked with creating the cohesive overview of the work and is choreographing the opening and closing dances, the interludes for the full company, and the vignette titled Sun. Choreographers Kristina and Sadé Alleyne (Alleyne Dance), Jenn Freeman, Juliano Nunes, Micaela Taylor, and Yin Yue are creating Earth, Water, Fire, Stars, and Death. Sir Robert Cohan, who danced in the original cast in 1952, created a new Wind for Canticle in 2019. Moon has the original choreography by Martha Graham. The new Canticle for Innocent Comedians features an original score by jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, costumes by Karen Young, and lighting design by Yi-Chung Chen.

"To be a part of recrafting a Graham work is one of my greatest honors," said Tayeh. "As the lead choreographer on the project, I get to be in throes of history being brought back to the forefront by Graham and seven other stellar choreographers. To me Graham's works are relics of resilience, and Canticle is full of that vivid energy."

The season also features Graham's celebrated masterpiece Appalachian Spring (1944), with a luminous score by Aaron Copland and a spare set by Graham's longtime collaborator Isamu Noguchi. This iconic and enduring work has been called "shining and joyous" and "a testimony to the simple fineness of the human spirit" (The New York Times).

Graham's stark, powerful work Chronicle, from 1936, performed by the women of the Company, will also be presented. Set to a score by Wallingford Riegger, Chronicle was created as a response to the rise of fascism in Europe; its underlying theme of political activism continues to reverberate today.

The Company's gala on April 7 will include a special performance of Ritual to the Sun, an ode to Graham's classroom technique, from her 1981 work Acts of Light.

The music for Appalachian Spring and Chronicle will be performed live by The Mannes Orchestra under the direction of David Hayes.

The dancers of the Martha Graham Dance Company are So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Laurel Dalley Smith, Natasha M. Diamond Walker, Lloyd Knight, Jacob Larsen, Devin Loh, Lloyd Mayor, Marzia Memoli, Anne O'Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Kate Reyes, Anne Souder, Richard Villaverde, Leslie Andrea Williams, and Xin Ying.

New York City Center Programs

Program A | Wednesday, April 6 and Saturday, April 9 at 7:30pm

Chronicle
Choreography by Martha Graham
Music by Wallingford Riegger

Canticle for Innocent Comedians
Choreography by Sonya Tayeh with Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, Sir Robert Cohan, Jenn Freeman, Martha Graham, Juliano Nunes, Micaela Taylor, and Yin Yue
Music by Jason Moran

CAVE

Choreography by Hofesh Shechter
Music by Hofesh Shechter and Âme

Gala | Thursday, April 7 at 7pm

Ritual to the Sun from Acts of Light
Choreography by Martha Graham
Music by Carl Nielsen

Canticle for Innocent Comedians (excerpts)
Choreography by Sonya Tayeh with Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, Sir Robert Cohan, Jenn Freeman, Martha Graham, Juliano Nunes, Micaela Taylor, and Yin Yue
Music by Jason Moran

Appalachian Spring (excerpts)
Choreography by Martha Graham
Music by Aaron Copland

CAVE

Choreography by Hofesh Shechter

Music by Hofesh Shechter and Âme

Program B | Sunday, April 10 at 1pm

Appalachian Spring
Choreography by Martha Graham
Music by Aaron Copland

Canticle for Innocent Comedians
Choreography by Sonya Tayeh with Sadé and Kristina Alleyne, Sir Robert Cohan, Jenn Freeman, Martha Graham, Juliano Nunes, Micaela Taylor, and Yin Yue
Music by Jason Moran

Tickets start at $35 and are available at CityTix: 212-581-1212 / nycitycenter.org. New York City Center is located at 131 West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), in Manhattan. New York City Center's health and safety protocols can be found here.

For information about the Martha Graham Dance Company's Gala on April 7, please contact Fran Kirmser at 212-229-9200 x25 or fkirmser@marthagraham.org.