NYPL for the Performing Arts to Host Marathon Reading of Martha Graham's BLOOD MEMORY

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Martha Graham Dance Company, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center is hosting a marathon reading of Graham's autobiography BLOOD MEMORY on Monday, April 18.

Taking place 90 years to the day of Martha Graham's first public performance with a group of dancers, the event will bring together a special and influential group of women from the dance world to give voice to Graham's words.

The distinguished lineup of readers includes Patricia Birch, Carmen de Lavallade, Ellen Graff, Virginia Johnson, Deborah Jowitt, Tiler Peck, Annie-B Parson, Wendy Perron, Valda Setterfield, Sonya Tayeh, Wendy Whelan, and Marni Thomas Wood.

The marathon reading will take place in the Library's Cafe beginning at 11 a.m. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. The event is free. For more information, click here.

Reader Schedule:
11am - 12pm: Janet Eilber, Tiler Peck, Judith Schlosser
12pm - 1pm: Sonya Tayeh, Virginia Johnson, Liz Gerring
1pm - 2pm: Wendy Perron, Michelle Dorrance
2pm - 3pm: Valda Setterfield, Deborah Jowitt
3pm - 4pm: Ellen Graff, Carmen de Lavallade
4pm - 5pm: Patricia Birch, Annie-B Parson, Wendy Whelan
5pm - 5:30pm: Marnie Thomas Wood

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.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses one of the world's most extensive combinations of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. These materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts - whether professional or amateur - the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of such non-book materials as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters and photographs. The Library is part of The New York Public Library system, which has more than 90 locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and is a lead provider of free education for all.

Pictured: Diversion of Angels (Graham) 28, 28. Photo by Martha Swope.