BWW Reviews: Extraordinary SHAPE & DESIGN by Martha Graham Dance Company at the Joyce

The Martha Graham Dance Company is now at the Joyce performing their New York Season, Shape & Design through February 22nd. This schedule of shows will absolutely delight dance enthusiasts. The Company is presenting pieces that are vintage Graham along with stunning new choreographies. This is contemporary dance at its very best. Come to the Joyce more than once. There are three distinctive programs being presented this season.

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the development of contemporary dance since being founded in 1926. Informed by the expansive vision of pioneering choreographer Martha Graham, the Company brings to life a timeless and uniquely American style of dance that has influenced generations of artists. Artistic Director, Janet Eiber continues to focus on creating new forms of audience access to the Martha Graham masterworks.

We attended the Wednesday, February 11th performance, Program A. The show opened with Film by Peter Arnell, a captivating series of projected images of Graham dancers composed with 2000 still photos.

The first half of the program continued with two pieces that featured choreography and costuming by Martha Graham. Satyric Festival Song is a clever solo piece inspired by American Indian Pueblo culture and the clowns who satirize and mock the sacred rituals. It was wonderfully performed by XiaoChuan Xie.

Embattled Garden is set in the first Garden of Love. This foursome performed the piece beautifully with just the right dramatic tenor. The roles were Eve performed by PeiJu Chien-Pott, Adam performed by Abdiel Jacobsen, Lilith performed by Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch and The Stranger performed by Ben Scultz. The modern, colorful set design by Noguchi perfectly accents the pageantry of the performance.

Lamentation Variations rounded out the first half of the program and opened with a film of Martha Graham's iconic performance of Lamentation. It was followed by the stunning Lamentation Variation duet choreographed by Kyle Abraham and danced by Lloyd Knight and Lloyd Mayor. Seven members of the troupe danced Sonya Tayeh's Lamentation Variation. Both Abraham and Tayeh perfectly captured the spirit of the theme that Martha Graham established with her original performance that premiered in 1930.

The second half of the program opened with the New York premiere of Rust that was created for the Company by choreographer Nacho Duato. This dark dance is an all male piece that showcases the grace and athleticism of the Graham dancers.

The final piece was a perfect finale, the brilliant and timeless Graham classic, Chronicle. With choreography and costuming by Martha Graham, Chronicle is a spectacular dance that evokes the images of war as it sets forth the fateful prelude to war, portrays the devastation of spirit that war leaves in its wake and also suggests an answer. This piece is performed by the female company members and featured flawless solos by Blakeley White McGuire and Ying Xin.

The dancers of the Martha Graham Dance Company are Tadej Brdnik, PeiJu Chien-Pott, Natasha Diamond-Walker, Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, Abdiel Jacobsen, Lloyd Knight, Charlotte Landreau, Mariya Dashkina Maddux, Lloyd Mayor, Lauren Newman, Anne O'Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Lucy Postell, Ben Schultz, Dani Stringer, Blakeley White-McGuire, Xiaochuan Xie, Ying Xin and Konstantina Xintara.

Performances of Shape & Design by The Martha Graham Dance Company will continue through Sunday, February 22nd. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street) in Manhattan. Tickets range from $10 to $59 and prices are subject to change. Tickets can be purchased by calling JOYCECHARGE at (212) 242-0800 or online at www.joyce.org.

Photo Credit: Christopher Jones

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