Martha Graham Dance Company's GrahamDeconstructed to Present DARK MEADOW, Today

New York, NY, August 8, 2016 - The GrahamDeconstructed series brings audiences behind the scenes for an intimate view of Martha Graham's masterworks. On September 13 and 14, the Martha Graham Dance Company will present a rehearsal showing of Dark Meadow Suite, an arrangement of highlights from Dark Meadow (1946).

One of Graham's most psychological and abstract works, Dark Meadow is a dance of questioning. In her original program note, Graham wrote: "Dark Meadow is a re-enactment of the mysteries which attend the eternal adventure of seeking." The characters of the dance include three lead dancers: She Who Seeks and He Who Summons, originally danced by Martha Graham and Erick Hawkins, and She of the Ground. The chorus of nine men and women is named They Who Dance Together. The atmospheric score was created for Graham by the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez.

In addition to the rehearsal showing, the evening will include archival footage from the 1940s of Graham and her dancers in Dark Meadow, as well as commentary from dancers who were directed by Graham herself in earlier productions of the work. The Graham Company premiered Dark Meadow Suite in April 2016, and will be rehearsing the work this fall in preparation for a Company tour of several cities in the U.S. and Cuba.

GrahamDeconstructed will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 13-14, at 7pm, at the Martha Graham Studio Theater, 55 Bethune Street, 11th floor, in Manhattan. Tickets are $25 in advance/$30 at the door. Advance tickets are available through September 12, and can be purchased at www.marthagraham.org. A subscription package for all six 2016-17 Graham Studio Series events is also available. For more information, visit www.marthagraham.org/studioseries.

The 2016-17 Graham Studio Series includes two New@Graham events featuring in-progress showings of new commissions by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Annie-B Parson, a launch event for NYC Dance Project's photography book, and three GrahamDeconstructed events: Dark Meadow Suite, Clytemnestra (Act ll), and Deaths and Entrances.

About the Graham Studio Series

The Graham Studio Series offers performances and discussions in the intimate setting of the Martha Graham Dance Company's West Village studios. The series includes GrahamDeconstructed, New@Graham, and Shoot the Dancers. GrahamDeconstructed offers audiences an opportunity to view the great Graham works up close and to hear about the artistic and historical context of their creation from Artistic Director Janet Eilber. The program offers a glimpse of the artistic labor that goes on every day at the studio to preserve and augment Graham's legacy. New@Graham provides audiences with a look inside the creative process of new works commissioned by the Company, and Shoot the Dancers features conversations with leading dance photographers followed by an informal performance by the Graham Company. Audience members are invited to photograph the dancers in action. A reception follows each event.

City Winery is the Graham Studio Series wine sponsor.

About the Martha Graham Dance Company

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.

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