I finally went to a Martha Graham Dance Company performance!
Quality in dance performances is unfortunately not something I see that often anymore. To see this company in person was amazing. Dancers are so precise, choreographies are so well planned and the audience gets to go on a journey. This is what I love.
I went to see Program B, but last night they changed two of the four pieces. I don’t know the other pieces so I don’t care, I had just picked the evening that was best in my calendar. Anyway. The first piece, Primitive Mysteries, was an original from 1931. Very Graham. After first act out of three, a man behind me was snoring. If you’re not a dancer yourself and you don’t do your research on what the company does, then it might be hard to watch. But I thought it was great. A little long and not much going on, but the fact that this premiered in the 30s made it awesome.
The second piece, Diversions of Angels, felt, in my opinion, a little confusing. It was an old piece as well, from 1948. The dancers where having all sort of facial expressions which distracted the piece. The movements made it very clear on the story, but two-three dancers confused me a lot. Overly happy and really angry expressions at the same time on stage. I don’t think it was supposed to be like that….?
After the intermission they had a solo, Ekstasis (re-imagined from a piece from 1933). Omg, I loved this! The dancer, the same woman who had the main roll in the first piece, was so satisfying to watch. There was something with her and with the movements, which was awesome too, made the piece so enjoyable to watch and gave me lots of inspiration.
The last piece, Mosaic, is brand new (premiere Feb 15, 2017). Very different from the other three pieces. More of what you see on stages these days. Lots of movements, plenty of things going on at the same time, fast and slow, details and flexible, strong bodies. Everything that I enjoy choreographing myself. These dancers can really dance. It’s wonderful to see amazing dancers on stage.
I walked out of Joyce Theater feeling really inspired.
