Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY celebrates its landmark centennial with bespoke performances at City Center

• By drediman
• April 14, 2026
• No Comments

For its centennial anniversary, the Martha Graham Dance Company performed six bespoke, beautifully-curated programs at New York City Center, wherein dance fans were able bask in Graham masterworks, as well as take in some contemporary pieces, including a couple of premieres. Collectively, these celebratory centerpiece performances indicated the lasting and continued impact of the iconic choreographer and her namesake company, which has the distinction of being the oldest dance troupe in the country and is currently dancing in peak form. For the landmark occasion, live music was thankfully provided throughout by the wonderful Mannes Orchestra under the baton of conductor David Hayes. As always, read on for my thoughts on these landmark performances at City Center.

Over the course of two discrete programs, I was able to assess four Graham works, each classics in their own right. Invariably expansive and often larger-than-life in the themes and emotions they conveyed, these works covered Greek tragedy, overwhelming grief, antiwar sentiment, and love in its various manifestations. First up was Night Journey from 1947, a choreographic retelling of the Oedipus myth from Jocasta’s perspective — from the couple’s intense early love for each other, to the tragic realization that would undo them both. Featuring emphatic choreography and the symbolic modernism of Isamu Noguchi’s sculptural designs, the piece is a potent psycho-drama that still hits hard to this day, particularly as performed by breathtaking company veterans like Lloyd Knight and Xin Ying. The theme of mourning flowed seamlessly into Graham’s iconic 1930 seated solo Lamentation, which still emotes with devastating impact despite its short length. The second bill began with Diversion of Angels, an abstract piece from 1948 on the subject of love. Although not the most striking of the choreographer’s creations, it’s depiction of the different facets of love — romantic love, mature love, adolescent love — makes for a lovely geometric tapestry of movement and moods as three color-coded couples weave into and out of each other. Last but not least was Chronicle, a work from 1936 that still rings with stinging relevancy 90 years onwards. Created in response to the rise of fascism in Europe, the multi-segment piece — it’s rarely seen in its entirety these days — unfolds in a series of movements that depict, with urgency, various choreographic stances against war. Indeed, there’s fury and rage that fuel the sharp, intense steps and shapes, which was particularly persuasive as danced by Saturday night’s scintillating all-female cast.

In addition to the aforementioned Graham masterworks, the City Center programs also smartly included more contemporary offerings from some of today’s most in demand dance-makers, including a pair of anticipated premieres. The first of these debuts was the world premiere of Jamar Roberts’ stunning solo To the Brink and Back, which is set to a live percussion score by Stahv Danker. As danced by the always magnetic Knight, the piece was intentional and poetic, and in sublime spiritual conversation with Graham. Then there was the New York premiere of Hope Boykin’s En Masse, a somewhat overlong and derivative ensemble piece set to music from Leonard Bernstein’s notoriously chaotic Mass (newly arranged by Christopher Roundtree), as well as a short sliver of newly discovered music by the composer. These two premieres were joined by a pair of other contemporary works commissioned by the company in recent years — Hofesh Shechter’s 2022 CAVE and Baye & Asa’s Cortege from last year. The latter is more of a direct descendant of the Graham school — arguably a successor to Chronicle — beginning and ending with a row of statuesque bodies that’s enveloped by a flowing black fabric. In between, Baye & Asa incorporate other contemporary dance influences — rhythmic, fluid — into the fold in its meditation on war and violence. A sort of night-capping rave, CAVE has become a signature closer for the troupe, as if consciously releasing the dancers from the tight stylistic grasp of the Graham aesthetic and giving them permission to simply move their bodies, in this case to thumping nightclub beats. Although deceptively free-flowing, Shechter shapes mesmerizing formations that move across the stage with gradual, purposeful force. It’s a crowd-pleaser.

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GRAHAM 100: THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
Dance
New York City Center
Approximately 2 hours per program
Closed