By Liana Wilson-Graff
Martha Graham Dance Company is 99 years old — the oldest modern dance company in the US, and yet the strength of Graham’s iconic movement language is as impactful as ever. This month, they return to The Joyce Theater for an impressive two-week run of three different programs. 11 works make up the inspired showcase titled Dances of the Mind. The “Americana” program is an absolute standout and timely exploration of the histories and present narratives that make up our complicated country. The night begins with a Graham solo, Frontier, followed by a restaging of her peer’s work, Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo, to make up a joyous first act. The second act offers a grittier, more pensive and realist tone, containing a reimagining of lost Graham solos, Revolt and Immigrant, by Graham 2 director Virginie Mécène, and a mighty finish with Jamar Roberts’ recent work, We the People. The strength of this foundational choreography is made new through the company’s effort to expand the voices in their repertory. Through this undertaking, the company continues to make meaningful exchanges with audiences even after a century.
The opener, Frontier, was created to represent Graham’s experience as a young woman on the edge of adulthood, opening her world to the unknown: a place of infinite stories that play out in her head. The piece is performed in a wonderfully precise style that can feel like an explicit narrative that then releases into ambiguity, exploring the motif of exit and return, and a tumult of thought. The contrast between overthinking and letting go is visceral as moments of total play shine between restrained movement and consistent moments of simply watching. The possibilities of Frontier are palpable, and we never know the result, but the feeling of transition is universal. This piece is particularly poignant for me as a young member of the audience deep in the mud of this pivotal time, but it is also powerful for those who are brought back to the seminal, challenging, and playful phase of life, no matter the path they’ve chosen. What’s freeing about this piece is that the “path”, even as it is thought through over and over in so many ways, is irrelevant. Dreaming and contending with expectations are the true frontier. Even though it’s scary, it is empowering and exciting.
The program then moves into the endearing world of Rodeo, where a female character finds her way as an utterly lovable misfit in her world of “Burnt Ranch”. This piece is so amazingly cinematic, not in aesthetics but in the arc of its story and detailed characters. From morning to night, we experience this character’s freedom from gender expectations expressed as freedom in the body and moments of self-consciousness as she yearns for romantic connection. Rodeo is proof that a simple story can contain multitudes of meaning and heart. I was surprised by the range of emotion it evoked in me without ever leaning into melancholy or overcomplicated dynamics. Rodeo’s movement ranges from modern to folk to tap and is an absolute joy to experience. Everyone in the room is transported to this attractive open plain containing worlds of social interactions and relationships that you just can’t get enough of. It’s a total triumph of consciously American music, dance, and visual art.
Returning from intermission, I was struck by the shift of tone and style. Mécène’s meticulously researched reimaginings of Revolt and Immigrant engaged with a much darker world that cuts to the core of our American reality. Revolt, performed by Leslie Andrea Williams, is distinctly Graham, combined with a simultaneous frenzy and groundedness. It is the embodiment of a human in profound reaction to the weight of ancestry and the present that press down and deeply wound. It’s a powerful performance of unique looseness within the Graham style that bubbles up, fights, and acts as a necessary physical movement to confront collective tragedy. Xin Ying follows with Immigrant, a much tighter, almost claustrophobic piece. She is regal yet isolated, creating beautiful shapes and stills, yet constrained to a version of herself that must be maintained for survival. Mécène crafts two different yet undeniably connected worlds that exist in different kinds of confinement and waves of darkness. The open stage is made remarkably closed through artistry.
Jamar Roberts’ acclaimed We the People closes this production in a colossal fashion. A distinctly American story, he has described the piece as “equal parts protest and lament”. The ensemble embodies empowerment, pride, labor, horror, and grief. I do not want to attempt to translate this piece, but I will say that, as this monumental topic of the Black American people, and working class American people is explored more and more in contemporary art, We the People does it in a truly unique way. Utilizing silence and music, the moment of silence that makes the loudest, most devastating impact is performed by Lloyd Knight. A danced moment becomes uncannily real as Lloyd pleads to the audience, and he pleads more times than is theatrical, so that horror and discomfort are placed in our laps for us to contend with. It is a moment that, for me, is unparalleled. Roberts’ ditches monoliths in We the People but still taps into a collective vitality and humble sadness that does justice to Black American history and reality, while also feeling out a sense of American-ness that exists in us all.
Martha Graham Dance Company’s Dances of the Mind is presented by The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) and is playing at The Joyce Theater from April 1-13. Tickets, ranging in price from $12-$75 including fees, can be purchased here or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. More information
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