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IMPRESSIONS: The Martha Graham Dance Company's "Americana" at The Joyce Theater

By Henning Rübsam
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Published on April 21, 2025
Virgine Mécène's "Revolt." Photo courtesy of the company

Program B seen Wednesday, April 9 & CAVE (April 2 & 5, 2025)

Dancers: Dancers: Lloyd Knight, Xin Ying, Leslie Andrea Williams, Anne Souder, Laurel Dalley-Smith, So Young An, Richard Villaverde, Devin Loh, Antonio Leone, Meagan King, Ane Arrieta, Zachary Jeppsen, Amanda Moreira, Jai Perez and Ethan Palma

Choreography: Martha Graham, Agnes De Mille, Virginie Mécène-after Martha Graham, Jamar Roberts and Hofesh Schecter (CAVE)

Music: Louis Horst, Aaron Copland (Bluegrass arrangement by Gabriel Witcher), Judith Shatin,Rhiannon Giddens, Âme and Hofesh Shecter

Set Design/Stage Design: Isamu Noguchi and Beowulf Boritt

Martha Graham Dance Company in Hofesh Shechter’s CAVE. Photo: Chris Jones
 

Hofesh Shechter’s CAVE, which the Martha Graham Dance Company first presented at New York City Center three years ago, rouses one’s dancing muscles in an ode to rave and nightclub culture. At least, it tries to. Co-produced by and starring Daniil Simkin, the work back then tore across the big space with a feverish pulse, but the first of this season's renditions made me miss Simkin and the energy he infused. 

The Graham company’s performance of this dance at the considerably smaller Joyce Theater, on April 2, made me think of a public viewing with the piece itself in an open casket. It seemed never-ending. Imagine my surprise when just a few days later — on April 5 — I was electrified and swinging in my seat watching the very same dancers. How did that happen? As a performer I can empathize: on the second night of a season, the dancers’ energy simply isn’t at its peak. Having to adjust to a smaller stage space also means negotiating step patterns; and such calculations usually don’t excite either the dancers or a dance audience. Luckily for me, I got to see the dancers truly in their element on a Saturday evening. It was the Saturday Night Fever for our time.

What I enjoy most about CAVE, which concluded programs A and C this season, is that the dancers do not perform for the audience, but enjoy dancing as part of a group. They seem to perform solo passages for one another. As an audience member, one feels invited to participate rather than being danced at. An almost meditative unison sequence during which the performers catch their breath makes me smile blissfully, vicariously feeling the serotonins released by dancing one’s heart out. CAVE shows that these incredibly strong dancers know how to have fun, when let loose on a Saturday night.

Ane Arrieta in Martha Graham’s Frontier. Photo: Isabella Pagano
 

After another of artistic director Janet Eilber’s insightful curtain speeches, Program B opens on dancer Ane Arrieta in Graham’s 1935 Americana solo Frontier. Graham had subtitled the work “American Perspective of the Plains” and it pays tribute to the women of the generation of frontier settlers. Fierce and tenacious in her attack, Arrieta embodies an independent warrior at moments, but she also conveys her care, love, and pride for the land she has made hers. 

A collaboration with Graham’s mentor, composer Louis Horst, Frontier also marks the first time Graham used a set. She turned to sculptor Isamu Noguchi, who — through his long-time affiliation with the choreographer — became one of the most noted stage and set designers of the 20th century. 

I am struck by how a centrally placed piece of fence, made from a log and two ropes climbing diagonally to reach the sky, transforms the Joyce Theater into the wide, open prairie. The fence becomes a gate to the future. Choreographically, Graham shows the pioneer woman’s determination through a relentless repetition of dance phrases. A raised leg pierces the space and seems to stretch it. Yet, after each exploration, Arrieta returns to austere contemplation. The pink hue of her dress suffuses the severe environment with a sense of hope. This dancer first drew attention as a member of Graham 2 (the company’s studio ensemble), when performing an equally gripping solo, Glass, by choreographer Lorn MacDougal. Now Arrieta intrigues me with her multi-faceted emotions that render the heroine of Frontier as a vulnerable human, - prepared to take on hardships, yet open to the promise of a better life.

Martha Graham Dance Company in Agnes de Mille's Rodeo. Photo: Carla Lopez / Luque Photography
 

In contrast to Graham’s lonely Frontier, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo presents a jolly pioneer ensemble. First choreographed in 1942 for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to music by Aaron Copland, it made de Mille commercially viable and led her to create more successful Americana in the dances for Broadway's Oklahoma the following year. The new production for the Graham company features some updates: a stage design including backdrop projections by Beowulf Borritt, colorful period costumes by Oana Botez, and a recorded bluegrass arrangement of the Copeland score by Gabriel Witcher. The intimate quality of the sound works for The Joyce. My colleague Robert Johnson reviewed the production in detail last season. My impression therefore concerns itself with the individual performances. 

Laurel Dalley Smith, as The Cowgirl, strikes all the right notes, and her comic timing delights when the imaginary horse under her bucks. At first eager to be accepted as one of the gang, when dressed in pants and a cowboy hat, she surely enjoys the attention both The Champion Roper (Richard Villaverde) and The Head Wrangler (Lloyd Knight) pay to her the moment she dons a dress. She is out to enjoy herself, and eventually succumbs to Villaverde, whose pursuit includes a show-off tap dance sequence that makes the sun shine and hearts melt.  Knight, who had transferred his attention to The Cowgirl after initially wooing The Ranch Owner’s Daughter (Leslie Andrea Williams), won’t have trouble spreading his charm and cheer in other places. Deliciously - because deliberately - corny, Rodeo holds up as an anachronistic treat and a light-hearted view of the frontier.

Leslie Andrea Williams in Revolt by Virgine Mécène after Martha Graham. Photo courtesy of the Martha Graham Dance Company
 

After intermission, two fascinating solos choreographed by Virginie Mécène shed light on Graham’s very early work. Inspired by photographs from Graham's 1927 Revolt and 1928 Immigrant, Mécène pairs the contrasting solos to great effect. The clarity and sparseness of the movement as well as the performances by Leslie Andrea Williams and Xin Ying are devastatingly effective. While REVOLT uses the original score by composer Arthur Honegger, music by Judith Shatin replaces Josip Slavenski’s original accompaniment for Immigrant. Costumes recreated by Karen Young based on photos by Sochi Sunami, and a focused lighting design by Becky Nussbaum complete the stunning picture.

Xin Ying in Immigrant by Virginie Mécène after Martha Graham. Photo: Brian Pollock
 

Choreographer Jamar Roberts’s We The People cleverly juxtaposes solo and group sections, but is repetitive in structure and devoid of spatial curiosity. Silent solos of protest and lament reach powerfully across the footlights. On the other hand the groups that travel downstage in lines of three relentlessly confront the audience with dynamically stagnant movement set to eight-count phrases. These sections grow tiresome, and fail to make the desired impact of a people’s uprising. Having had one’s fill of country music with Rodeo, the music by Rhiannon Giddens (also arranged by Gabe Witcher) sounds too similar to be suitable for one program. 

Martha Graham Dance Company in Jamar Roberts’s We the People. Photo: Isabella Pagano
 

Thankfully, the Graham dancers maintain a high energy level and their enduring enthusiasm carries the work despite its repeated false endings. The confused audience hesitates for more than a moment,  when the piece finally does come to a close, but then shows its appreciation applauding heartily for the everlasting dancers.

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