World-Renowned Martha Graham Dance Company at ASU October 22

Martha Graham revolutionized modern dance in the 20th century with a new style that emphasized sharp, angular and direct movements in exposing the depths of human emotion. Photo by Costas

ASU’s 2009-10 Performing Arts Series welcomes the Martha Graham Dance Company—the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance company in America—to the stage of Farthing Auditorium at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 22.

Advance tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for ASU students and students 18 and under and $18 for seniors and ASU faculty and staff. Ticket prices increase at the door on show nights.

Founded in 1926 by dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates its 80th anniversary season by touring a special program chronicling Graham’s emergence as a singular artist titled Prelude and Revolt: Early Masterpieces of American Dance. 

A training ground for some of modern dance’s most illustrious performers and choreographers, 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 Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids of Egypt and in the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. 

Martha Graham is widely recognized as a seminal artist of the 20th century. Named the Dancer of the Century (TIME) and one of the female Icons of the Century (People), she was a prolific and complex choreographer. She created 181 ballets and a dance technique that has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude.

The Thursday, October 22, performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company at ASU is a celebration of the company’s 80-year history and the groundbreaking achievements of its founder. Photo by Costas

Born in 1893 in Allegheny, Pa., Graham founded her dance company in 1926, living and working out of a tiny Carnegie Hall studio in midtown Manhattan. In developing her technique, she experimented endlessly with basic human movement. Her dancing and choreography exposed the depths of human emotion through movements that were sharp, angular and direct. Graham’s vision forever changed the landscape of the dance world.

As an artist, and particularly a woman artist, Graham was a rebel in conventional society. From 1929 to 1938, she worked with an all-female company, refining her technique and crafting her approach to choreography. Her work reflected a strong belief in human rights. Invited to perform at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she refused—many of her company members were Jewish, and, she noted, “would not be welcome in Germany.”

The Martha Graham Dance Company’s October 22 performance is a montage of media and live performance capturing Graham’s indelible influence on American art. Featuring a wide variety of her sources of inspiration, including modern painting, heroic women, the American frontier and Greek mythology, this performance includes sets by Isamu Noguchi, costumes by Martha Graham, Halston and Calvin Klein and original scores by American composers Aaron Copland, Louis Horst and Henry Cowell.

Performing Arts Series sponsors are McDonald’s of Boone, Goodnight Brothers Country Ham, Nationwide Insurance—the B. Park Terrell Agency, Inc., Charter Media, The Mountain Times, All About Women magazine, Winston-Salem Journal, High Country Press, 100.7 Mac FM, Mix 102.3, Mountain Television Network, WDAV 89.9, WFDD 88.5, WETS 89.5, WNCW 88.7 and WASU Rocks 90.5 FM.

Hotel and restaurant sponsors include Westglow Resort and Spa and Rowland’s Restaurant, Chetola Resort, the Bob Timberlake Inn and the Manor House at Chetola, The Broyhill Inn and Appalachian Conference Center and the Jackson Dining Room, Appalachian Hospitality’s six award-winning properties, including the Best Western Blue Ridge Plaza, The Best Cellar, The Bistro, The Gamekeeper, Louisiana Purchase, Makoto’s Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, Pepper’s and Red Onion Café.

For tickets or more information, call 828-262-4046 or click to www.pas.appstate.edu.

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