Martha Graham Dance Company Janet Eilber, artistic director

Martha Graham is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century, alongside Pablo Picasso, Virginia Woolf, Igor Stravinsky, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Graham radically expanded the dance vocabulary, rooting it in social, psychological, and sexual ideas and forever altering the scope of the art form. These performances will include a new work choreographed by Jamar Roberts, resident choreographer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and set to music by Rhiannon Giddens. The dance will be paired with Agnes DeMille’s 1942 classic Rodeo; its iconic score by Aaron Copland has been reorchestrated for a bluegrass ensemble, offering an expanded view of our cultural history and the influence of Black artists on American music and dance forms. Martha Graham’s final complete work, Maple Leaf Rag, rounds out the program.