Martha Graham Dance Company - Martin Lofsnes and Katherine Crockett in Diversion of Angels (Photo by John Deane)
Title: Martha Graham Dance Company
Location: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 East Second Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
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Description: MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
SHOWCASES MASTERPIECES OF MODERN DANCE
Martha Graham Dance Company
March 19–20, 2010, Friday and Saturday @ 8 p.m.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts – Virginia G. Piper Theater
(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present the Martha Graham Dance Company on Friday and Saturday, March 19–20, at 8 p.m. in its new, state-of-the-art Virginia G. Piper Theater.
Tickets are available for $58 online at www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org or through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office at (480) 994-ARTS (2787). A limited number of box seats are available for $20.
Founded in 1926, the Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance company in America. Exploring the creative revolution of legendary choreographer Martha Graham and the birth of modern dance, the troupe will perform Prelude and Revolt: Denishawn to Graham (1906–1936), a multi-media theatrical event complete with narration, projections and performances of many of Graham’s seminal works.
The Company’s program also will include Lamentation Variations (2007), three spontaneous choreographic sketches inspired by Graham’s iconic solo, Lamentation, and featuring music by DJ Savage, Frederic Chopin and Gustav Mahler; the ritualistic El Penitente (1940), a series of episodes from the Bible as enacted by a group of strolling players; and Diversion of Angels (1948), an exploration of the infinite aspects of love, from the flirtatious to the deeply profound.
Martha Graham (1894–1991) is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century alongside painter Pablo Picasso, composer Igor Stravinsky, author James Joyce and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. A prolific choreographer, she created 181 ballets and an innovative movement technique that continues to be a source of inspiration for dancers and actors today.
Graham’s groundbreaking ballets were inspired by a wide variety of sources, including modern painting, the American frontier, religious ceremonies of Native Americans and Greek mythology. Many of her most important roles portray great women of history and mythology, such as Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Medea, Phaedra, Joan of Arc and Emily Dickinson.
Graham received numerous awards throughout her long career. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded her the United States’ highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and declared her a “national treasure,” making her the first dancer and choreographer to receive this honor. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan designated her among the first recipients of the National Medal of Arts.
SPONSORSHIP_This performance is presented by Suzanne T. and Irving D. Karpas Jr.
Martha Graham Dance Company: Prelude and Revolt: Early Masterpieces of American Modern Dance was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces: Dance initiative, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts.
The Arizona Republic is the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ 2009–10 season media sponsor.
Start Date: 2010-03-19
End Date: 2010-03-20
