Program Notes from Martha Graham Dance Company Peformance

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY

The Sarah Graham Kenan Memorial Auditorium
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
October 19, 2009

For any questions about these
program notes, please contact:
Faye Rosenbaum, General Manager
650-619-9309

MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY

Artistic Director Executive Director
Janet Eilber LaRue Allen

The Company
Tadej Brdnik Katherine Crockett Jennifer DePalo
Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch Maurizio Nardi
Miki Orihara Blakeley White-McGuire
Lloyd Knight
Jacqueline Bulnes Sevin Ceviker Jacquelyn Elder
Mariya Dashkina Maddux Heather McGinley James A. Pierce III
Samuel Pott Ben Schultz Oliver Tobin
Kerville Jack Andrea Murillo
Lauren Newman Caterina Rago

Senior Artistic Associate
Denise Vale

Funding for this production generously provided by National Endowment for the Arts
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Council on the Arts

The Artists employed in this production are members of the
American Guild of Musical Artists AFL-CIO.

Copyright to all dances except Lamentation Variations is held by the
Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. All rights reserved.

Martha Graham Dance Company was made possible by the
National Endowment for the Arts'
American Masterpieces: Dance inititative,
administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts

Martha graham Dance Company
"Prelude and Revolt: Early Masterpieces of American Modern Dance"
was made possible by the
National Endowment for the Arts' Masterpieces: Dance Initiative,
administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts.

PRELUDE AND REVOLT: DENISHAWN TO GRAHAM

Montage of solos arranged by Janet Eilber
Lighting Design by Judith M. Daitsman
Text by Janet Eilber and Jeffrey Sweet

Narrator Janet Eilber

I. Montage of Three Denishawn Style Solos

The Incense
(excerpt)
Choreography and Costume by Ruth St. Denis

Premiere: March 22, 1906, Hudson Theater, New York City

Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch


Gnossienne (A Priest of Knossos)
(excerpt)
Choreography by Ted Shawn
Music by Erik Satie†

Premiere: December 17, 1919, Egan Little Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Lloyd Knight
†Gnossienne No. 1

Tanagra
(excerpt)
Choreography by Martha Graham

Premiere: April 18, 1926 48th Street Theater, New York City

Jacquelyn Elder

II. Serenata Morisca

Choreography by Ted Shawn
Reconstructed by Martha Graham
Costumes by Martha Graham after Pearl Wheeler
Music by Mario Tarenghi†
Lighting by Thomas Skelton

Premiere: 1916, performed by Martha Graham on Denishawn tours 1921–1923 and in the Greenwich Village Follies 1923–1925

Jennifer DePalo

†Serenata, op. 13, adapted by Jonathan McPhee

III. Lamentation

Choreography and Costume by Martha Graham
Music by Zoltán Kodály†
Original lighting by Martha Graham
Adapted by Beverly Emmons

Premiere: January 8, 1930, Maxine Elliott’s Theatre, New York City

Katherine Crockett

This presentation of Lamentation has been made possible by a gift from Francis Mason in honor of William D. Witter. Additional support was provided by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

†Neun Klavierstücke, op. 3. no. 2

IV. Steps in the Street
Devastation—Homelessness—Exile

Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Wallingford Riegger†
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Lighting for reconstruction (‘Steps in the Street’) by David Finley

Premiere: December 20, 1936, Guild Theatre, New York City

Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch

Jacqueline Bulnes Sevin Ceviker Katherine Crockett
Jennifer DePalo Jacquelyn Elder Mariya Dashkina Maddux
Heather McGinley Lauren Newman Blakeley White-McGuire

‘Steps in the Street’ was reconstructed by Yuriko and Martha Graham from the Julien Bryan film.
†Finale from New Dance, Opus 18b (for ‘Steps in the Street’), used by arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.

Recordings of Incense, Gnossienne, and Serenata Morisca by Patrick Daugherty. Recording of Steps in the Street by Margaret Kampmeier.


LAMENTATION VARIATIONS

Choreography by Richard Move,
Larry Keigwin, and Bulareyaung Pagarlava
Music by DJ Savage, Frederic Chopin, and Gustav Mahler†
Lighting by Beverly Emmons
Conceived by Janet Eilber
Premiere: September 11, 2007, Joyce Theatre, New York City

Lamentation Variations is an event which was conceived in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. The work is based on a film from the early 1930s of Martha Graham dancing movements from her then new, and now iconic, solo, Lamentation. The choreographers were each invited to create a movement study in reaction to the Graham film for the current company of Graham dancers.

Pagarlava Variation: Jacqueline Bulnes, Lloyd Knight, Maurizio Nardi, Ben Schultz
Move Variation: Katherine Crockett
Keigwin Variation: Full Company

Lamentation Variations was commissioned by the Martha Graham Center with support from Francis Mason.

† Savage (Richard Move): “Ballet for Martha”, based on material from Symphony No.5 by Ludwig van Beethoven; Chopin: Nocturne in F Sharp, Op.15 No.2; Mahler: “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz”, from Lieder eienes fahrenden Gesellen


ERRAND INTO THE MAZE

Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Gian Carlo Menotti†
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Adapted by Beverly Emmons

Premiere: February 28, 1947, Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City

There is an errand into the maze of the heart’s darkness in order to face and do battle with the Creature of Fear. There is the accomplishment of the errand, the instant of triumph, and the emergence from the dark.

Jennifer DePalo Ben Schultz

†Used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.

INTERMISSION

APPALACHIAN SPRING
“Ballet for Martha”

Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Aaron Copland†
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Adapted by Beverly Emmons

Premiere: October 30, 1944, Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Springtime in the wilderness is celebrated by a man and woman building a house with joy and love and prayer; by a revivalist and his followers in their shouts of exaltation; by a pioneering woman with her dreams of the Promised Land.

The Bride Blakeley White-McGuire
The Husbandman Samuel Pott
The Revivalist Lloyd Knight
The Pioneering Woman Katherine Crockett
The Followers Jacqueline Bulnes, Jacquelyn Elder, Mariya Dashkina Maddux.Heather McGinley

Commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The original title chosen by Aaron Copland was “Ballet for Martha,” which was changed by Martha Graham to “Appalachian Spring.”

†Used by arrangement with the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, copyright owners; and Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., sole publisher and licensor.

NOTES ON THE REPERTORY


PRELUDE AND REVOLT: DENISHAWN TO GRAHAM (1906–1936)

Martha Graham came to the Denishawn School as a student in 1916 and performed with the group until 1924. Prelude and Revolt is a suite of dances that traces the emergence of Graham’s unique theater and distinctive movement vocabulary from these Denishawn beginnings to the stark, explosive imagery of “Steps in the Street” from 1936.

A trio made up of solo works by Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, and Martha Graham sets the stage for Prelude and Revolt. This montage includes excerpts from Gnossienne (1917), Tanagra (1926) and Incense (1906). Martha Graham would have undoubtedly seen Miss Ruth perform Incense, as it remained a signature work throughout her long career. Its evocation of private ritual, as well as its dramatic use of fabric, surely interested the young Graham. This influence can be seen in Tanagra, one of Graham’s earliest compositions. Ted Shawn’s choreography drew upon ritual as well. Gnossienne, also known as A Priest of Knossos, was inspired by a series of bas reliefs depicting a ritual to the Snake Goddess from the Temple of Knossos in Crete.

The Denishawn style is full force in Serenata Morisca (1916), the next dance in this suite. The dance is best known for its quick turns, high kicks and fiery rhythms. The dancer is dressed in a tight fitting bodice and an ankle length skirt, weighted to ensure that the folds of the skirt will swing out as the dancer turns, making the movement of the fabric an integral part of the choreography.

By 1930, when Graham made Lamentation, she was in revolt against her Denishawn past, against ballet, and against the conventions of theatricality. Lamentation is performed almost entirely from a seated position, with the dancer encased in a tube of purple jersey. The diagonals and tensions formed by the dancer’s body struggling within the material create a moving sculpture, a portrait that presents the very essence of grief. The fabric is again integral to the choreography, but in ways that Ruth St. Denis could never have foreseen.

“Steps in the Street” (1936) was a response to contemporary problems threatening the world, the rise of fascism in Europe. This dance required a new vocabulary, one that Graham had been developing over the previous decade. The female body is cast as an instrument of force; joints, muscles, and sinews at the ready. The dancers in “Steps in the Street” are prepared to speak out with an expressive vocabulary in order to make an impact upon a modern world.






LAMENTATION VARIATIONS

Lamentation Variations is an event that was originally conceived to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. It was premiered on that date in 2007. The work opens with a film from the early 1930s of Martha Graham. We see her dancing movements from her then new, and now iconic, solo, Lamentation. The variations that follow were developed under specific creative conditions by choreographers Richard Move, Larry Keigwin, and Bulareyaung Pagarlava. Each was asked to create a spontaneous choreographic sketch of their reaction to the Graham film, and was required to adhere to the following conditions: 10 hours of rehearsal, public domain music or silence, basic costumes and lighting design. Though it was planned to be performed on only one occasion, the audience reception for Lamentation Variations was such that it has been added to the permanent repertory of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

ERRAND INTO THE MAZE (1947)

Errand Into the Maze premiered in 1947 at the Ziegfield Theater in New York City. With a score by Gian Carlo Menotti, and set design by Isamu Noguchi, the dance was choreographed as a duet for Martha Graham and Mark Ryder. It is loosely derived from the myth of Theseus, who journeys into the labyrinth to confront the Minotaur, a creature who is half man and half beast. In Errand Into the Maze, Martha Graham retells the tale from the perspective of Ariadne, who descends into the labyrinth to conquer the Minotaur. Substituting a heroine for the hero of Greek mythology in her dance, Martha Graham created a female protagonist who would confront the beast of fear, not just once, but three times, before finally overpowering him. Noguchi designed a set that consisted of a v-shaped frame, like the crotch of a tree or the pelvic bones of a woman. A long rope curves its way through the performance space and ends at this symbolic doorway. Influenced by the theories of the great psychologist Carl Jung, Martha Graham was exploring the mythological journey into the self in this dance. —ELLEN GRAFF

APPALACHIAN SPRING (1944)

In 1942, Martha Graham received a commission from the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation for a new ballet to be premiered at the Library of Congress. Aaron Copland was to compose the score. Graham called the new dance Appalachian Spring, after a poem by Hart Crane, but for Copland it always remained “Ballet for Martha.” Choreographed as the war in Europe was drawing to end, it captured the imagination of Americans who were beginning to believe in a more prosperous future, a future in which men and women would be united again. With its simple tale of a new life in a new land, the dance embodied hope. Critics called Appalachian Spring “shining and joyous,” “a testimony to the simple fineness of the human spirit.” The ballet tells the story of a young couple and their wedding day; there is a Husbandman, his Bride, a Pioneer Woman and a Preacher and his Followers.

In a letter to Aaron Copland, Graham wrote that she wanted the dance to be “a legend of American living, like a bone structure, the inner frame that holds together a people.” As Copland later recalled, “After Martha gave me this bare outline, I knew certain crucial things – that it had to do with the pioneer American spirit, with youth and spring, with optimism and hope. I thought about that in combination with the special quality of Martha’s own personality, her talents as a dancer, what she gave off and the basic simplicity of her art. Nobody else seems anything like Martha, and she’s unquestionably very American.” Themes from American folk culture can be found throughout the dance. Copland uses a Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts,” in the second half of his luminous score, while Graham’s choreography includes square dance patterns, skips and paddle turns and curtsies, even a grand right and left. The set by Isamu Noguchi features a Shaker rocking chair. Appalachian Spring is perhaps Martha Graham’s most optimistic ballet, yet it does contain a dark side. The fire and brimstone Preacher and his condemnation of earthly pleasures recalls the repressive weight of our Puritan heritage, while the solemn presence of the Pioneer Woman hints at the problems of raising families in remote and isolated communities. In this newly cleared land life was not simple, and Graham’s vision pays homage to that as well. —ELLEN GRAFF


ABOUT MARTHA GRAHAM

Martha Graham is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th Century alongside Picasso, Stravinsky, James Joyce, and Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1998 TIME Magazine named Martha Graham as the “Dancer of the Century,” and People Magazine named her among the female “Icons of the Century.” As a choreographer, she was as prolific as she was complex. She created 181 ballets and a dance technique that has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude. Many of the great modern and ballet choreographers have studied the Martha Graham Technique or have been members of her company.



Martha Graham’s extraordinary artistic legacy has often been compared to Stanislavsky’s Art Theatre in Moscow and the Grand Kabuki Theatre of Japan, for its diversity and breadth. Her legacy is perpetuated in performance by the members of the Martha Graham Dance Company and Graham II (formerly, the Martha Graham Ensemble), and by the students of the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.



In 1926, Martha Graham founded her dance company and school, living and working out of a tiny Carnegie Hall studio in midtown Manhattan. In developing her technique, Martha Graham experimented endlessly with basic human movement, beginning with the most elemental movements of contraction and release. Using these principles as the foundation for her technique, she built a vocabulary of movement that would “increase the emotional activity of the dancer’s body.” Martha Graham’s dancing and choreography exposed the depths of human emotion through movements that were sharp, angular, jagged, and direct. The dance world was forever altered by Martha Graham’s vision, which has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for generations of dance and theatre artists.



Martha Graham’s 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: Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Medea, Phaedra, Joan of Arc, and Emily Dickinson.



As an artist, Martha Graham conceived each new work in its entirety — dance, costumes, and music. During her 70 years of creating dances, Martha Graham collaborated with such artists as sculptor Isamu Noguchi; actor and director John Houseman; fashion designers Halston, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein; and renowned composers including Aaron Copland, Louis Horst (her mentor), Samuel Barber, William Schuman, Carlos Surinach, Norman Dello Joio, and Gian Carlo Menotti. Her company was the training ground for many future modern choreographers, including Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp. She created roles for classical ballet stars such as Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, welcoming them as guests into her company. In charge of movement and dance at The Neighborhood Playhouse, she taught actors including Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Anne Jackson, and Joanne Woodward how to use the body as an expressive instrument.



Her uniquely American vision and creative genius earned her numerous honors and awards such as the Laurel Leaf of the American Composers Alliance in 1959 for her service to music. Her colleagues in theater, the members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local One, voted her the recipient of the 1986 Local One Centennial Award for Dance, not to be awarded for another 100 years. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford bestowed upon Martha Graham the United States’ highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, and declared her a “national treasure,” making her the first dancer and choreographer to receive this honor. Another Presidential honor was awarded Martha Graham in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan designated her among the first recipients of the United States National Medal of Arts.



ABOUT THE COMPANY

Founded in 1926 by dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, the Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance company in America.

Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in over 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 John F. 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.

"One of the great companies of the world," according to Anna Kisselgoff, former chief dance critic of The New York Times, the Martha Graham Dance Company has been lauded by critics throughout the world. Alan M. Kriegsman of The Washington Post referred to the Company as "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe."


BIOGRAPHIES

JANET EILBER (Martha Graham Center Artistic Director) worked closely with Martha Graham. During her time as a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Ms. Eilber performed on all national and international tours, soloed at the White House, was partnered by Rudolf Nureyev, and starred in three segments of Dance in America. She danced many of Graham’s greatest roles, had many roles created for her by Graham, and has since taught, lectured, and directed Graham ballets internationally. She has four Lester Horton awards for performance and reconstruction of seminal American dance. Ms. Eilber is also Director of Arts Education for the Dana Foundation and a trustee of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is married to screenwriter John Warren, with whom she has two daughters, Madeline and Eva.

DENISE VALE (Senior Artistic Associate) began her professional performing career with the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1985, attaining the rank of principal dancer. Roles performed include the Pioneer Woman in Appalachian Spring, Woman in White in Diversion of Angels, Chorus Leader in Night Journey, Chorus in Cave of the Heart, the Attendant in Hérodiade, Leader in the 1980s reconstruction of Steps in the Street, and Night Chant, a ballet created for Ms. Vale by Martha Graham in 1989. Graham solos performed include Lamentation, Frontier, Satyric Festival Song, and Serenata Morisca.

TADEJ BRDNIK (Principal Dancer) began his dance career in Slovenia. He has danced with Battery Dance Company, Avila/Weeks Dance, White Oak Dance Project, Robert Wilson, and Pick Up Performance Company, as well as in works of Maurice Béjart, Lucinda Childs, Yvonne Rainer, Susan Stroman, Steve Paxton, and Deborah Hay. He has taught extensively in the United States and Europe and is on the faculty of the Martha Graham School. Mr. Brdnik is currently Education Director for the Downtown Dance Festival. He is a recipient of the Benetton Dance Award and the Eugene Loring Award and has been with the Company since 1996.

KATHERINE CROCKETT (Principle Dancer) joined the company in 1993, principal since 1996. Ms. Crockett danced as Cate Blanchett's double in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and with Mikhail Baryshnikov in "The Show-Achilles Heels " (choreographer Richard Move). Ms. Crockett has also had works created for her by Robert Wilson, Lucinda Childs, Martha Clarke, and Susan Stroman and was invited by Vanessa Redgrave to perform Lamentation in Kosovo. She played the mother in Myrtle Beach, a play by Dan Klores and has performed in The Gala of the Stars, the Cannes Film Festival, VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, and runway shows of Alexander McQueen and Victoria’s Secret.

JENNIFER DEPALO (Principal Dancer) returned to the Martha Graham Dance Company after a three-year leave, during which she performed as a principal for Ballet Hispanico. She is also a principal for Buglisi/Foreman Dance. Ms. DePalo is an honored recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Artistic Excellence and is a certified Gyrotonic® instructor at Studio Riverside.

CARRIE ELLMORE-TALLITSCH (Principal Dancer) is from Virginia, where she began dancing. She graduated cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Ms. Ellmore-Tallitsch has danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance’s second company, Philadanco, and Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre. She joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2002.

MAURIZIO NARDI (Principal Dancer), a native of Italy, came to New York with a scholarship at the Martha Graham School in 1998, when he joined the Graham II. He has performed and collaborated with companies in the United States, Europe, and India. He made his first appearance with the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2003.

MIKI ORIHARA (Principal Dancer) joined the Company in 1987. She has performed with various other prominent companies and choreographers including the Broadway Production of The King and I, Elisa Monte, Dance Troup (Japan), Twyla Tharp, and Robert Wilson. Ms. Orihara was a special guest artist for Japan’s New National Theater. As an independent artist, she premiered her works in New York and Tokyo. Her teaching credentials include numerous workshops in Japan, Art International in Moscow, Peridance, the Ailey School, New York University, Florida State University, and New National Theater Ballet School; she also works as an assistant for Yuriko. Ms. Orihara performs with PierGroupDance and Lotuslotus.

BLAKELEY WHITE-MCGUIRE (Principal Dancer) joined the Company in 2002. She has performed principal roles in Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Deep Song, Errand Into the Maze, and Satyric Festival Song among others. Ms. White-McGuire has had new works created on her by choreographers Jacqueline Buglisi, Martha Clarke, Sean Curran, Richard Move, Pascal Rioult and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Ms. White-McGuire holds a BA in dance from SUNY and has taught at the Ailey School, the Martha Graham School, the Neighborhood Playhouse, and The Actors’ Studio.

LLOYD KNIGHT (Soloist) was born in England, reared in Miami, and trained at the Miami Conservatory of Ballet. He has a BFA from the New World School of the Arts, where he worked with many renowned choreographers, including Donald McKayle, Robert Battle, and Michael Uthoff. He also performed leading roles in Jose Límon’s There is a Time, Merce Cunningham’s Inlets II, and Donald McKayles’ Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder. Mr. Knight has since performed in The King and I, directed by Guy Stroman. He joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2005.

JACQUELINE BULNES (Dancer), from Miami, Florida, began her early training with Edmundo Ronquillo of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and her Martha Graham training at the New World School of the Arts, where she received a BFA with honors. Ms. Bulnes has danced lead roles in Giselle, La Bayadère, Theme and Variations (Balanchine), Push Comes to Shove (Tharp), and Nutcracker. She has received scholarships to American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Martha Graham School, and received a Merit Award from the NFAA “ARTS” competition. This is her fifth season with the Martha Graham Company.

SEVIN CEVIKER (Dancer) is from Istanbul, Turkey, where she studied classical ballet at the State Conservatory. Since coming to the U.S., she has studied at the schools of Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor and Martha Graham where she was awarded a full scholarship. She received her BFA from Marymount Manhattan College with academic excellence in dance performance. Ms. Ceviker joined the Martha Graham Company in 2006 and has also danced with Jamie Bishton Dance, Odanata Dance Project, Labyrinth Dance Theater, Oh Dear Dance, Edgar Cortes Dance Theater, Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, and Tysan Dance Company. She recently performed as a lead dancer in the first Turkish musical to be performed on Broadway. She is also a certified GYROTONIC® instructor.

JACQUELYN ELDER (Dancer) studied dance at the Palm Beach Ballet Conservatory, the Alvin Ailey School, and at the Florida State University with Suzanne Farrell and Anthony Morgan. She received full scholarships from “Florida Bright Futures” and from the Martha Graham School. Ms. Elder is a former member of Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Darrah Carr Dance, Nina Buisson’s Contemporary Move, and Graham II. She is also a current and founding member of Lehrer Dance.

MARIYA DASHKINA MADDUX (Dancer) was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine, and moved to the United States in 1999. She received her dance training from the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet and the New World School of the Arts, where she graduated with a BFA. Ms. Maddux has performed lead roles in There is a Time and Psalm by Jose Limón and Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder by Donald McKayle.

HEATHER MCGINLEY (Dancer) holds a BFA in dance performance from Butler University. While at Butler she was featured in works by Thaddius Davis, Susan McGuire, and Marek Cholewa. In 2005 and 2006, Ms. McGinley presented three pieces of her own choreography as part of a Butler Ballet tour of Eastern Europe including St. Petersburg, Russia, and Warsaw, Poland. In 2007 she enrolled in the Martha Graham School and began performing with Graham II.

SAMUEL POTT (Dancer) received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and has performed with American Repertory Ballet, Oakland Ballet and in works by Marius Petipa, Martha Graham, Jose Límon, Twyla Tharp, Charles Moulton, and Val Caniparoli. In 2005, Mr. Pott founded Nimbus Dance Works, a company dedicated to building meaningful connections between concert dance and community. He received a Fellowship in Choreography from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and is a member artist of the Arts Council’s Arts in Education program. Mr. Pott has taught dance at Rutgers University and is a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Methodä.

BEN SCHULTZ (Dancer), originally from Denver, Colorado, began his dance training at age 15. He attended Indiana University where he studied ballet and theatre performance and minored in opera. Since leaving Indiana, his dance credits have included touring with the Tony Award® winning production Blast, dancing for the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Hannah Kahn Contemporary Dance, and Opera Colorado. Mr. Schultz has also served as resident choreographer and contemporary dance teacher for the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Arvada, Colorado.

LAUREN NEWMAN (Apprentice) received her B.F.A. in dance from Southern Methodist University in 2006. She became a member of Graham II in 2007. This is her first year dancing with the Martha Graham Company.


MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER
OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Staff
LaRue Allen, Executive Director
Janet Eilber, Artistic Director
Aaron Sherber, Music Director
Beverly Emmons, Lighting Designer
Faye Rosenbaum, General Manager
Anne Troy, Director of Development
Anne Posluszny, Production Manager
Judith Daitsman, Lighting Supervisor
Karen Young, Costume Supervisor
Allison Duncil, Wardrobe Supervisor
Tami Alesson, Director of Education
Virginie Mécène, Director of School
Bethany Roberge, Center Administrator
Susan Upton, Resources Manager
Angela Wiele, International Student Advisor
Arnie Apostol, Assistant to the Executive Director
Leslie Guyton, Administrative Assistant


Regisseurs
Tadej Brdnik, Donlin Foreman, Linda Hodes, Peggy Lyman,
Miki Orihara, Marni Thomas, Denise Vale

Board of Trustees
Judith Schlosser, Chair
Inger Witter, President
Francis Mason, Chair Emeritus
LaRue Allen, Executive Director
Amy Blumenthal
Inga Golay
Laura Gordon
Lorraine Oler
Patrick Leonard
Neila Radtke
Paul Szilard
Calvin Tsao
Ronald Windisch
Adam A. Pinsker, Secretary to the Board
Lee Traub, Chair Emerita


North American Representation
Rena Shagan Associates, Inc.
(www.shaganarts.com)

International Representation
Paul Szilard Productions, Inc.
Attract Productions
(szilardpro@aol.com)


Alumni Search
If you or someone you know has ever performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company or attended classes at the Martha Graham School, please send us names, addresses, telephone numbers and approximate dates of membership. We will add you to our alumni mailing list and keep you apprised of alumni events and benefits. Call 212.838.5886 or e-mail info@marthagraham.org.

The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is a not-for-profit corporation, supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Contributions in support of the Martha Graham Center will be gratefully received at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., 316 East 63rd Street New York, NY 10065.