Breath of fresh air

By Chen Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-26 08:00

For modern dance devotees the end of November should be the highlight of the year and they will be heading to Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), where the Martha Graham Dance Company (MGDC) starts a four-day run tomorrow.

We've already had Maurice Bejart, Paul Taylor, Pina Pausch, Jiri Kylian and Lin Hwai-min. Now finally, Martha Graham's company arrives, although the legendary artist herself died 17 years ago at the age of 96.

Indeed, MGDC topped the invitation list before the NCPA formally opened last December. NCPA's programming department approached Janet Eilber, MGDC's artistic director 18 months ago.

"The e-mail arrived just as we were discussing how the MGDC might reach out to audiences in China," says Eilber, who had been a leading dancer in Graham's company for many years and was appointed the artistic director eight years ago.

"There is huge interest and curiosity about China in the (United) States right now. The new economic partnership began this interest and then, of course, the Olympics. And we had a strong feeling that this curiosity was going both ways - that Chinese audiences might also be interested and open to learning more about American culture.

"We were sure that the masterworks of Martha Graham would connect with the new Chinese audience and, even more, would give them an insight into 20th Century American culture since it is deeply embedded in Martha's works."

Eilber soon accepted the invitation and began collaborating closely with Aaron Wu, the project manager of NCPA's programming department.

"We finally settled on two programs of 10 repertoires that not only have a selection of the greatest Graham dances but are also grouped thematically to give the audience extra context and ways to understand the works," she says.

The first program, with a theme of "myths and fables", will run tomorrow and Friday and include Errand into the Maze (1947), Division of Angels (1948), Night Journey (1947) and Acts of Light (1981).

The second program, focusing on American culture, will run on the weekend and feature Serenata Morisca (1916), Lamentation (1930), Appalachian Spring (1944), Chronicle (1936), Satyric Festival Song (1932) and Maple Leaf Rag (1990).

"We've created a program reflecting the development of Graham's concepts at different times, from her first solo Serenata Morisca when she was 22 and her last choreography Maple Leaf Rag before her death at 96," says Wu.

"The style may be foreign to our new Chinese audience, but the themes and emotional messages are recognizable world-wide," Eilber says. "Martha's work is about human-to-human communication. It doesn't matter what country you are from or what language you speak.

"As to understanding our Greek themed work: Martha chose the Greek stories because they contain the most basic human emotions - they are universal stories," she says.

"Even though the dances we present are decades old, we strive to make their impact current and powerful. I believe it is important to keep the emotional message of each dance powerful and relevant to each new generation. This is probably the most important lesson I learned from Martha. I will be very curious to see the reaction of audiences in China, but I am guessing that we will connect well and have a wonderful exchange," she says.

Circe, choreographed by Martha Graham in 1963. File photos

Often compared with Picasso, Stravinsky and James Joyce for developing a form of expression that broke the traditional mold, Martha Graham has been called a revolutionary 20th century artist and her name has become synonymous with modern dance.

She created a unique technique, called contraction and release, involving intensified moments of exhalation and inhalation and she came to embody modern dance as arrogant and spectacular.

People as different as Woody Allen and Bette Davis cite her as a major influence. As a teacher, Graham trained and inspired generations of fine dancers and choreographers, including such greats as Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham.

She performed at the White House for Franklin Roosevelt and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honor. The 1998 Time Magazine named her "Dancer of the Century" and People Magazine named her among the "Female Icons of the Century."

"Graham's technique, which is now used by dance companies throughout the world, became an enduring alternative to the idiom of classical ballet," says Willy Tsao, artistic director of Beijing LDTX Modern Dance Company. "Powerful, dynamic, jagged and filled with tension, this vocabulary combined with Graham's distinctive system of training to set her above other dance innovators."

"Her methods of breathing and impulse control, which she called contraction and release, are routine for contemporary dancers today and you need not have studied them, because they are part of the air every contemporary dancer breathes," he says.

(China Daily 11/26/2008 page18)