Above: Aoi Sato and Ty Graynor of Graham 2 in Martha Graham's Conversation of Lovers; photo by Melissa Sherwood
Author: Oberon
Friday May 31st, 2019 - Down at the Martha Graham Dance Company's homespace at Westbeth, Graham 2 celebrated their 36th year with a performance that honored alumni of this program inaugurated in 1983 by Yuriko as the Martha Graham Ensemble. I had the great good fortune to be seated next to a stellar alumna: the inimitable Katherine Crockett. Several of the main Company's current dancers were present also, excited about their upcoming tour to Italy.
Graham 2's current director, Virginie Mécène, welcomed us, and spoke briefly about the works we were to see. The house lights dimmed, and we were drawn into the marvel-filled world of Martha Graham with a performance of her powerful 1929 work, Heretic.
Above: Aoi Sato and the ensemble in Heretic, photo by Melissa Sherwood
Music arranged by Charles de Sivry that alternates between militant and lyrical, with pauses between, sets the stage for this dancework an outcast seeking entry into the community, who remain implacably hard-hearted despite Ms. Sato's gorgeous, supplicating dance. The beautifully-lit performance highlighted the exquisite soloist, who - like so many entrancing dancers thru the years - used her lustrous hair to advantage.
Above: Aoi Sato in Heretic; photo by Melissa Sherwood
Above: Harold Trent Butler in El Penitente with Misha Culver, who appeared in an alternate cast; photo by Melissa Sherwood
An excerpt from El Penitente followed. In this 1940 Graham work about a group of strolling players in the American Southwest, dancers Harold Trent Butler and Madelaine Burnett appeared in a witty and rustically charming seduction duet in which a large, luscious red apple plays an enticing role.
The duet Conversation of Lovers from Graham's beloved 1981 classic Acts of Light brought Ms. Sato together with Ty Graynor. Below are three Melissa Sherwood images from Conversation of Lovers with this charismatic pair of dancers:
Ms. Sato and Mr. Graynor gave a passionate, sensuous performance; and doubtless Mr. Graynor's physique would have pleased Ms. Graham, with her eye for male beauty. This piece had the benefit of the evening's finest music (sorry, Mr. Copland!) with works by Carl Nielsen woven together to delight the ear: the deep cello, the sinuous oboe, the mellow clarinet. The movement style might be described as athletic lyricism, and is ideally set upon the music, which becomes turbulent - and finally orgasmic - before simmering down. Then an odd mixture of tenderness and resistance develops; the man circles the stage as the music turns wild. This duet is simply - intoxicatingly - Martha.
There followed a duet from Embattled Garden which seemed to be over before it started; in Martha Graham's 1958 ballet set in the Garden of Eden, Mr. Butler and Androniki Vasili (above, in Melissa Sherwood's photo) formed such an appealing partnership that one wished their duet was much longer.
Above: the ensemble in Bryce Mousset's "E", photo by Melissa Sherwood
The premiere of Bryce Mousset's "E", to a score by Mike Sheridan, began impressively. Ty Graynor, dressed in rusty red, is seen in a pool of light. Behind him stand a column of women in diaphanous, creamy frocks. To eerie, unsettled music, the women advance; they begin to sway to a sexy, insistent beat. They approach the man who, like Wagner's Parsifal, at first fends off these Blumenmädchen, but eventually succumbs to their allure.
As the ballet progresses, Mr. Graynor amiably sheds his clothing until he's wearing just his briefs. A series of duets accompanies this slow striptease, and the piece begins to wear out its welcome thru repetitive movement motifs and a slightly aimless feeling. But overall, it's an attractive work that might profit from some judicious pruning here and there. The dancing was divine.
Above, and below: Ty Graynor and Androniki Vasili in Bryce Mousett's "E"; photos by Melissa Sherwood
Following the intermission, a suite from Appalachian Spring was danced. Perhaps the most widely-known of all Graham works, it was presented without its emblematic Noguchi set, and it included a narrator who seemed superfluous. Without the fence, the frame of the house, and the iconic chair, the spatial sense of the ballet was diminished. It was, however, very well danced.
Androniki Vasili was youthful and exuberant as The Bride, and Mr. Graynor continued his marathon evening with his vibrant portrayal of The Husbandman. Harold Trent Butler savoured his solo as The Preacher, and his quartet of Followers were naive and sweet. In this "suite" setting, the role of the Pioneer Woman is sadly minimized - a pity, since Misha Culver showed a magnetic stage presence in the part.
Above: Harold Trent Butler in Secular Games; photo by Melissa Sherwood
Graham's 1962 beach ballet, Secular Games, strikes me as minor-league Martha. While the playful tossing of a ball by bare-chested men is initially pleasing to the eye, it eventually becomes a bit tedious. The women also have their revels, and it's all in good fun; but it seems like a ballet that should be danced by children rather than adults. And it suffers from a really mundane, "perky" score by Robert Starer.
I read of a 1996 revival of Secular Games for which Pat Metheny created a fresh score. What became of that?
~ Oberon
Photos: Melissa Sherwood