Newman Center Presents!

In anticipation of its centennial in 2026, the Martha Graham Dance Company is embarking on a three-year celebration of Graham’s work and legacy. Works to be performed include classic Graham repertoire Diversion of Angels (1948) and Canticle for Innocent Comedians (1952), as well as CAVE (2022), a thrilling new work by Hofesh Shechter created for the Graham company. Part of the 2023-24 Newman Center Presents Dance Series, generously supported by the Grynberg Family Endowment for Dance Programming.

September 22 – 7:30 pm— TICKETS

September 23 – 7:30 pm — TICKETS

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a world leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. Today, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that offer a rich thematic narrative, the Company creates new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences. Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Russia 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 in Egypt and the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world.

During its 90-year history, the Company has received acclaim from audiences and critics alike in more than 50 countries. “These men and women easily embody the choreographer’s sense of dancers as angelic athletes,” says Robert Greskovic of The Wall Street Journal, while Marina Kennedy of Broadway Worldnotes says,“This is contemporary dance at its very best.” Siobhan Burke of The New York Times asks, “Can this please never go away?”

MARTHA GRAHAM (1894–1991) is recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century, alongside Picasso, James Joyce, Stravinsky, and Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1998, TIME magazine named Martha Graham “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. Her approach to dance and theater revolutionized the art form and her innovative physical vocabulary has irrevocably influenced dance worldwide.