Title
Martha Graham Dance Company : Appalachian Spring, The Auditions
Date(s) of Performance
11/14/2019 - 11/17/2019
Company
Martha Graham Dance Company, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Directed by
Janet Eilber, La Rue Allen
Created by
Appalachian Spring: Aaron Copland,
Martha Graham The Auditions: Augusta Read Thomas, Troy Schumacher
Performers/Artists
Martha Graham Dance Company: Lloyd Knight, Ben Schultz, Xin Ying, Lloyd Mayor, Natasha M.Diamond-Walker, Lorenzo Pagano, Charlotte Landreau, Anne O'Donnell, Leslie Andrea Williams, Anne Souder, Laurel Dalley Smith, So Young An, Marzia Memoli, Jacob Larsen, Alessio Crognale ICE Musicians: Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, Joshua Rubin, Ryan Muncy, Rebekah Heller, Michael Lormand, Jacob Greenberg, Nathan Davis, Ross Karre, Jennifer Curtis, Josh Modney, Gabriela Diaz, Pauline Harris, Kyle Armbrust, Wendy Richman, Meaghan Burke, Chris Gross, RandyZigler, VimbayiKaziboni -conductor
Summary
APPALACHIAN SPRING (1944) tells the story of a young frontier couple on their wedding day.Created as the war in Europe was drawing to end, the ballet 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. Themes from American folk culture can be found throughout the dance. Aaron Copland weaves a Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts,” throughout his luminous score, while Martha Graham’s choreography includes square dance patterns, skips and paddle turns and curtsies, even a grand right and left.The spare set by Isamu Noguchi features a Shaker rocking chair. With its tale of a new life in a new land, the dance embodies hope.Critics called Appalachian Spring“shining and joyous,” “a testimony to the simple fineness of the human spirit.” THE AUDITIONS (2019) takes place in two worlds -one ethereal, one grounded. It follows its musical framework closely, which, in a cyclical nature, pulses between two very distinct, imaginative sonic and dramatic worlds: “theethereal landscape”and“the audition room.” Designed in seven arcs:slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, the work has a duration of 26 minutes and is performed without a pause.
Disciplines
Theatre and Performance Studies
Link to Full Performance Video
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Additional Information
https://marthagraham.org
https://vimeo.com/iceorg