{"id":8053,"date":"2012-11-01T10:36:36","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T14:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=8053"},"modified":"2013-03-09T12:14:35","modified_gmt":"2013-03-09T16:14:35","slug":"martha-grahams-chronicle-a-dance-that-still-strikes-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=8053","title":{"rendered":"A Dance That Still Strikes The Heart: Martha Graham’s Chronicle:"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This review marks the continuation of a series dedicated to showcasing the best student writing from the Dance History class I teach at The Juilliard School. <\/em><\/p>\n

By Michael Marquez<\/p>\n

Martha Graham\u2019s Chronicle<\/em> speaks against the rise of fascism, but it also reveals a universal message. Everyone should fight for causes. On September 30 at New York City Center, The Martha Graham Dance Company\u2019s performance of Graham\u2019s 1936 masterwork concluded the second program of the Fall for Dance Festival.<\/p>\n

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Blakeley White-McGuire. Photo by Michele Ballantini<\/p><\/div>\n

Chronicle <\/em>opens with a lone figure. Wearing a long, heavy black skirt and sitting on a round-shaped platform, Blakely White-McGuire manipulates yards of her costume. Her skirt becomes a psychological extension of her being. It looks like the psychic weight she carries. It invites fascination. When she unfolds the skirt\u2019s red underside, it is as though she is shedding her own blood. While White-McGuire\u2019s focus is captivating and fearless, her full-bodied gestures show her fight.<\/p>\n

In the second section, \u201cSteps in the Street,\u201d nine dancers step, jump and twist as one. On the dark-lit stage, with its black floor and cyclorama, Wallingford Riegger\u2019s music drives the performers into a primordial state. Their impassioned dancing looks like it is being spun from their inner impulses. They dig deep into the ground, rooting them selves to the stage to form archaic and statuary-like shapes.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Michele Ballantini<\/p><\/div>\n

The strong and vigorous women fight humanely, instead of devolving into immorally behaving creatures. Unfortunately, too many of the dancers\u2019 transitions lack suppleness. Or, as master Graham teacher Terese Capucilli puts it, their transitions lack \u201cthickness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Chronicle <\/em>shows how much emotion is inside of us. We should never ignore what we feel. We should never forget that it\u2019s necessary to fight for causes. A vanguard artist of the last century, Graham made essential dances. Chronicle <\/em>is one of Graham\u2019s works that continues to strike at the human heart.<\/p>\n

Michael Marquez is a second year student in the Dance Division. He studies the Graham technique with Terese Capucilli.<\/p>\n