Graham's legacy dances on: a century of innovation and connection
Nearly a century after her debut on a small New York stage, Martha Graham’s influence reverberates through the dance world—and a new documentary, We Are Our Time, offers an intimate glimpse into the enduring power of her company.
A pioneer's vision, still alive
Graham, a titan of modern dance who bookended the 20th century, wasn't merely crafting steps; she was excavating the human psyche. Her works, often wrestling with primal urges and the shadow of encroaching fascism, demanded a rigorous physicality, rooted in her signature contraction and release technique. The minimalist sets designed by Isamu Noguchi, coupled with later collaborations with fashion icons like Halston and Calvin Klein, elevated her productions into potent cultural statements.
But Graham’s ambition transcended mere artistic expression. As she wrote to composer Aaron Copland during the creation of Appalachian Spring (1944), “Certain things are alive for all of us, although far in the actual past…America is forever peopled with characters who walk with us in the present in a very real way.” That sentiment, that sense of shared humanity, forms the bedrock of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s continued relevance.
Inside the company: rehearsals, tours, and a new ballet
The PBS documentary, born from a two-and-a-half-year immersion with the company, eschews the hagiographic treatment of its subject, opting instead to focus on the present-day realities of maintaining a legacy. Directors Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean capture the grit of rehearsals, the cramped quarters of tour buses, and the electric energy of the stage. Archival footage, strategically employed, serves to highlight the continuity of Graham's vision—a particularly striking split-screen juxtaposition of Graham in 1930’s Lamentation and Leslie Andrea Williams, decades later, embodying the same raw grief.
Meryl Streep’s narration, a late addition to the project, adds a layer of gravitas. Schnall recalls Streep’s initial takes, “We all just went, ‘Wow, this is what we’ve been waiting for—and more.’” The film also showcases the emergence of new voices within the company. Choreographer Jamar Roberts, a former Alvin Ailey star, recently debuted We the People (2024), a work infused with the buoyant music of Rhiannon Giddens. Roberts, observing the dancers’ connection to the earth, remarked, “There’s the spirit of the untamed that I think lives here, and you just don’t find it everywhere.”
A century of movement, facing the future
Janet Eilber, the artistic director since 2005, is steering the company into its second century with a deliberate embrace of innovation. “We’re not making a sacred altar to Martha Graham,” she states in the film, “We’re honoring her appetite for the new.” This openness extends to the company’s global travels, including a recent tour of China, poignantly capturing principal Xin Ying’s reunion with her mother.
The company’s impending relocation from Westbeth, a space they’ve occupied since 2012 following the passing of Merce Cunningham, adds another layer of complexity. The threat of Hurricane Sandy's flooding remains a stark memory. But the move to Midtown—complete with a pickleball court, a detail Eilber wryly mentions as a potential funding source—signals a pragmatic approach to securing the company’s future. Ultimately, the documentary emphasizes that this isn’t about celebrating a centennial of Martha Graham herself—that milestone occurred in 1994. It’s a tribute to the nearly 500 dancers who have carried her torch, each a vital link in a chain of artistic expression.
As Peter London, a veteran dancer, instructs during a master class, “Draw inside that sweet, sacred place of your soul—that was Martha’s directive.” And as Barbara Morgan, the photographer who so brilliantly documented Graham’s artistry, observed, “The only record of a dancer’s Art lies in the other arts.” The legacy isn't preserved; it's reanimated.