Review: Martha Graham Dance Company

UCSB Arts & Lectures kicks off its dance series with the legendary company.

WORDS Ninette Paloma

The curtain rises and a measured ritual begins – this one steeped in philosophy and sculpture and spiritual abstractions. Like symbolic Kachina dolls, the color-blocked and angular dancers of Dark Meadow Suite configure themselves in various stages of metaphorical growth. Their bodies, shimmering and reflective like stained glass against a setting sun, contract and release in micro-movement currents and outstretched limbs. The woman sitting in front of me flutters in her seat.

The air inside of the Granada Theatre was thick with anticipation over the arrival of Martha Graham Dance Company, who kicked off UCSB Arts & Lectures’ dance series with a sold-out performance on Wednesday, October 4. Tasked with presenting three works from the nearly 200 the company has amassed over its 100-year reign, Artistic Director Janet Eilber began the evening with an excerpt from Martha Graham’s 1946 experimental novella Dark Meadow, a sublime study of weight and discovery, before shifting the spotlight over to legendary choreographer Agnes de Mille. 

Restaging de Mille’s 1942 Rodeo, the company pounced on an opportunity to expand on the ballet’s original themes of belonging and social fluidity. Here, Aaron Copland’s original score is replaced by Gabe Witcher’s bluegrass interpretation, acknowledging the Black roots of American folk music and igniting a conversation over cultural assumption. Here, a restless and overcompensating "Champion Roper" dressed in silky fuchsia trousers struggles with his identity more than the "Cowgirl" herself – who radiates confidence in her perseverance and explodes across the stage with mesmerizing fervor as she simulates the power of a bucking horse using little more than her pelvis.

By the time we arrive at Hofesh Shechter’s 2022 CAVE, the implications of art and the psyche during and immediately following World War II have rippled their way through the program. Through Eilber’s keen lens, CAVE’s fiery study of individuality and the collective experience – workshopped with Studio Simkin during the height of COVID – falls easily into step. 

There they are again, the contractions and micro-movements that build steadily onto one another at an entrancing pace. Only this time the dancers keep climbing, fueled by the energy of an electric ensemble and a palpable conviction to preserve their own autonomy – even as the seduction of community closes in. A distinct pattern of flow and direction begins to surface, prompted by an infectious soundtrack co-produced by German techno duo Âme that sends hair flying and arms floating skyward in release. You don’t need to squint to catch glimpses of Graham’s commanding and enduring spirit at the center of it all.