Martha Graham Dance Company: Canticle for Innocent Comedians

Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m

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“Her creativity still resonates and is relevant today.” — Star Tribune

We’re thrilled to continue the longstanding Fine Arts Center tradition of bringing the giants of the dance world to western Massachusetts with this performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company. Time magazine’s “Dancer of the Century” Martha Graham forever altered the landscape and very definition of Western modern dance. And Graham’s company has tirelessly continued that legacy worldwide for three decades. Now the ensemble has worked with a new generation of diverse, multicultural choreographers to re-envision Graham’s innovations with Canticle for Innocent Comedians, which combines elements of a lost Graham masterwork with new material and a new score by jazz great Jason Moran.

Graham created Canticle for Innocent Comedians in 1952, taking the title and inspiration from the 1938 poem by Ben Belitt, her old friend and colleague at the Bennington School of the Dance. The multifaceted work was built around eight virtuosic vignettes for the stars of the Graham Company, each celebrating a different element of nature: Sun, Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Moon, Stars and Death. The work was well received and reputed to have been magical. But there is only a fragmented record remaining.

This new Canticle for Innocent Comedians is a reimagining of the original. The choreography is completely new, but draws upon Graham’s stylistic blueprint. The vignettes have been re-made for today’s Graham stars by eight dance-makers from diverse backgrounds.

Please join us for this  once-in-a-lifetime event!

"These men and women easily embody the choreographer’s sense of dancers as angelic athletes,” — Robert Greskovic, The Wall Street Journal.

“This is contemporary dance at its very best.” —  Marina Kennedy, Broadway World

“Can this please never go away?” — Siobhan Burke, The New York Times