Martha Graham Dance Company Takes Residence at Skirball Center

The Martha Graham Dance Company will be in residency at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts from Sept. 14-19. While there, the company will reconstruct the Graham classic Clytemnestra and give an exclusive preview performance for members of the NYU community only. In addition, the company will offer master classes, participate in lectures, and run open rehearsals.
    As part of the programming, there will be a conference entitled “Clytemnestra: Women and Power from Aeschylus to Martha Graham,” held Sept. 18 from 5-9 p.m. in Hemmerdinger Hall. Sponsored by NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies, the event will feature talks by classicists as well as past and current members of the Martha Graham Company. A panel discussion will follow along with a reading by members of the Aquila Theater Company. Another panel discussion, entitled “Clytemnestra and the Dance Dramas of Martha Graham: Revising the Classics,” will take place Sept. 16, from 6-8 p.m. in the Jerry Labowitz Theatre. Sponsored by the Gallatin School for Individualized Study, the panel will explore Graham’s works that drew on Greek mythology, ancient legends, and female archetypes, with a focus on her epic 1958 dance piece, Clytemnestra. (See Page 7 for calendar listings on both events.)
    The week’s activities conclude with the exclusive preview performance of Clytemnestra on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 ($10 for NYU students) and are available at the Skirball’s Shagan Box Office.  
    The Martha Graham Dance Company residency is being co-sponsored by Deans Mary M. Brabeck, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Richard Foley, Catharine R. Stimpson, Matthew S. Santirocco, and Susanne L. Wofford, with additional support from L. Jay and Mary Ellen Oliva. The Martha Graham Dance Company will return to NYU Skirball Center for its New York season in May 2009.
    For more information on the residency and other Skirball events, go to www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.