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Dancing/Dances: other

Thursday, November 05, 2009 7:30 PM

A Washington Post critic calls the Martha Graham Dance Company “one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe.” Choreographer and dancer Martha Graham, who founded her contemporary dance company in 1926, created 181 works, but only one—Clytemnestra (1958)—is an evening-length work. The dance, based on Aeschylus’ trilogy The Oresteia and performed to a score by Egyptian composer Halim el-Dabh, is operatic in scale and features sets by longtime Graham collaborator Isamu Noguchi. The dance unfolds from the perspective of Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, and flows like the rivers of blood that passed from generation to generation in the doomed House of Atreus. Although it relives a tragic past, Clytemnestra is ultimately about rebirth and redemption. Guided today by Artistic Director Janet Eilber, the company has toured to more than fifty countries on five continents and advanced the careers of some of the greatest names in modern dance, including Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. “They seem able to do anything,” writes a Los Angeles Times critic, “and to make it look easy as well as poetic.” The presentation includes a post-performance discussion among company and audience members. Audio description, which is especially helpful to patrons with sight loss, is available for this performance at no extra charge to ticket holders.

Details

COST: Adult $39 University Park Student $15 18 and Younger $26
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Center for the Performing Arts @ Penn State
WEBSITE: http://www.cpa.psu.edu/events/clytm.html