One of the foremost American choreographers of the twentieth century, a modern dance pioneer, and the creator of an important technique for training dancers, Martha Graham (1894-1991) studied at the Denishawn School in Los Angeles. There she was inspired by Ruth St. Denis and mentored by Ted Shawn, performing with Denishawn until 1923. Her own company, founded in 1926, became a breeding ground for seminal artists such as Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor. Although Shawn made many attempts to bring the Graham Company to the Pillow, the only formal appearance during his lifetime was a 1960 lecture-demonstration. The Company’s official Pillow debut in 1984 was an emotional homecoming for Graham, who personally supervised rehearsals of her recently-premiered Rite of Spring on this very stage. Now under the direction of former principal dancer Janet Eilber (who has added such works as Nacho Duato’s Rust and Mats Ek’s AXE to the repertory), the company has made five return visits to the Pillow since Graham’s death in 1991, the first of which may be seen here.
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