Appalachian Spring

Photo essay by Robert Abrams
January 22, 2003

Choreography and costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Aaron Copland
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original Lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Adapted by Beverly Emmons

Premiere: October 30, 1944, Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington, DC (commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation)

Springtime in the wilderness is celebrated by a man and a woman building a house with joy and love and prayer; by a revivalist and his followers in their shouts of exaltation; by a pioneering woman with her dreams of the Promised Land.

Dancers: Miki Orihara as The Bride, Tadej Brdnik as The Husbandman, Gary Galbraith as The Revivalist, Katherine Crockett as The Pioneering Woman, and Erika Dankmeyer, Carrie Ellmore-Tallitch, Yuko Suzuki, Blakeley White-McGuire as The Followers.

The original title of this work, given by Aaron Copeland, was "Ballet for Martha". Martha Graham subsequently retitled the work "Appalachian Spring".

The brief preview shown during the photo call suggests that this first season in quite some time of Martha Graham's works will be first rate, both in terms of the choreography and the individual performances. The outstanding quality of the performances on opening night confirmed this suggestion. For more information, see www.marthagrahamdance.org or www.joyce.org. Get your tickets from the Joyce Theater while there are still tickets available.

For more on Martha Graham, read the interview with Ken Topping and the interview with Erica Dankmeyer.