Centenary celebrations: Martha Graham's dance company hits Athens for its anniversary

After a rapturous reception in and sold out performances in four French cities,the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company, America's greatest and longest-running contemporary dance company is now in the Greek capital with "The Fast and the Future" to celebrate its centenary.

Martha Graham is universally regarded as the founder of contemporary dance and one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.

It was she who created an entirely new dance technique, known as the "Graham Technique", which allowed dance to become a means of expressing the human soul and its emotions and is characterised by dramatic, intense and angular movements. Her work was revolutionary and remains, to this day, a reference point for generations of dancers and choreographers around the world.

Her choreographies emphasize the theatricality of body language, highlighting all aspects of human experience and emphasizing the "grounding" of her own language. The 181 choreographies she has created over 70 years of continuous work have included, at various times, famous personalities, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fontaine, Liza Minnelli, Rudolf Nureyev, Maya Plisetskaya and Kathleen Turner.

The American artist was inspired by modern painting, the American frontier, Native American religious ceremonies and Greek mythology.

Janet Eilber has been the group's artistic director since 2005. She has been the company's lead dancer in the past and has worked closely with Martha Graham herself, who has choreographed her in great works.

"Martha Graham is known as a great inventor of modern dance because she was the first choreographer to put people on stage. She moved away from a style of dance that was unreal, dreamlike, a product of fantasy, with swans, flowers, kings and queens, and really showed us the human condition on stage," says Eilber. "This is the essence of Martha Graham's discoveries: she found a way of moving that communicated to the audience what the dancer was thinking and feeling.

Martha Graham's goal was to reach, with her choreographies, the essence of human expression.She did a piece on Medea. What she was interested in was Medea's anger and jealousy. In other choreographic works, she spoke about the essence of love or social activism, about the power of the people. These themes have endured over time. They are as recognizable to today's generations as they were to generations 100 years ago when Martha Graham was creating these works. They speak eloquently and remain relevant to today's audiences."

A national cultural treasure for Americans, the company has performed in more than 60 countries, appearing in the world's greatest cultural centers. The First and The Future production was created especially to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the famous company's founding in New York City in 1926.

It is a dialogue between iconic works by Martha Graham, such as "Chronicle" and "Errand into the Maze" and bold new productions such as Hophes Schechter's "Cave":

"The program we present to our performance audiences these days includes not only the classics of Martha Graham, but also new works by some of the leading choreographers of our time," says Eilber.

"We find that there is a real communication between the classics and the works being created today, because they all speak to the human condition and these works have something to say to each other. Martha Graham's classical works are about the essence, the primary essence of being human.Hofes Schechter has created a work that, as you will see, is so primal, so much about the animal instinct of humans, that the two works fit perfectly into one program. They converse with each other."

Immediately afterwards, the American contemporary dance company returns to its home base, it will embark on a major American tour of the production celebrating the company's 100th anniversary in 15 cities. It will be back in Europe in the spring, with performances in Italy and Latvia.

The Martha Graham Dance Company is performing 'The Fast and Future' at Athens Concert Hall, Alexandra Trianti Hall, until 23 November 2025.

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