Martha Graham Dance Company: 100 Years is published today by Black Dog & Leventhal.
The authors are two photographers: Ken Browar and Deborah Ory.
Founded in 1926 by Martha Graham, The Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest dance company in the United States and remains one of the world’s most distinguished and highly acclaimed. In her introduction to Martha Graham Dance Company: 100 Years (Black Dog & Leventhal). The company’s Artistic Director Janet Eilber writes: “It may surprise people to know that Martha Graham was a great believer in stillness.
Though she was recognized as the genius inventor of an entirely new way of moving, Graham was a devotee of stopping time.”
That is exactly what photographers Ken Browar and Deborah Ory (NYC Dance Project) have done with this book, capturing Graham’s oeuvre for audiences to enjoy in an entirely new way, from the comfort of home, with the luxury of time.
The lush, four-color package gives full expression to 200+ images throughout, arranged in a generous 10” x 12 ½” layout. Supported by select archival images of Graham and her original dancers, Browar and Ory capture the beauty and the precision of the dancers who carry the mantle of Graham’s legacy today, recreating moments from 24 of her most celebrated works, including:
- “Lamentation,” 1930, Graham’s most iconic solo, a meditation on grief in motion
- “Primitive Mysteries,” 1931, giving life to the desire for transformative ritual
- “Imperial Gesture,”1935, a portrait of demagoguery created as fascism rose in Europe
- “Chronicle,” 1936, an indictment of the horrors of war
- “Appalachian Spring,”1944, an ode to the American spirit that became a cultural export
- “Night Journey,” 1947, a reimagining of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex
- “Embattled Garden,” 1958, drawing on the Biblical story of Adam & Eve
- “Maple Leaf Rag,” 1990, Graham’s last complete work, a playful sendup of the beleaguered artist that showed Graham’s ability to laugh at herself
Each featured dance is prefaced by a short description with notes on inspiration, costume design, set design, and accompanying music. Eilber’s introduction, plus an in- depth feature on Isamu Noguchi’s set design, round out the program.
NYC DANCE PROJECT (@nycdanceproject) is a collaboration between Ken Browar and Deborah Ory. Ken Browar is a renowned fashion and editorial photographer. His passion for dance began when he lived in Paris and photographed dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet. Deborah Ory began her photography career while injured as a dancer, photographing rehearsals. She has worked as a photo editor at Condé Nast and Mirabella, and as an editorial photographer.
Martha Graham Dance Company: 100 Years
By Ken Browar and Deborah Ory
Black Dog & Leventhal
10” x 12½
304 pages | 200+ Photographs
ISBN: 9780762487448
$75
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/imprint/black-dog-leventhal/
