Program I – Saturday Evening

Night Journey

Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by William Schuman^†
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Adapted by Beverly Emmons

Premiere: May 3, 1947, Cambridge High School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

“And loudly o’er the bed she wailed where she
In twofold wedlock, hapless, had brought forth
Husband from a husband, children from a child.
We could not know the moment of her death
Which followed soon.”
—Sophocles

In Night Journey, it is not Oedipus but Queen Jocasta who is the protagonist. The action of the dance turns upon that instant of her death when she relives her destiny and sees with double insight the triumphal entry of Oedipus, their meeting, courtship, marriage, their years of intimacy that were darkly crossed by the blind seer Tiresias until at last the truth burst from him. The chorus of women, who know the truth before the seer speaks it, tries in vain to divert the prophecy’s cruel conclusion.

Jocasta Anne Souder
Oedipus Lloyd Knight
Tiresias, the Seer Ethan Palma
Leader of the Chorus Marzia Memoli
Daughters of the Night Ane Arrieta, Laurel Dalley Smith,
Meagan King, Devin Loh,
Amanda Moreira, Isabella Pagano^†

Used by arrangement with Theodore Presser Company, agent for Merion Music, Inc.

Cortege

Choreography by Baye & Asa
Costume Design by Caleb Krieg
Lighting Design by Yi-Chung Chen
Music by Jack Grabow^†

World Premiere: April 18, 2023, The Joyce Theater, New York City

Laurel Dalley Smith, Zachary Jeppsen-Toy, Lloyd Knight, Antonio Leone, Jai Perez, Anne Souder, Leslie Andrea Williams, Xin Ying

Cortege was made possible with a significant commissioning grant from The O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation. Major support for Cortege was provided by Christopher Jones and Deb McAlister, The Hayes Foundation, and The SHS Foundation.

Cortege was also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The creation of Jack Grabow’s score was supported by The Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.

Production support was provided by the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Connecticut,

Technical support provided by Works & Process at the Guggenheim and the Catskill Mountain Foundation.^†

Baye & Asa are inspired by Martha Graham’s Cortege of Eagles to consider groups under attack in our time.
Jack Grabow’ score reflects themes from Eugene Lester’s original score for the Graham work.

Intermission

Chronicle

Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Wallingford Riegger^†
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Lighting for reconstruction (“Steps in the Street”) by David Finley
Lighting for reconstruction (“Spectre–1914”, “Prelude to Action”) by Steven L. Shelley

Premiere: December 20, 1936, Guild Theater, New York City

Chronicle does not attempt to show the actualities of war; rather does it, by evoking war’s images, set forth the fateful prelude to war, portray the devastation of spirit that it leaves in its wake, and suggest an answer. (Original program note)

I. Spectre–1914
Drums—Red Shroud—Lament

Leslie Andrea Williams

II. Steps in the Street
Devastation—Homelessness—Exile

Laurel Dalley Smith

Ane Arrieta, Meagan King, Devin Loh, Marzia Memoli, Amanda Moreira, Isabella Pagano, Grace Sautter, Anne Souder, Xin Ying

III. Prelude to Action
Unity—Pledge to the Future

Leslie Andrea Williams, Laurel Dalley Smith

Ane Arrieta, Meagan King, Devin Loh, Marzia Memoli, Amanda Moreira, Isabella Pagano, Grace Sautter, Anne Souder, Xin Ying

“Spectre–1914” reconstructed in 1994 by Terese Capucilli and Carol Fried, from film clips and Barbara Morgan photographs. “Steps in the Street” reconstructed in 1989 by Yuriko and Martha Graham, from the Julien Bryan film discovered by Dr. Barry Fischer. “Prelude to Action” reconstructed in 1994 by Sophie Maslow, with Terese Capucilli, Carol Fried, and Diane Gray, from film clips and Morgan photographs.

^†This new recording, engineered by Fred Vogler and conducted by Christopher Rountree, was commissioned by and recorded at The Soraya at CSUN.

Finale from New Dance, Op. 18b (for “Steps in the Street”), originally composed for Doris Humphrey, orchestrated by Justin Dello Joio, used by arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Additional orchestrations by Stanley Sussman.

The 2025–26 revival of Chronicle was commissioned by New York City Center.