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Collection Martha Graham at the Library of Congress

D

From "Dance" to "Dolorosa" (17 works)

Dance
1929

Performed to music by Arthur Honegger, the work's title at its January 20, 1929, premiere at New York's Booth Theatre was printed as Dance--strong free joyous action— NietzscheBillboard (February 2, 1929) noted, "There was little joy, the expressions being rather of an intraversional order and much in keeping with the Nietzschean philosophy."

Dance in Four Parts: Quest, Derision, Dream, Sportive Tragedy
1934

Performed to music by George Antheil, Dance in Four Parts: Quest, Derision, Dream, Sportive Tragedy premiered on November 11, 1934, at New York's Guild Theatre. The solo work was performed by Martha Graham. Writing for the New York Daily Worker (November 13, 1935), Elizabeth Skrip noted that the work was an "excellent etude for the exhibition of Miss Graham's talents, but little else."

Dance Prelude
1933

Performed to music by Nikolas Lopatnikoff, Dance Prelude premiered on November 19, 1933, at New York's Guild Theatre.

NOTE: There is no information in the collections pertaining to this dance.

Dance Songs
1932

Performed to music by Imre Weisshaus, Dance Songs premiered on November 20, 1932, at New York's Guild Theatre. The work was divided into four sections: "Ceremonial," "Morning Song," "Satiric Festival Song," and "Song of Rapture." The work was performed as a solo by Martha Graham. Both "Ceremonial" and "Satiric Festival Song" (called Satyric Festival Song) also were performed independently as solos.

Danse
1927

Performed to music by Arthur Honegger, Danse premiered on October 16, 1927, at New York's Little Theatre. The solo work was performed by Martha Graham. Dance Magazine (December 1927) noted, "To Honegger's mad music she was significant as a typical product of modern industry--a down trodden, agonized soul, trying in vain to free itself from the tremendous power that is crushing it to earth. This was done most effectively." The reviewer concluded, "It was the highlight of the whole program."

Danse was later called Revolt and by February 1928 appears under this title.

Danse Languide
1926

Performed to music by Alexander Scriabine, Danse Languide premiered on April 18, 1926, at New York's 48th Street Theater, Graham's first independent concert. The original cast included Thelma Biracree, Evelyn Sabin, and Betty Macdonald. An April 12, 1926, New York Telegram article by critic S. Jay Kaufman said of Graham's upcoming concert, "It is her aim to make her program interesting from the music as well as the dance standpoint."

In 1927, Danse Languide was performed as one part of Graham's choreography, Five Poems (also performed to music by Scriabine).

Danse Rococo
1926

Performed to music by Maurice Ravel, with costumes by Erle Franke, Danse Rococo premiered on April 18, 1926, at New York's 48th Street Theater, Graham's first independent concert. The solo work was performed by Graham. On April 25, 1926, the critic for the New York Telegraph said Graham performed "in a pair of green mules, a feat any woman knows is equaled only by a tightrope Charleston, that amazing stunt seen at the recent circus in Madison Square Garden." The review also noted that "grey and blood-red and blue lavender chiffon, molten silver cloth and cloth of gold come to life in her expert hands."

Danza
1929

Performed to music by Darius Milhaud, Danza premiered on March 3, 1929, at New York's Booth Theatre. The solo work was danced by Martha Graham. The New York Times (March 4, 1929) commented that the work was "a fantasia on peasant themes, sometimes Spanish, sometimes Italian, sometimes Balkan in suggestion. Its interest lies in its impression of dance movement where there is actually only the barest skeleton of such movement."

Danza Degli Angeli
1926

Performed to music by Ermano Wolf-Ferrari, Danza Degli Angeli premiered on May 27, 1926, at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. The cast included Betty Macdonald, Thelma Biracree, and Evelyn Sabin. In November 1926, this choreography was identified as Part 2 of Renaissance.

Dark Meadow
1946

Performed to music by Carlos Chávez, Dark Meadow premiered on January 23, 1946, at New York's Plymouth Theater. The work, commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation of the Library of Congress, originally was to premiere along with Appalachian Spring in 1944; however, Chávez was unable to deliver the score in time for the performance. Costumes were designed by Edythe Gilfond; Isamu Noguchi was listed as "Artistic Collaborator." The cast list included Martha Graham, May O'Donnell, Erick Hawkins, and other members of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Critic John Martin, writing for the New York Times (January 27, 1946), noted, "Dark Meadow is a curious work, indeed, which at first pretty thoroughly defies comprehension. An hour or so later, however, it suddenly begins to assume form in the memory, to take on cohesiveness and direction, and to send me hurrying back for a second view by way of confirmation."

Deaths and Entrances
1943

Performed to music by Hunter Johnson, Deaths and Entrances premiered on July 18, 1943, at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont. The costumes were designed by Edythe Gilford and the set by Arch Lauterer. The original cast included Martha Graham, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, and other members of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Margaret Lloyd, writing for the Christian Science Monitor (December 21, 1943) said, "Deaths and Entrances, which takes its title from a poem by Dylan Thomas, is… all but shattering in its effect."

Deep Song
1937

Performed to music by Henry Cowell, Deep Song premiered on December 19, 1937, at New York's Guild Theatre. The solo work was performed by Martha Graham. The next year, Moses Smith noted in the Boston Transcript (November 3, 1938), "the dancer seemed to be overplaying her hand, so that what began as a moving portrait ended, by overstatement, in losing some of its point."

Désir
1926

Performed to music by Alexander Scriabine, Désir premiered on April 18, 1926, at New York's 48thStreet Theater, Graham's first independent concert. The solo work was performed by Graham. Also called Désir Opus 57, No. 1, the work wasperformed in 1927 as a section of a choreography titled Five Poems. A May 29, 1926, article in The Democrat (Rochester, NY) noted the work was, "a thing made eloquent by Miss Graham's ability to make every muscle, every movement of arm and hand, count for emotional meaning."

Deux Valses
1926

Performed to music by Maurice Ravel, Deux Valses premiered on April 18, 1926, at New York's 48th Street Theater, Graham's first independent concert. The solo work was performed by Graham. Also known as Deux Valses Sentimentales and Valses Sentimentales, the Democrat (Rochester, NY) noted on May 29, 1926, that the work reflected a "vibrant motion." A December 1927, Dance Magazine article noted, Graham "was a wistful peasant girl on a holiday. In yellow dress and scarlet kerchief she was far gayer and more smiling than she usually allows herself to be on stage."

Dithyrambic
1931

Performed to music by Aaron Copland, Dithyrambic premiered on December 6, 1931, at New York's Martin Beck Theatre. The solo work was performed by Martha Graham. Commenting on later performances of the work, Musical America (November 25, 1932) noted that the dance was "an outstanding number." The New York Sun (November 21, 1932) claimed that "The technical skill she summoned here was little short of amazing, breath-taking in its ease and security."

Diversion of Angels
1948

Performed to music by Norman Dello Joio, Diversion of Angels, originally called Wilderness Stair: Diversion of Angels, premiered on August 13, 1948, at Connecticut College, New London. Costumes for the work were designed by Graham; the set, eliminated at the second performance, was created by Isamu Noguchi. The work was danced by the Martha Graham Dance Company. Frances Herridge, writing for the New York Star (August 17, 1948) said the work "s an appropriate curtain raiser to a week of modern dance, although it is a far cry from significant addition to her repertoire. It is without a story or discernible comment. Nor has it any role for Miss Graham herself. Essentially it is an exhibition piece for her group. As such it is superb."

Dolorosa
1931

Performed to music by Hector Villa-Lobos, Dolorosa premiered on February 2, 1931, at New York's Craig Theatre. The solo work was danced by Martha Graham. Dolorosa also appears in programs as "from Primitive Cycle." In writing about Graham's choreographies, Stark Young of the New Republic (December 14, 1932) commented that Graham "must begin…not with either a pictorial representational idea (some scene or personage) or with a dramatic idea: her first idea will be more like that of a designer of patterns, lines, angles, rugs, tiles, fabrics, what you will, or like the basic outlay of what will later be a painting. From this pattern or single form there will develop; other forms; which in their turn may suggest an idea less visually abstract and more a subject, more a literary or psychological meaning, and go on from there, perhaps, even to a title for the composition "Incantation," say, or "Dolorosa…."