This centennial exhibition traces the arc of Martha Graham’s groundbreaking career, centering her visionary approach to dance as psychological expression. Graham transformed the dancing body into a vessel for inner life, using movement to externalize emotion, memory, and the unconscious. By putting the raw psychology of the individual and social collective on stage, she redefined what movement could express—not just in dance, but across all art forms. The show displays rarely seen archival materials from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s Martha Graham archive, set pieces by Isamu Noguchi, and costumes by Graham, as well as offer insight into the genius and legacy of Graham and the dance company.
Born in 1894, Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Initially proclaimed as a great dancer, she started to fundamentally change the way dance looked and was perceived when she founded her Martha Graham Dance Company in 1926.
Today, she is often placed alongside artistic household names who significantly impacted their medium. She is recognized as “the mother of modern dance” in dance history not only from her choreographic masterworks, but also her invention of a new and codified dance language. Her signature Graham technique, now used by dance companies all over the world, was the first of its kind that stood in contrast to classical ballet.
Curated by choreographer, writer, and educator Jack Ferver, the exhibition is part of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s centennial celebration.
