When I first saw this video from the ETV Tape Vault, I was enchanted by the transformational approach of Martha Graham's "Sketches from Chronicle." The power, discipline and legacy knowledge that were required to stage this production stands alone among the ETV Classics. As the USC company presents “Sketches from Chronicle”, they are not only learning a new dance, but a new language as well.
Janet Eilber, Director, The Martha Graham Center talks about the process of the performance. Martha Graham’s dances are called vocabulary as it is all about communicating. This documentary provides a behind the scenes look at restaging Graham’s masterpiece. Susan E. Anderson, Director USC Dance Program talks about the historic opportunity to perform Chronicles in its entirety. It premiered in 1936, and parts were missing and had to be reconstructed. The ballet speaks to the time before, during and after the war.
The students underwent a crash course in Graham technique. Miriam Barbosa talks about the legacy and keeping the performance alive. Carolyn Bolton talks about learning the process and techniques like contraction. Lindsey Shatzer, soloist, describes her feelings for this dance. Malie Bruton Heider, Former Arts Reporter, The State recalled her amazement when Graham first came to USC in 1972 to be artist in residence for a week. We know that you will find this restaging amazing too!
Side Notes
- Martha Graham May 11, 1894—died April 1, 1991, New York, New York) was an influential American dancer, teacher, and choreographer of modern dance whose ballets and other works were intended to “reveal the inner man.” Over more than 50 years she created more than 180 works, from solos to large-scale works, in most of which she herself danced.
- Janet Eilber - IMDb - has been the Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance since 2005. Her direction has focused on creating new forms of audience access to the Graham masterworks. Her direction has focused on creating new forms of audience access to the Graham masterworks. These initiatives include designing contextual programming, educational and community partnerships, use of new media, commissions and creative events such as the "Lamentation Variations" and "Prelude and Revolt." She has also remixed Graham choreography and created new staging in the Graham style for theater/dance productions of "The Bacchae" and "Prometheus Bound." She soloed at the White House, was partnered by Rudolf Nureyev, starred in three segments of "Dance in America," and has since taught, lectured and directed Graham ballets internationally.
- Miriam Barbosa - Contemporary Dancer, Teacher & Choreographer; former member of the Martha Graham Dance Company and a faculty member at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Alvin Ailey School. She has founded Miriam Barbosa Dance formerly known as South Carolina Contemporary Dance Company, choreographing and performing worldwide.
- Carolyn Bolton - Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Carolyn began her pre-professional training at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities before completing her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography at the University of South Carolina. She received a full scholarship to the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance in New York and trained with Béjart Ballet Lausanne before joining Ballet Rambert in 2013. She has since had the pleasure of working with Julie Cunningham and Company and L’Opera National du Rhin and has been featured in film and television work with Marvel Studios, Apple TV, and HBO Max.
