Martha Graham’s Night Journey (1947), is the third dance in a Greek trilogy that includes Cave of the Heart and Errand Into the Maze. The music is by William Schuman, the set by Isamu Noguchi, and the costumes by Graham herself. Based on Sophocles, the dance is about Queen Jocasta, fated to marry Oedipus, who turns out to be her son: her husband had ordered him killed as an infant, but he was saved by a shepherd and raised by a king. The action, Graham wrote, “takes place in Jocasta’s heart at the instant when she recognizes the ultimate terms of her destiny.” This matinee presents a complete film of Night Journey from 2016, annotated with commentary from Graham’s writings. Here’s a sample: “Now she rises with her leg held close to her head, and her body open in a deep contraction. I call this ‘the vaginal cry.’” And another: “She ceases to be the Queen and becomes a woman besieged by memories.” The performance stars Blakely White-McGuire and Lorenzo Pagano. —L.J.
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Martha Matinees: Night Journey, Annotated by Martha Graham!
When
September 11, 2021
Where
Etc
Martha Graham in “Night Journey.” Courtesy of Martha Graham Resources.