Insincerities (ballet)

Last updated

Insincerities, also known as Four Insincerities, is a solo modern dance work created by Martha Graham. The piece consists of four sections: Petulance, Remorse, Politeness and Vivacity performed to music by Serge Prokofiev. It premiered on January 20, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in New York City. [1] Louis Horst accompanied Graham on piano. [2]

Contents

Background notes

Almost all of Graham's early works, including Insincerities, are lost. [3] It is known the solo drew on the idea of Delsartean tableaus, objective representations of mood and emotion. As she constructed her own movement vocabulary, Graham rejected the concepts of her teachers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn by initially referencing previous dance forms. [4]

Insincerities is also known to be one of Graham's first efforts at incorporating humor into her dances, and revealed her talent for parody and comedy. [5]

Critical reception

New York Times dance critic John Martin remarked that Insincerities was "outstanding...impudent and malignant in its comment on the four commonplace human qualities..." [4]

Of a later performance, The New York Herald Tribune's reviewer wrote that many of Graham's "familiar numbers…have lost nothing of their interest and pertinence," adding that Insincerities had "grown wittier with repetition." [1]

A critic less enthralled with Graham described the piece in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle as "very thin, expressing nothing at all with the studious affectation of profundity." In the same article, the writer said Graham was becoming "an uninteresting artist" as her compositions grew "more modern and cerebral." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Heretic</i> (ballet) ballet

Heretic is a modern dance work by Martha Graham performed to Tetus Breton, an old folk tune from Brittany. Louis Horst, Graham's musical director, recommended the song, part of the collection Chansons de la Fleur de Lys as arranged by Charles De Sivry. The dance premiered with the title Heretic at New York's Booth Theatre on April 14, 1929. In a previous program announcement, the work was called A Faith. Graham presented the piece with her company; the performance marked the debut of her concert ensemble. Heretic is staged for 13 female performers, 12 dressed in black tube-like garments and one in a long white dress. Dancers for the premiere were: Graham, as the woman in white, Kitty Reese, Louise Creston, Irene Emery, Ethel Rudy, Lillian Ray, Hortense Bunsick, Sylvia Wasserstrom, Mary Rivoire, Ruth White, Lillian Shapero, Virginia Briton, Sylvia Rosenstein, Evelyn Sabin, Betty Macdonald and Rosina Savelli.

Figure of a Saint was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to the music of George Frideric Handel. The work premiered on January 24, 1929 at The Bennett School in Millbrook, New York. The all solo program also included: Valse Noble, Maid with the Flaxen Hair, Fragilite, In a Boat, Insincerities, Tanagra , Scherzo Waltz, Deux Valses Sentimentales, Prelude and La Cancion. Louis Horst accompanied Graham on piano.

Frontier is a solo dance choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Louis Horst. The set was designed by Isamu Noguchi; Graham created the costume. The work began as an ensemble piece, Perspectives: Frontier and Marching Song also known as Frontiers and Frontier. The ballet's Marching Song portion was set to music by Lehman Engle. The work premiered on April 28, 1935, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. By the end of 1935, Graham was performing Frontier exclusively as a solo. The piece was the first of her works to explore American identity through an archetypal character.

Novelette is a solo modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to an existing piece of music, Op. 99, No. 9 from Robert Schumann's Bunte Blätter, also known as Colored Leaves. The ninth movement from the piano solo, also titled Novelette, is a three-minute long piece in B-minor. The ballet premiered on April 18, 1926 at New York's 48 Street Theater in the first independent concert presented by Graham.

Resurrection is a modern dance solo created by Martha Graham to music by Tibor Harsányi. The piece premiered on March 3, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in New York City. On June 2, 1930, Graham performed another work, Unbalanced, that also used Harsányi's music. Unbalanced does not appear in most Graham chronologies, so it is speculated the two pieces were the same. To confuse things further, a dance critic of the time wrote that Resurrection had previously been titled The Avenger.

Praeludium, also called Praeludium , was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Paul Nordoff. The piece was sometimes subtitled Dance of Greeting. It premiered on February 10, 1935, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. Graham created the original costumes. Edythe Gilfond redesigned them in 1938. In the same year Graham made Praeludium, she choreographed another solo, Formal Dance, to music by David Diamond. It was renamed Praeludium .

Immediate Tragedy, sometimes subtitled Dance of Dedication, was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to the music of Henry Cowell. It premiered on July 30, 1937, at the Bennington School of the Dance in Bennington, Vermont. The piece was created in response to the Spanish Civil War and rising fascism as Francisco Franco gained control of the country.

Deep Song, a solo modern dance by Martha Graham, premiered on December 19, 1937, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. Performed to music by Henry Cowell, the piece was the second work created by Graham in response to the Spanish Civil War. The first, Immediate Tragedy, was introduced in 1937.

Horizons was a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Louis Horst with a set designed by Alexander Calder. It premiered on February 23, 1936, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. Horizons was divided into four parts, two ensemble dances and two solos: Migration: New Trails (ensemble), Dominion: Sanctified Power (solo), Building Motif: Homesteading (solo) and Dance of Rejoycing (ensemble). The ballet was performed by Martha Graham and Group, the predecessor of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Vision of the Apocalypse was a modern dance created by Martha Graham to music by Hermann Reutter. It premiered on April 14, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in New York City. The occasion marked the debut of Martha Graham and Group, Graham's new concert ensemble and the predecessor to the Martha Graham Dance Company. Vision of the Apocalypse was the first piece Graham choreographed for a large group.

Danza was a modern dance solo choreographed and danced by Martha Graham to music by Darius Milhaud. It premiered on March 3, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in New York City.

Moment Rustica was a Martha Graham ballet performed to the music of Francis Poulenc. It premiered on April 14, 1929 at the Booth Theater in New York City. The performance marked the debut of Graham's concert ensemble, Martha Graham and Group, the predecessor of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Adolescence was an early modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Paul Hindemith. It premiered on March 2, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in New York City.

Course was a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music by George Antheil. The piece sometimes appeared on programs as Course: One in Red; Three in Green; Two in Blue; Two in Red. It premiered on February 10, 1935, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. The ballet was performed by Martha Graham and Group, the forerunner to the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Fragilité was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Alexander Scriabin. The piece was originally part of Five Poems, a ballet divided into five solo sections: Fragilité, Lugubre, Poeme ailé, Danse Languide and Désir. Each of the sections appears in various programs as individual solos. Five Poems premiered on October 16, 1927, at the Little Theatre in New York City.

Revolt, initially called Danse, was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Arthur Honegger. It premiered with the original title on October 16, 1927, at the Little Theatre in New York City. By February 1928 it appeared in programs as Revolt.

Scherza was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Robert Schumann. It premiered on December 10, 1927 at a special performance for the Cornell Dramatic Club. The program was billed as the Adolph Bolm Dance Recital. In addition to Graham and Bohm, the performance featured Ruth Page, Vera Mirova, Bernice Holmes and Marcia Preble. Graham appeared in two solo works, Scherza and Tanagra.

Lugubre was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Alexander Scriabin. The piece was originally part of Five Poems, a ballet divided into five solo sections: Fragilité, Lugubre, Poeme ailé, Danse Languide and Désir. Each of the sections appears in various programs as individual solos. Five Poems premiered on October 16, 1927, at the Little Theatre in New York City.

American Lyric was a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music of Alex North with costumes by Edythe Gilfond. The piece premiered on December 26, 1937, at the Guild Theatre in New York City. The ballet was subtitled Dance of Assembly. In some programs, the work also included the statement, "This dance has as its theme the basic American right—freedom of assembly."

Opening Dance was a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Norman Lloyd. It premiered on July 30, 1937, at the Bennington School of the Dance in Bennington, Vermont.

References

  1. 1 2 "Insincerities (Ballet choreographed by Martha Graham". Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. "Program of Dances by Martha Graham" (PDF). Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. Jones, Lindsay (December 2004). Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed.). Macmillan Reference, Vol. 4. p. 2159. ISBN   978-0028657370.
  4. 1 2 Kendall, Elizabeth (1979). Where She Danced. University of California Press. p. 205. ISBN   0-520-05173-4.
  5. Freedman, Russell (April 20, 1998). Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life (1st ed.). New York, NY: Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin Company imprint. p.  70. ISBN   0-395-74655-8.
  6. Cushing, Edward (April 15, 1929). "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" . Retrieved 25 January 2016.