Novelette (ballet)

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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. [1] The ninth movement from the piano solo, also titled Novelette, is a three-minute long piece in B-minor. [2] The ballet premiered on April 18, 1926 at New York's 48 Street Theater in the first independent concert presented by Graham. [3]

Martha Graham American dancer and choreographer

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.

Robert Schumann German composer

Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

The all-Graham program also featured the solos: Intermezzo, Maid with the Flaxen Hair, Clair de Lune, Desir, Deux Valses, Masques, From a Century Tapestry and A Study in Lacquer, and works for members of the newly-formed Martha Graham Concert Group: Tanze, Arabesque No. 1, The Marionette Show and Chorale , which also included Graham. [4]

Chorale is a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music by César Franck. The piece premiered on April 18, 1926 at New York's 48 Street Theater in the first independent concert presented by Graham. Members of the newly formed Martha Graham Concert Group, Thelma Biracree, Evelyn Sabin and Betty Macdonald, also appeared in the piece. A critic for The Democrat-Chronicle reported the dance was "subtle" with a "dark, emotional mood."

In her autobiography Blood Memory, Graham wrote that everything she did that night "was influenced by Denishawn," but added the audience came because she was "such a curiosity - a woman who could do her own work." [5]

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Lamentation is a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to Zoltán Kodály's 1910 Piano Piece, Op. 3, No. 2. One of Graham's signature works, it premiered on January 8, 1930 at Maxine Elliott's Theatre in New York City. The performance was part of a concert staged by the Dance Repertory Theatre, a group that included dancer/choreographers Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Helen Tamiris. Their stated goal was "to give annually a season of continuous dance programs which will be representative of the art of dance in America and will give native artists an outlet for their creative work."

Dolorosa is a modern dance solo choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The work premiered on February 2, 1931, at New York's Craig Theatre. Dolorosa sometimes appeared in program notes with the subtitle from Primitive Cycle or from Primitive Cycle-Dance of Sorrow II.

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.

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. 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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

Bunte Blätter, Op. 99, is a collection of piano pieces by Robert Schumann, assembled from earlier unpublished pieces after the success of the Album for the Young.

References

  1. ↑ "Martha Graham in a Concert Program with Louis Horst, Pianist, assisted by the Martha Graham Concert Group and Mabel Zoeckler, Soprano" (PDF). Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Schumann - Bunte Blätter, op.99". Pianopedia. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Novelette (Ballet choreographed by Martha Graham)". Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "New York Hails Martha Graham as Fine Dancer". Rochester New York Democrat. April 19, 1926. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Graham, Martha (1991). Blood Memory (Paperback ed.). New York, New York: Washington Square Press. p. 110. ISBN   0-671-78217-7.
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