Customer Reviews

3 By Martha Graham [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This video is not for the squeamish. It opens with the performance of ERRAND INTO THE MAZE (created in 1947), which is a retelling of Ariadne's journey into the Labyrinth and confrontation with the Minotaur. Only two dancers are present: Ariadne and the Minotaur. The musical score is by Menotti. The stage is bare except for the austere settings by Isamu Noguchi, which consist only of an odd V-shaped sculpture about 15 feet high, and the thread that Ariadne leaves for Theseus. This is some of Martha's most startling choreography, deep contractions, rigid arm positions, horrific facial expressions - not a pleasant sight. This is one of Martha's most demanding works, on performers and audience alike. The title of ERRAND INTO THE MAZE comes from the following poem of Ben Belitt (from his book WILDERNESS STAIR):

The errand into the maze
Emblem, the heel's blow upon space
Speak of the need and order of the dancer's will
But the dance is still.

"If I had to present one ballet to a child of six or eight - and choosing one is no easy task- I would choose Errand into the Maze." Martha wrote in her autobiography BLOOD MEMORY, "This dance exemplifies, through the use of rope on the floor and the object in the air, the strange place you are venturing into, something a child might understand. It is a conquering of fear- to find that one place onstage where the bird that makes you want to dance lives."

The second dance is CAVE OF THE HEART. This is Martha's equally horrific retelling of the legend of Medea, the princess and sorceress of Colchis who helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece, lived as his consort, and killed their children as revenge for his infidelity. Medea's 'Dance of Vengeance' is the most terrible part of this dance, it is during this dance that she devours her own entrails, symbolized by a red rope she pulls from her costume. And then we see her final ascent to her heavenly parents in a Chariot of Flames. Again, the settings are done by Isamu Noguchi, and his Chariot of Flames is, in my opinion, the most spectacular work he created for Martha's dances - a steal and skeletal contraption that Medea eventually wears like a dress of barbed wire.

"When I brooded on what I felt was the insolvable problem of representing Medea flying to return to her father the Sun," Martha wrote in her autobiography BLOOD MEMORY, "Isamu devised a dress for me worked from vibrating brilliant pieces of bronze wire that became my garment and moved with me across the stage as my chariot of flames." It is in this dance that Martha invented what would come to be known as the "cave turn."

Finally, we get to take a break from the heavy stuff, and get to see the beautiful and lyrical ACTS OF LIGHT, choreographed in 1981 and danced to music by Nielsen. There are no stage settings in this dance. It starts as a dance between two lovers, and then develops into the entire company in silver unitards (full body stockings) performing some of Martha's famous floor work. It's a little hard to believe this is the same choreographer who brought us the first two dances. It is a complete change of energy, and it is terribly beautiful.

Before each dance, Martha, in her late 80s, reminisces about what the dances mean to her and how they were first conceived. She is a fascinating storyteller, and it is wonderful to see her talk about the work she loved so much. I recommend this video to any dance fan, but beware: the first two dances are very heavy and very very damanding. In fact, the first time I saw this video I was so shocked by the intensity of what I was seeing that I gave out a nervous laugh, and then had to turn it off (I was only 15 at the time). It was not until a few years later that I felt mature enough to understand and relate to what was going on.