About This Event
October Dance 2023 features the historic work Steps in the Street (from Chronicle) by Modern Dance pioneer Martha Graham. Created in 1936 during the rise of Fascism in Europe, this work captures a spirit of resistance and resilience that is powerfully relevant today. This iconic group work will be performed to live music by the American modernist composer, Wallingford Riegger, newly orchestrated by Dance at Illinois Music Director John Toenjes and conducted by Frances Ho.
Undergraduate student Nawal Assougdam’s family is from Morocco, a country recently ravaged by an earthquake. Her work features music and movement of the Amazigh Sous regions of Morocco and invites the audience to enjoy a pictorializing of the tradition of sharing a warm cup of tea (atay) – a staple in Moroccan culture.
Professor Cynthia Oliver’s new work captures the visceral and sonic reverberations riding in sound and throughout the body. Beats, breaks, drum hits, and rim shots collide to music by local musicians James Mauck, Mark White, and Jason Finkelman. The work brilliantly maps the complex inter-workings of being in a dynamic ever-shifting landscape of community.
Set to a new score by Elliot Reza Emadian, Assistant Head Anna Sapozhnikov asks the dancers to traverse deep memories. Heartbeats, bells, and other sounds of nostalgia interrupt and disrupt their paths, forcing them to careen and ricochet off each other into space. Time is the ever-present element, driving us forward and backward simultaneously and urgently and with constant surprises.
Assistant Professor Alexandra Barbier’s piece is a playful tribute to her memories of adolescent realms, recalling the movements and rhythms of playgrounds, bus rides, church fairs, slumber parties, and school dances. Barbier challenges the divide between audience and performer and offers an intimate experience of togetherness.
Thursday, October 12 - Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 7:30PM CT in the Tryon Festival Theatre
See the Krannert Center website for more details and to purchase tickets.
Pre-Event Panel Discussion
Prior to the opening night performance on Thursday, October 12, Dance at Illinois will host a panel discussion, moderated by Sara Hook, Head of the Department of Dance, with Martha Graham Regisseur, Elizabeth Auclair, and dramaturg, Betsy Brandt at the Spurlock Museum's Knight Auditorium at 6:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.
Related Materials from the Libraries and Beyond
The following items from MPAL's collections relate to Martha Graham. Physical items in the library's collection can be borrowed by anyone with an i-card or courtesy card, while online resources can be viewed on library computers or by logging in with your NetID. Physical items are located in the Music & Performing Arts Library unless otherwise noted.
To find more related materials, search our library catalog for "Martha Graham" and use the resource type filter to specify if you want a book or recording.
Martha Graham in Love and War by Call Number: GV1785.G7 F73 2012
Bird's Eye View by Call Number: 792.8 B532BOnline version accessible via Library computers or NetID login
Martha Graham : the evolution of her dance theory and training, 1926-1991 by Call Number: 793.3 D411D
Martha Graham in Performance by Call Number: DVD GV1785.G7 M372 2002Additional copy of DVD located at Main Library
You may want to go beyond MPAL resources and consider consulting archival materials. For example, the Library of Congress has digitized their collections related to Martha Graham.
Newspapers are an excellent resource for finding reviews of dance performances and understanding how audiences reacted at the time of the premiere. The online database linked below is an excellent starting point for finding reviews. Online resources can be access via library computers or by logging in with your NetID.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
To find reviews, search by choreographer, dance company, title of the piece, or theatre where it premiered. Use the date filters to specifiy a time period. Below are some examples of reviews from the first and second performances of Martha Graham's Chronicle.
- John Martin: "Martha Graham in Dance Recital: 'Chronicle," first performance of her season, seen as most ambitious composition"Review from December 21, 1936 issue of The New York Times
- Jerome D Bohm: "Suite Features Martha Graham Dance Program: 'Chronicle,' in Three Parts, Is Choreographic Work of Social Implications Given at Guild Theater Score Composed by Riegger, Decor by Isamu Noguchi"Review from December 21, 1936 issue of New York Herald Tribune
- "Martha Graham Rectial: Her Second Dance Program of Season Offered Here"Review from December 28, 1936 issue of New York Herald Tribune
- Margaret Lloyd: "Abstract to Concrete"Review from January 05, 1937 issue of The Christian Science Monitor
The Martha Graham digital collection from the Library of Congress also includes numerous reviews from their collections.
The following books from MPAL's collections relate to modern dance and its history in the United States. Physical items in the library's collection can be borrowed by anyone with an i-card or courtesy card, while online resources can be viewed on library computers or by logging in with your NetID. Physical items are located in the Music & Performing Arts Library unless otherwise noted.
To find more related materials, search our library catalog for Modern dance, Dance - United States, Dance - 20th century, Dance companies and use the resource type filter to specify if you want a book or recording.
Stepping Left: dance and politics in New York City, 1928-1942 by Call Number: 792.809747 G758S
Alien Bodies: representations of modernity, "race," and nation in early modern dance by Call Number: 792 B952a
Modern Bodies: dance and American modernism from Martha Graham to Alvin Ailey by Call Number: GV1623 F68M6Online version accessible via Library computers or NetID login
Making Music for Modern Dance by Call Number: ML3411.5 .M355 2011
Prime Movers: the makers of modern dance in America by Call Number: 793.32 M45p2000
Modern Dance in Germany and the United States by Call Number: 792 P259M
Perspectives on American Dance: the Twentieth Century by Call Number: GV1623 .P377 2018
The Shapes of Change: images of American dance by Call Number: GV1623 S54S5
The following resources were identified as influences for the choreographers featured in this year's October Dance, or more broadly discuss their creative process.
Nawal Assougdam
- Nawal Assougdam: "Bringing a game to life through dance"
Article from the University's News Bureau by Choreographer, composer and dancer Nawal Assougdam
Cynthia Oliver
- The Creation of Virago-Man Dem: Research, Collaboration, and ExplorationThis mini-documentary focuses on a work from Oliver, a Bessie Award-winning professor of dance and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in the Humanities, Arts, and Related Fields at Illinois. The dance explores the cultures particular to Caribbean and African-American men and male-identified folk using movement, spoken word and original music. The creative work involved artist and designers from across the College of Fine and Applied Arts who appear in interviews throughout the video.
- Virago-Man Dem TrailerThis brief trailer of Cynthia Oliver's new work "Virago-Man Dem" was created by projection artist John Boesche and features performing artist Duane Cyrus with visual material by Boesche and John Jennings, and music by Jason Finkelman. This trailer offers a sensibility of Cynthia Oliver's new work that will premiere in the fall of 2017.
Alexandra Barbier
Dancing Many Drums by Call Number: 793.308996 D195See the chapter "From “Messin’ Around” to “Funky Western Civilization”: The Rise and Fall of Dance Instruction Songs" by Sally Banes and John F. Szwed
- Interview with DJ JubileeOral history interview part of Tulane University's NOLA Hiphop and Bounce Archive
- "Hand Jives" video from PBD Dance Arts ToolkitVideo demonstrates the importance of hand clapping games in Black and African communities