Review: Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents Martha Graham Dance Company, Program 2, Sunday February 15, 2026, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA
- Jen Norris
- 19 hours ago
- 5 min read
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the founding of their company, Martha Graham Dance Company (MGDC) returns for the first time since 2016, to UC Berkeley, February 14 & 15. MGDC has been a leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding. Graham, who revolutionized dance from the 1920’s onward, created 181 dance compositions during her storied career, so there is an abundance of works from which to choose. For the centennial, the company is touring the nation with a fresh programming vision which entails performing a combination of masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists.
In Berkeley, MGDC performs 7 dances total: 3 Saturday evening, and 4 completely different pieces at Sunday’s matinee which I attend. MGDC Artistic Director Janet Eilber introduces the matinee program as one of Americana. It opens with Appalachian Spring (1944), a story ballet set in a 19th C small town, about a young couple, their hopes and dreams, and fervent faith, danced to a now famous score by Aaron Copeland. Told in Graham’s signature movement vernacular, the production includes a Shaker-influenced minimalist set by artist Isamu Noguchi, a frequent Graham collaborator. As a student of dance history, I am starstruck to see Appalachian Spring come to glorious colorful three-dimensional life. I feel the clear, angular movement and the barely bridled energy of The Husbandman, The Preacher and The Followers in my own body. Wearing a woman’s ruffle-trimmed long peach dress, The Bride’s high flying cantering steps reveal her girlish enthusiasm, a foil to the thoughtful and commanding presence of The Pioneering Woman whose hovering touches guide and direct the other characters.
I am taken by the freshness and vitality of Appalachian Spring. How truly innovative this work must have been, as compared to the classical ballet of the time. There is an infectious optimism expressed in The Husbandman’s high knee-slapping, and open-faced admiration for the vast country he observes from his porch. Watching the prayerful quartet of women on their knees with clasped hands, faces hidden within their starched bonnets, the zeal of religiosity rises. The fervency communicates both the comfort in community-mindedness unity, and as a warning against forced conformity.
While seeing the iconic Appalachian Spring is a treat, the highlight of the program for me is Immediate Tragedy, a “Dance of Dedication” which Graham made in 1937 in response to the Spanish Civil War. A reconstructed solo, originally choreographed and performed by Graham, it is shown here in a reimagined version crafted in 2020 by Janet Eilber, working from recently discovered photos and other archival references.
Aching with anguish and determination, dancer Xin Ying holds us in her thrall from the moment she backs onto the stage. Striking in her white and black ensemble, her form fitting long-waisted top stands out against the stark black background. Her flowing full-length black circle-skirt seems austere, but it contains a fiery secret. When Ying sweeps a leg out to the side or the back, a blood red satin lining is revealed. The rich symbolism in this simple costuming choice, credited to Graham, reveals the heart of the matter, the blood that lives within us all, and references a Spanish bull fighter’s cape.
As if holding something too big to fully surround, she holds her arms firmly in an arc in front of herself. Carving through space, she circles her torso, her flexible back spirals so completely that her arms and head seem to disappear for a moment. Whether holding fisted arms above her head, or forcing them down and behind herself and opening her chest, she is the embodiment of defiance and strength.
Her fists swing as she windmills. Flashes of red lining appear, like flash bombs, accompanied by loud and insistent piano notes. Upright on her knees, she moves toward us several “steps,” before experiencing a blow to the shoulder which instigates a momentary collapse backward. Fighting to remain upright on her knees, she continues her halting forward progress, her fortitude and perseverance serving as a most suitable tribute to the women of Spain.
Of the two contemporary works Jamar Roberts’s We the People (2024) is by far my favorite. Performed to recorded music by GRAMMY Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, the contemporary folk music songstress extraordinaire Rhiannon Giddens, We the People speaks to the power of community.
A large ensemble piece featuring eleven dancers, We the People unfolds in four sections. The stage is filled with smoke and streaks of light courtesy of designer Yi-Chung Chen, evoking for me this winter’s tear-gas filled streets of Minneapolis. Dancers in denim streetwear stand erect. Keeping time, sharing a heartbeat, their tapping heels create an insistent “we shall not be ignored” drumbeat. Their fierce visages regard and challenge us to disrupt their unity. Striding with flexed feet, pointing with straight arms, pulsing with energy, the movement recalls the directness of Graham’s, but with a hipper vibe.
Each section begins with a ferocious solo of defiance in the face of persecution. Performed in silence they are each virtuosic, but the delivery of Lloyd Knight’s as he fights against, and is subjugated by, invisible forces, is heartbreaking. It concludes with Knight face down on the floor, his muscular arms clasped behind his back. Gratefully, this is followed by a rebellious synchronized dance for all. Having kept their eyes on us throughout the piece, in the end the group turns on their heels and walks away, as if to say “we aren’t gonna take it anymore.”
During Hope Boykin’s En Masse (2025), I am distracted by some faulty design choices. At the beginning of my career, I made my living as a stage designer. Designer Karen Young’s matchy-matchy turquoise concert-dance costumes seem naive. Al Crawford’s shadowy lighting appears out of sync with them. The too loud and cacophonous new music composition by Christopher Roundtree grates. All this makes it difficult for me to see the dance. Boykin’s theme that we struggle as individuals and thrive in collectives, echoes that of Roberts’s and made me wonder at the decision to include both these works on this overlong program. I would have been happier had the program only included the Graham and Roberts’s pieces which fully demonstrate the range and relevance of Martha Graham Dance Company today, and made me root for their continued longevity.
Review by Jen Norris, published February 16, 2026
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CAL PERFORMANCES AT UC BERKELEY PRESENTS
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
Program II – Sunday Matinee February 15, 2026
Appalachian Spring
Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham
Music by Aaron Copland†
Set by Isamu Noguchi
Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal, Adapted by Beverly Emmons
Premiere: October 30, 1944, Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
The Bride: Laurel Dalley Smith
The Husbandman: Ethan Palma
The Preacher: Antonio Leone
The Pioneering Woman: Leslie Andrea Williams
The Followers Meagan King, Devin Loh, Amanda Moreira, Isabella Pagano
We the People
Choreography by Jamar Roberts
Music by Rhiannon Giddens Arranged by Gabe Witcher
Costume Design by Karen Young
Lighting Design by Yi-Chung Chen
Premiere: April 17, 2024, New York City Center, New York City
Ane Arrieta, Zachary Jeppsen-Toy, Meagan King, Lloyd Knight, Antonio Leone, Marzia Memoli, Amanda Moreira, Ethan Palma, Jai Perez, Anne Souder, and Leslie Andrea Williams
Immediate Tragedy -Dance of Dedication
Choreography by Martha Graham reimagined by Janet Eilber
Costume by Martha Graham
Original Music by Henry Cowell
Music for reimagined Immediate Tragedy by Christopher Rountree†
Music performed by Richard Valitutto, piano
Lighting by Yi-Chung Chen
Danceturgy for reimagining by Neil Baldwin
Original premiere: July 30, 1937, Bennington, VT
Performer: Xin Ying
En Masse (Bay Area Premiere)
Choreography by Hope Boykin
Music by Leonard Bernstein†
Additional music by Christopher Rountree
Costume design by Karen Young
Lighting design by Al Crawford
Assistants to the Choreographer: Cameron Harris and Terri Ayanna Wright
Premiere: Oct 4, 2025 at The Soraya, Northridge, CA.
Ane Arrieta, Zachary Jeppsen-Toy, Meagan King, Lloyd Knight, Jai Perez, Anne Souder, and Xin Ying
Excellent review. I think your writing is becoming more and more refined and specific. I would have liked to see the production. The Graham technique was part of my early dancer training..