Legacy and evolution intertwine at Musco with the Martha Graham Dance Company

Photo Courtesy of Musco Center for the Arts

Celebrating its 100th year, the Martha Graham Dance Company (MGDC) has cemented itself not only as an internationally-acclaimed dance company, but as a driving cultural force. 

That force took the Musco Center for the Arts stage on Feb. 11 in a collaboration with several Chapman students in the Department of Dance and The Chapman Orchestra (TCO). As the oldest dance company in the United States, stories spanning decades were brought to life through the performance. 

In a demonstration of athleticism and artistry, the Graham company’s collaboration with TCO was nothing short of astounding. Partnership was at the forefront of the show, starting immediately in the choreography of the first dance and weaving its way through all five pieces throughout the night, exemplified in the orchestra especially. 

Playing in the pit, TCO was nuanced, exact and entirely complementary to the choreography on stage. To play alongside a company known for its precision, dedication and strength is no easy feat, but TCO performed with grace and grandeur. 

The first dance presented, “Diversion of Angels,” was originally choreographed by Martha Graham in 1948. The piece examines love in its many forms and displays the lines, angles, jumps and contractions customary to Graham choreography. Dancers executed the choreography in pairs, with three couples personifying the evolution of love through movement, costuming and staging. 

“Lamentation,” the second dance of the night’s program, took the thematic imagery in a different direction, though it stayed distinctly true to the Graham technique from its initial premiere in 1930. The solo — which presents a seated dancer in a restrictive costume — was teeming with symbolism, presenting feelings of push and pull and an atmosphere of internal struggle. 

Music and movement each seemed to cue the other, unfolding in tandem through all five pieces, creating a synchronicity that was beautiful to both watch and hear.

The third dance, “Cortege,” premiered more recently in 2023 as a continuation of Graham’s “Cortege of Eagles,” originally created in 1967. TCO started the piece before the curtain rose, amplifying the impact of the story being told on stage. Music paced the dance and guided not only the dancers’ movement, but the emotional output of the piece alongside the defined costuming and lighting.  

Intention and dedication are the markers behind everything the MGDC does, and it’s evident beyond just movement. The company’s commitment to the future of the arts is also indisputable in their mentorship and inclusion of Chapman students in the show. 

For dance students, that mentorship took shape throughout the interterm session, though the process began in earnest last spring, with auditions for the piece taking place in May 2025. Selected dance majors began to formally explore Graham technique the following fall semester, continuing classes in January while learning repertoire with Graham stage director Elizabeth Auclair.

Dance majors learned, rehearsed and performed “Steps in the Street,” a piece originally choreographed by Graham in 1936. Having trained under the MGDC, the dancers — who the viewer might not be able to distinguish from the professionals except for their familiar faces around campus — executed the piece with diligence and professionalism, despite its highly-technical, uniquely Graham movement vocabulary.

The fifth and final dance of the night, “En Masse,” was commissioned specifically for the MGDC centennial celebration and premiered in Oct. 2025. The dance resonates with the past, present and future, maintaining the Graham-specific emphasis on costuming, lighting and technique. 

The choreographer of En Masse, Hope Boykin, said of the piece, “In community, we thrive, lean and depend on one another,” a sentiment which could not have been more true of the night’s performance. The show made collaboration and artistry its priority, including young artists in the process and inviting the community to take part in the company’s milestone celebration.