a male dancer standing on an outdoor stage lifting his arms over his head

The New York Public Library’s “Border Crossings” Exhibit is Part of a Developing Conversation About Modern Dance’s Radical Roots

For decades, the development of American modern dance was largely seen as a reaction to classicism. But many other forces drove modern pioneers’ art. “At the heart of modernism, there is trauma,” says art historian Bruce Robertson. Robertson­ and dance historian Ninotchka Bennahum are the curators behind the New York Public Library for the Performing­ Arts’ exhibit “Border Crossings: Exile and American Modern Dance, 1900–1955,” which recognizes the foundational—and often overlooked—contributions that marginalized dancers, including Limón, made to the development of American modern dance.

a dancer in a long grey dress stands on stage, knees bent and leaning into her right hip with arms splayed wide

New Insights into Martha Graham

Rarely has a biographer stretched our knowledge of her life and times as much as Neil Baldwin in his new book, Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern.

Modern Dance Legend Yuriko Dies at Age 102

Yuriko Kikuchi, who was a force in the Martha Graham constellation from the 1940s into the current century, passed away on March 8. Known simply as Yuriko, she could project innocence, serenity or a mystical quality onstage. Yuriko also starred on Broadway in The King and I and Flower Drum Song, later staging productions of […]

13 Gems From Stuart Hodes’ New Book on Martha Graham

As a U.S. bomber pilot in World War II, Stuart Hodes was thrilled to fly a plane alone, with a clear mission and a sense of danger. After the war, he found the thrill, the mission and the danger while dancing with Martha Graham. His enthralling book, Onstage With Martha Graham, published by University Press […]

How Both Martha Graham and Trisha Brown's Archives Landed at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division

The world’s largest dance archive just keeps growing. Over the summer, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Jerome Robbins Dance Division began welcoming two new collections to its illustrious archive. The legacies of Martha Graham and Trisha Brown will be safely housed at NYPL’s Lincoln Center campus, featuring rarely seen treasure troves […]

Channel Your Inner Martha for the Graham Company's New Instagram Challenge

Do it for the Graham: Get ready to channel your inner Martha for a new Instagram challenge that the Martha Graham Dance Company is launching today. The contest, 19 Poses for the 19th Amendment, is part of The Eve Project, the company’s two-year-long celebration of the centennial of the amendment that gave women the right […]