BALLET
—a Graham and her Company. (Saville Theatre.) —a Graham and her Company. (Saville Theatre.) gWE gli vER great the impact of the first of Martha Graham—and when I e last week I had only seen her once- eol°,11 successive visit confirms the certainty The genius and the beauty of her mind. 14° olore one becomes familiar with the gunge of her invention, the more one is compelled to recognise the true profundity of its loveliness. Martha Graham has the power to lift us right out of ourselves and our surroundings, to transport us to some other sphere where men and women move on a finer spiritual level, and where life contains neither ugliness nor discord. And this aura which she imparts spreads a hush over her audience so that the very silence of the dancers may be heard, and the eye remark the simple perfection of costume, lighting and stage device.
The immensity of Martha Graham's achievement is something very difficult to grasp, and her contribution to the art of dancing is one of the greatest in its history. Whereas the classical ballet and the national dances of Spain and of the Orient have been evolved from century-old traditions, Martha Graham's dance forms are born of the twentieth century in defiance of, as well as in harmony with, that which has gone before. Therefore while her dancers ,.move ' into ' themselves and base much of their work on contraction and relaxed control ; while they dance steps and hold positions unknown to
any classical choreographer, there comes every now and again the suggestion of an Indian movement, of a Chinese posture or the carriage of a Greek.
In each change of programme the favour- ite, the perfect ballet of all appears—firstly it was Diversion of Angels, happy and un- challenging ; then Canticle for Innocent Comedians., 'a dance of joy in praise of the world as it turns ' ; and today, Letter to the World, with the lovely Pearl Lang speaking Emily Dickinson's lines in a voice which matches the quality of her dancing. But what about Errand into the Maze, man's conquest of Fear ; Night Journey, the Oedipus ballet with the brooding chorus of Daughters of the Night ; Deaths ,and Entrances, too powerful to speak about after seeing only once ' • and the delightful Appala- chian Spring with its roots deep in American soil and its confident air of hope ?
There is far too much to say " Life is a spell so exquisite , . ." ; Martha Graham and her company have truly brought meaning into Emily Dickinson's words.
LILLIAN BROWSE
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