Wednesday, November 10, 2010

"Meeting" Martha Graham


Last week we had the chance to see the Martha Graham dance company perform at the U of Washinton. I'd only heard of Martha Graham, the pioneer of modern dance, because my sister, who majored in dance, told me about her. It was fascinating and moving and confusing at the same time. I don't pretend to understand modern dance so I appreciated that before each number the creative director came on stage and introduced the piece, gave a bit of the history of the dance and what the choreography was supposed to mean.

Eric liked this one called Lamentation. I enjoyed the Lamentaion Variations that were first danced in 2007 at a commeration for 9/11. I say enjoyed but in a way that I was brought nearly to tears. It was beautiful and filled me with a very sad feeling so that when the last of the 3 dances was done in this segment I could have been sitting there with tears streaming down my face.

We got the tickets from a friend of mine from kindgergarten! Faye is the general manager of the Martha Grahm Center of Contemporary Dance. I had the chance to eat lunch with her while she was in town with the tour and it was so lovely to chat with an old friend face-to-face. We've chatted online and through facebook over the past couple of years but that's not the same. She's the same sweet friend that she was to me all those years ago. I suppose that's the reason why I didn't feel intimidated to be with her, as I could have been since she's accomplished in her education and presently resides in NY, so different from the life I lead. But meeting up was almost like being 5 again, listening to Madonna on the record player, except now we know what Madonna meant when she sang, "like a virgin."

3 comments:

Faye Rosenbaum said...

Paige, it was so good to see you too and to finally meet Eric! I loved spending those sunny Southern California afternoons with you (the rainy ones too, though, I don't think either of us particularly liked the rain, even then).

Faye Rosenbaum said...

P.S. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the show, and that you got a date night!

Shannon said...

What a neat opportunity! I have never had much exposure to modern dance either, but it is always fun to see a new form of art - especially as a date night. I am also happy you got to see your friend. :)