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MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY 85th Anniversary Season Opening Night Gala - Monday, 3/21/2011 12:24 AM
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Robert Wilson

Martha Graham Dance Company celebrated the opening of its 85th Anniversary Season on Tuesday evening, March 16th, at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater. The stellar performance was a sight to behold. While photography was not allowed during the performance for obvious reasons, the imagery remains emblazoned in the minds of those fortunate enough to attend.

Robert Wilson's "Snow on the Mesa" (1995) flowed into "Maple Leaf Rag" (a 1990 Martha Graham original), working as an interesting combination. Drawing the viewer in was Wilson's effortlessly executed personal portrait of Martha Graham. In "Snow on the Mesa", Wilson reflects many aspects of Graham's persona, her interest in early America and the Shakers, her love for nature and the MidWest, her interest in Colin McFee and Balinese dance and, lastly, her interest in Western myths and Asian culture.



Carrie Ellmore Tallitsch

Graham's last complete ballet, "Maple Leaf Rag", that originally premiered in 1990 at City Center, delighted the audience. Like fragments of the imagination, dancers enter and exit at will in a parody of movement themes drawn from the classic Graham repertory. "Maple Leaf Rag" is a fond tribute to the music of her youth and to her long association with Louis Horst, her one-time mentor and lover.

Standouts included the stirring controlled movements of Tadej Brdnik, as well as the gentle poise of dancer Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch. The closing sequences of the performance featured guest appearances by New York Socials Muffie Potter Aston, Cornelia Guest, Grace Hightower De Niro and Somers Farkas.



Somers Farkas, Karen LaFrak, Muffie Potter Aston and Grace Hightower

Immediately following the performance, New York's most prominent arts supporters gathered at the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel for a gala dinner. Noteworthy attendees included principal dancers Tadej Brdnik, Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, and Ben Schulz. Celebs and Socials in attendance included Robert De Niro, Rufus Wainwright, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Jay McInerney, Mary McFadden, society columnist Gregor Speck, R. Couri Hay and Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster.


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