Graham 100 Vienna
[ MAY 28-31 2026 ]
Vienna 2026
ANIMA FABRIK
Längenfeldgasse 27, 1120 Vienna
ABOUT THE LEVELS
Beginner: for dancers with no experience or very little experience in the Martha Graham Technique. This level is an accessible introduction to the technique and creative work of Martha Graham.
Inter-Advanced: for dancers with previous experience in the Martha Graham Technique, from solid intermediate to advanced level. In this level, students are expected to know the core principles, main series, and vocabulary of the technique.
Minimum age 15 years old - No maximum age
GRAHAM TECHNIQUE
The Graham Technique is a foundational pillar of modern dance and remains one of the most precise, demanding, and expressive movement systems developed to date.
Through principles such as contraction and release, spirals, opposition, breath, and weight, dancers develop strength, clarity, musicality, and emotional integrity. These tools have shaped generations of artists and influenced major companies and institutions worldwide, including Batsheva Dance Company, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Ballet Nacional de México, and many others.
Creative Workshop
Creativity sits at the heart of the Martha Graham work and its dissemination across pedagogic and performance contexts. The Creative Workshop gives the teacher full artistic freedom to work through the lens of Graham’s philosophy and creative process, exploring how to physicalize, embody and share themes and narratives with intention, honesty and power.
In parallel with the intensive, Graham For Europe proposes a series of events designed to contextualise the work and expand the experience beyond the studio.
Together, we honour 100 years of one of the most influential movement languages in modern dance and the European community that keeps it alive today.
FACULTY
KIM JONES
Kim Jones is a Korean-American artist raised in New York City. She received her MFA summa cum laude from Florida State University and a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College. Jones was a dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, a principal dancer on Broadway national tours, and danced for numerous NY-based choreographers over three decades.
She currently serves as Régisseur for the Martha Graham Center, is a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Jones reconstructed major historical modern dance works, including Martha Graham’s Imperial Gesture (1935) and Paul Taylor’s Tracer (1962), presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and the Joyce Theater in NYC. Her research on 1930s Korean modern dancer Choi Seung-Hee led to her selection as a 2024 Dance Research Fellow at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
In 2025, Jones curated and choreographed a dance festival Rhythm! at the National Maritime Museum in London, U.K. Jones is the founder and Artistic Director of Movement Migration Dance Company.
Marzia Memoli
From Palermo, Italy, joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2016. Her repertoire with the Company includes Graham’s The Rite of Spring as the Chosen One, El Penitente, Chronicle, The Princess in Cave of the Heart, Satyric Festival Song, Diversion of Angels, Act of Light, Deep Song.
She performed works by Hofesh Shechter, Elisa Monte "Treading", Bobbi Jean Smith, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Maxine Doyle, Pam Tanowitz, Sonya Tayeh, Lar Lubovitch, Andrea Miller, Jamar Roberts and recently with Benjamin Millepied in Paris.
In 2022 she performed for Twyla Tharp in "In the Upper Room" and "Nine Sinatra Songs" at New York City Center. During the 24/25 season, Memoli joined Twyla Tharp for her “60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee” tour performing nationwide.
Memoli is a recent recipient of the Fini International Rising Star Award.
PENNY DIAMANTOPOULOU
Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Penny Diamantopoulou began her dance training in Classical Ballet and Modern Dance. She graduated from the Anna Petrova Professional Dance School (1994) with dancer’s and teacher’s degrees, and from the University of Athens (Department of French Language and Literature). In 1995, she moved to New York on a Demonstrator’s Scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School, completing the Professional Trainee Program (1998), the Post Certificate Program (2000), and Teacher Training courses with Diane Gray and Joyce Herring.
From 1996 to 2000, she was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble (now Graham 2), a faculty member at the Martha Graham School and a guest teacher at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and SUNY Purchase.
Based in Athens, Ms. Diamantopoulou was a faculty member at the Greek National School of Dance (2002–2021) and at horohronos Professional Dance School (2017–2025). In collaboration with the Martha Graham Center, she has taught, reconstructed, and restaged works from the Graham repertory internationally. She is the founder and artistic director of ARTHROSIS Dance Company.
FREE EVENTS MAY 2026
ANIMA FABRIK
Längenfeldgasse 27, 1120 Vienna
Thursday – Context & Resources (18h-19h30)
An evening dedicated to talks and discussions on Graham’s body of work, examining its artistic impact through collaborations with composers, visual artists, and other creative voices, alongside its pedagogical evolution from the birth of the technique to its decades-long development.
Led by Graham artist and educator Penny Diamantopoulou & Graham For Europe’s Artistic Director Rafael Molina
Saturday – Performances (18h-19h30)
- “Imperial Gesture” (5 mins) Original choreography: Martha Graham. Reconstructed and performed by Martha Graham Dance company former member and Régisseur Kim Jones.
The solo Imperial Gesture was created in 1935, featuring Martha Graham herself as a monarch demonstrating absolute power. The piece is a meditation on ego, megalomania, corruption and power. It was a response to the rise of fascism in Europe. Around that time, Martha Graham did turn down Nazi officials’ invitation to perform at the 1936 Olympic Games and was part of a very political dance scene in NYC.
- “Traces” (7 mins). Choreography: Kim Jones. Performed by Martha Graham Dance company Marzia Memoli and followed by a Q&A with the artist.
Traces is part of a larger work in progress that explores the movement vocabularies of empathy and reflection..
Sunday – Student Showing & Performance (15h15-16h)
- Informal showing of material developed during the Creative Workshops, offering participants the opportunity to share their process and artistic voice within a supportive framework.
- “MODERN RE.MIX” by ANIMA Dance Company: a contemporary homage to Martha Graham’s iconic 1957 film “A Dancer’s World” — reimagined by the dancers of today.
SIGN UP
* HelloAsso automatically includes a small contribution to their organization for their free service, but it is optional—you can uncheck it if you prefer not to make a donation.
Please note that payments are non-refundable. However, they can be used as credit for another Graham For Europe intensive, valid for up to two years.
SCHEDULE VIENNA 2026
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GRAHAM FOR EUROPE celebrates #100YearsOfGraham
12 months. 12 events. 12 countries.
To mark the centennial of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Graham For Europe joins its partners across Europe in a Special Edition of 12 Intensives, taking place throughout the continent in 2026.
Developed in dialogue with artists and institutions throughout Europe, these intensives offer spaces for rigorous technical training, creative exploration, and cultural exchange. Led and organized by internationally recognised teachers, and researchers, they connect Martha Graham’s legacy with contemporary practice and today’s artistic realities.
Together, we honour 100 years of one of the most influential movement languages in modern dance and the European community that keeps it alive today.
FOR ANY INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PROJECT,
DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT US AT: 100YearsOfGraham@grahamforeurope.com