In addition to daily classes and creative workshops, the intensive will include a series of free events for all participants. These events are designed to immerse attendees in the legacy of Martha Graham while deepening their understanding of her technique and artistic vision.
Taking place on the final day of the intensive, Wednesday, July 15, at the auditorium of the Conservatoire de Noisy-le-Sec, the program will conclude with the following performances:
Together, these events offer a portrait of Graham’s legacy in motion, reimagined contemporary bodies, myth, memory, and theatrical experimentation.
“Martha Graham & Greek Myth”
The day will open with a lecture-performance exploring how Martha Graham was inspired by Ancient Greek mythology to shape some of her most powerful works. Professor Papathanasopoulou will combine scholarly insight with live dance excerpts.
The two dance excerpts presented will be:
Rape of Troy: Inspired by the fall of Troy after the Trojan War, this excerpt portrays the violence and suffering endured by women in the war’s aftermath.
Electra/Orestes encounter (Clytemnestra): This scene centers on the tragic family of Atreus. After Queen Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon, her children Electra and Orestes seek revenge.
Graham’s solo “Immediate Tragedy” by Lorenzo Pagano
Graham’s solo Immediate Tragedy, performed by Lorenzo Pagano, continues the program with a powerful seven-minute piece. Pagano, a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company since 2012, brings intensity and precision to this early Graham work, created in response to the Spanish Civil War. Immediate Tragedy portrays the urgency, resistance, and emotional aspects through its incredible physicality.
“The Marthaodyssey” by Jesse Factor
The evening concludes with Jesse Factor performing “The Marthaodyssey” in two parts:
Excerpt 1: “Lamentation / Open Your Heart” (5 mins) Excerpt 2: “Celebratory / Satyric Holiday” (5 mins)
Jesse Factor’s solo work, The Marthaodyssey, joyfully rides a series of productive tensions: authenticity versus artifice, stark minimalism against dazzling spectacle, high modernist rigor colliding with pop confection. Deeply inspired by the “High Priestess of Modern Dance,” Martha Graham, and the “Queen of Pop,” Madonna, Factor forges a celebratory hybrid where discipline meets excess and devotion flirts with diva. Part modernist archive, part pop-culture pageant, part drag extravaganza, The Marthaodyssey is unapologetically fabulous.
