Before the semester began, during a week of snowstorms and below-zero temperatures, UI student dancers collected in Halsey Hall for a week-long intensive to learn Martha Graham’s Panorama, led by Virginie Mécène, the current director of Graham 2 (the dance company comprising the most advanced students of the Martha Graham School) and program director at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. The UI dancers will perform Panorama at Hancher Auditorium on March 29, opening GRAHAM100—a performance celebrating 100 years of the Martha Graham Dance Company.
American choreographer and dancer Martha Graham was a pivotal figure in modern dance who radically challenged conventions throughout the 20th century with her bold philosophy and expanded the vocabulary of modern movement. Graham created more than 180 works during her expansive career as dancer, teacher, and choreographer and codified Graham technique—her distinctive modern dance style based on the opposition between contraction and release.
“In the 1920s and 30s, she was making angular movements that shocked audience members,” says Katelyn Perez, a second-year MFA dance student and the rehearsal director for the UI performance of Panorama. “Martha knew what she was doing. She was changing the scene, and as a female choreographer in that period it’s so powerful. You can see it in Panorama—even in the quiet, gentle moments you can still see the energy and strength of her movement.”
Panorama is a large ensemble dance originally choreographed by Martha Graham in 1935. The dance, specifically meant for student dancers, was lost until 1992—a year after Graham’s death—when selections of the performance were discovered in an early film and the piece was reconstructed for a new generation of dancers. Virginie Mécène was one of the dancers who first performed the reconstructed Panorama.
“Our students get to step into and reckon with a part of dance history,” Stephanie Miracle, Assistant Professor of Dance and faculty liaison for the Martha Graham collaboration, explains the unique opportunity to engage with and perform this archival dance. “They are creating muscle memory that is now a continuation of history.”
In early January, Virginie Mécène began building that muscle memory with 38 UI Department of Dance students. “Working with Virginie was amazing,” says Katelyn, “I think it was inspiring for our dancers to hear all of her stories about working with Martha and her experience performing the piece.”
The first step was to teach the fundamentals of Graham technique. “The word that comes to mind is powerful,” says Ellie Daley, a third year BFA student in Dance. “Virginie describes it as almost animalistic; all the power comes from the center of your body and radiates out.”
“It was way more challenging than I expected,” says Amya Lopez, a fourth year BFA student and Vice President of the department’s Undergraduate Dance Organization. “It felt very new, especially because here at Iowa we don’t really train in Graham technique. It was an exhausting week, but Virginie was great—she has really apt analogies for all the movements and helped us understand where they’re initiated.”
After spending their mornings leading students in intensive technique training, Katelyn and Virginie worked together to set the piece, placing dancers into groups and teaching the choreography for Panorama.
Cami Rezabek, a fourth-year BFA student in dance, explains, “We used multiple videos of past performances to help us envision who we are among all the dancers and where we are on the stage. It really helped me place myself. Then Virginie would clarify and correct us, making sure we understood the specificity of each movement.”
Within three days, the UI dancers were able to finish the piece. “It was really lucky,” Katelyn admits. “We lost a full day with Virginie because of the snow.”
Since then, the ensemble of dancers have been meeting every Friday in Halsey Hall to rehearse. As the rehearsal director, Katelyn is in charge of developing the warm-ups, running the rehearsals, and tightening the piece in preparation for Virginie’s return.
“I’m really excited to see the movements settle into the dancers’ bodies,” Katelyn says, “especially some of the younger dancers. I’m excited to see them take ownership of the movement and really feel powerful in the dance.”
In each rehearsal, the dancers run through the entire piece—which is no simple task. It’s an exhaustive piece that requires immense stamina. Dancers are running across the space, jumping, and all the while maintaining an extreme specificity of movement.
“Virginie talked about rotating and spinning the bones of the arm to make just the right shape,” Ellie says, explaining the intensity and precision required of the dancers. “Panorama also has a very complicated musicality. Sometimes we’re counting to five, sometimes we’re counting to nine and we have to remember where the counts switch while maintaining our specificity and stamina.”
The 38 student dancers are rising to the occasion. As they collect in Halsey Hall for rehearsals, their energy vibrates throughout the space. Before Katelyn begins warm-ups, the dancers stretch and practice the small intricacies of Graham technique with each other.
“Everyone is so close. We’re like family,” Amya Lopez explains what it’s like coming to rehearsals. “I think that’s something unique about our department—it’s very rooted in friendship. So, everyday I’m excited for rehearsals. I love learning and struggling with my friends and we’re always there to lift each other up.”
Led by Katelyn, the ensemble of UI student-dancers continue to work together, honing their movements and preparing to open GRAHAM100 at Hancher Auditorium. And with each rehearsal, they keep improving their execution of the challenging Panorama choreography.
Their efforts will culminate when they join the Martha Graham Dance Company onstage at Hancher, bringing Martha Graham’s classic works to the stage alongside new work by contemporary choreographers.
“Whenever I get the opportunity to dance at Hancher, I really feel I’m part of the lineage of dancers who have passed through that space,” Ellie reflects on the opportunity. “To be on the Hancher stage and perform with the Graham Company is an enormous privilege.”
