Graham, Martha. (1894–1991) [Eagle, Arnold. (1909–1992)]
Original 1945 Arnold Eagle Photograph
Striking large 1945 doubleweight photograph by Arnold Eagle of Graham in "Mirror Before Me," the original name of her pivotal work, "Herodiade." Graham is shown in a dramatic pose with one of the set elements designed by Isamu Noguchi. 10.5 x 13.5 inches. Pencil notes and date on the verso, in fine condition."The twenty-two-minute dance Herodiade created by Martha Graham in 1944 marks a pivotal moment in her choreographic development, bridging the divide between the Americana dances of the 1930s and early 1940s and the mythological works of the next twenty years. Based on Stéphane Mallarmé's poem of the same name (1864/65), Herodiade is a duet for an enigmatic 'Woman' and her 'Attendant' and alludes to the biblical legend of Herodias/Salome. Although the dance seems slight in comparison to the large-scale works, this was Graham's first foray into the field of Judaeo-Christian mythology and led her dance theatre towards the ancient myths from which she drew her later strong, dramatic roles. Embedded within Herodiade are the seeds for the masterworks inspired by Greek mythology from Cave of the Heart (1946), the first in the cycle of Greek dances 1946–1947, to the full length Clytemnestra (1958). Herodiade was one of the dances which received its first performance onOctober 30 1944 in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress in Washington. Appalachian Spring, the last and most widely acclaimed of Graham's Americana works, and the less successful and short-lived Imagined Wing, also received their premieres that same evening. At its first performance, the duet was called Mirror Before Me, after a key line in Mallarmé's poem, but shortly after the premiere Graham changed the name of the dance to Herodiade at the request of its composer, Paul Hindemith, by which title it is now known." (Henrietta Bannerman, "A Dance of Transition: Martha Graham's Herodiade" in Dance Research 24.1 (2006)) (8569)
Unsigned Photo Dance