The Drama with Lloyd Knight

Lloyd Knight, Principal Dancer entering his 20^th season with the Martha Graham Dance Company, debuts his first one-man show as part of Works & Process at the Guggenheim on January 13^th. His original piece, “The Drama,” was created by Knight with director and choreographer Jack Ferver and filmmaker Jeremy Jacob. A multi-media autobiographical work, “The Drama” uses dance, film, music, and monologue to reflect on Knight's life as an artist while highlighting the two women who have influenced him the most: his mother and Martha Graham.

Fjord Review spoke with Knight over Zoom to discuss this first solo venture, his relationship with his mother, Martha Graham, and his insights into the challenges and rewards of a dancer's life.

Lloyd Knight in “The Drama.” Photograph by Melissa Sherwood

You are an incredibly busy artist—a full-time Principal with the Graham company, a guest with Twyla Tharp, Molissa Fenley, and others. What was the impetus for this solo project, and why now?

I always had the idea of a one-person show, and I guess it was just timing. A few years ago, a friend mentioned that I might reach out to the Guggenheim. I did, and luckily, they were so giving: They offered us a grant and a week's residency to play around. A little bit later, they offered another week. We then presented it for the first-time last January, and they offered us the opportunity to finish it [for presentation this January].

I had worked with Jack Ferver before, Jack and Jeremy [Jacob] both, and we got along really well. They were the first people I thought about when I was thinking about this idea. With the idea of doing a one-person show, I always thought about speaking, and the way Jack performs, he is an actor and a dancer, and he incorporates both mediums, which really excited me.

The piece is autobiographical. What is its structure, and how did you decide which parts of your life to include?

When we first started thinking about ideas, Jack would ask me questions about who influenced me, and it was very clear that these strong women in my life influenced me, specifically Martha Graham and my mom. We researched all of these Graham pieces, and I was connecting to these big heroic female characters that she has. I never have gotten a chance to dance those roles, but I connect to them.

The piece opens with a black and white video of me walking on a cliff. That was influenced by Ms. Graham, because she has this piece from the past called “Salem Shore,” and there's a sketch that I found of her on this cliff with this flowy dress, taking in whatever comes her way.

The piece maps out my whole life, the desire and the searching for an artistic life. It's also a love letter to these strong women and modern dance, and to artists in general, acknowledging how much effort it takes to be a dancer.

Lloyd Knight in “The Drama.” Photograph by Melissa Sherwood

Tell me more about your mom.

My mom—her strength—has really inspired me. She raised me as a single mother. She always tried to give me the best that she could. Even with the dance, she didn't quite understand all that it would entail, but she knew that I enjoyed it and so she was there for me, making sure that I was set up in a way where I could continue to go after what I wanted.

My mom and my dad had a bit of a rocky relationship, so there's that aspect in my story as well. There's a moment where I give a glimpse of my life in general —growing up in Miami, getting into dance, dealing with my parents' relationship, how that affected me and her, and then growing up in dance and how I've made it this far.

Conversely, in regard to Martha Graham, what is it like to consider a relationship with someone whom you have never actually met, who is a ghost?

In the piece, there are glimpses of Martha all over and how she has touched me. It's very weird, because she's always been there, but I never met her.

With Martha, I go off of video, interviews, and readings, so those are my connections to her and her thought process. I really connect to those things.

There is a dance in the piece where her voice is the music. She's relaying her messages of what she thinks dance entails and what it means, the life of a dancer and how much it takes. That really moves me and drives me. That alone, that dance, is my passion and connection to Martha.

Lloyd Knight in “The Drama.” Photograph by Melissa Sherwood

“The Drama” utilizes movement from the Graham repertory, particularly female roles which you have never performed with the company, although perhaps that is set to change: You recently became the first man to perform Graham's iconic “Lamentation” for Dance Against Cancer in May of 2024. What was that experience like, and what is it like embodying traditionally female roles?

That was wild for me. I had seen that work so many times, and I felt like I had always watched it with appreciation, but until I was in that tube and sitting on the bench, I hadn't realized the depth of that work and the importance of it.

I opened it on the program at New York City Center, so I really wanted to make sure that it held up. It was a beautiful, beautiful experience. It really reminded me of Martha's genius and the impact that the piece made when it premiered. To know that it still lives today, it's just incredible.

As a male dancer in the Graham Company, there's a joke that the guys always want to do the female solos because they're so fierce! But, when you really look at these roles and think about why the characters are doing what they're doing, that realization shocked me a lot.

“The Drama” references so many Graham works, including “Errand into the Maze,” “Clytemnestra,” and others. “Seraphic Dialogue” [Graham's accounting of the spiritual journey of Joan of Arc] was one I hadn't seen as much as I've seen other Graham dances, but when I sat down and looked at the vocabulary and the meanings of each character, I really could connect to each character that she has in there.

For example, the warrior character, she's just constantly—no matter what—always fighting for the bigger goal. I can obviously relate to that as a dancer: Every day you are pushing yourself, and it's not smooth. It's just a constant push for what you want. It's not always easy, but you just keep on going.

You state that the piece “lays bare what it takes both physically and psychologically to pursue a life in dance.” How does this realize itself in the dance?

There's one section that uses music by Julius Eastman, and I describe that section as a realistic view of what dance entails: the roughness of it, the struggles, the passion of it. [In this section,] I'm coming out with less costume on than the Martha section, and I'm really fighting for movement. It’s very hard! So, you see moments where I'm literally just trying my best to do a movement and it might not work out.

There's another moment where I do a series of standing falls [a challenging movement in the Graham technique where a dancer uses a contraction to fall backwards to the ground]. For me, that demonstrates the drive year after year, day after day, of just going for this thing. Kind of like a hamster in a wheel, day after day going after this thing until it's just enough.

Speaking of a continuous drive, you are entering your 20th anniversary as a member of the Graham Company. How has this struggle that you mentioned changed over the years? Has it increased, decreased, stayed the same?

It has stayed the same. I really enjoy doing outside work, but the work we do within in the Graham Company has really helped me to stay present and enjoy my time there doing Graham classics, but also working with new choreographers.

For me, the hunger is still there to move. I'm still very much enticed by the Graham legacy, the Graham work.

It’s always searching, just digging deeper. People throughout my career have always been asking how long I'd stay, when I will leave, and I say, “I don’t know! When I've had enough.”

Cecilia Whalen

Cecilia Whalen is a New York City-based dancer, choreographer, and writer. She is a graduate of the Martha Graham School and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In addition to her work with Fjord, her writing can be found in various publications, including Dance Magazine and Commonweal Magazine.

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