Lassoing is a surprising through-line for a Martha Graham Dance Company performance. The theme steps generally tend towards the child-birthing variety: contractions and deep squats. America’s oldest troupe (the MGDC turns 100 in 2026, but they are already partying hard) has gotten in on the recent Black cowboy craze and I am here for it. On Saturday night at City Center, Lloyd Knight starred as a hunky square dance caller and Jamar Roberts set his electrifying new protest dance to the music of Rhiannon Giddens—who is fresh off her commercial success playing banjo on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold’em” track. The first chapter in the Graham Company’s centennial celebration is titled “American Legacies,” and they put on a superb and refreshingly diverse Americana-inspired show. Although there wasn’t a dance by Graham on the triple bill, her spirit was very much present.
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