Laurel Dalley Smith, as the Princess and Lloyd Knight also give superb performances as they struggle in a futile attempt to remove the poisoned crown Medea has placed on the Princess. Throughout, Knight’s dancing, like Leone’s in “Errand,” features strong knee bent poses as seen on friezes in ancient and modern Greek-themed architecture and spectacular stylized grand jetés.
After having murdered the Princess, Medea’s five consecutive “cave turns”—a swooping arabesque penché, heads-down spins that also combine the signature torso contraction—are truly gut-wrenching.
As Chorus, Anne Souder wears a stunning red-hued poncho pinched at the wrist and a matching flared skirt that more effectively replaces the black tights in the 1947 production, creating the most mysterious dance imagery. Her emotional conflicts as she represents Nurse in Euripides’ play, veer between compassion for the betrayed Medea, fear of what will come of Medea’s violent rage, and then grief for the Princess’s death.
She first tries to prevent Medea from enacting her rage, cupping her hands over her mouth as if to stifle a scream, and repeatedly climbing the central sculpture where she bends backwards while lifting a pointed foot towards a dark vision.
The changes in the music, costumes, and stage sets over the years refresh these works so they now resonate with present-day conundrums. But these changes make me think of the Ship of Theseus paradox, where the ship’s rotting wood was continually replaced to preserve it, creating a philosophical question as to whether or not it could still be considered the same ship.
These are two of 18 complete Greek-themed dances by Graham. Papathanasopoulou’s project, Martha Graham and Greek Myth, explored “Jocasta” in 2022 with acclaim throughout Europe. She and her collaborators plan to continue this research with presentations over the coming years. However long these studies and performances last, I doubt all the eternal questions they raise will ever be answered. Like the Theseus’ paradox, will they still be considered?
(For more on the project see http://www.ninapapathanasopoulou.com/project-description-and-goals/)
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