TRAUMA, INTERDICTION, AND AGENCY IN ‘THE HOUSE OF PELVIC TRUTH’
A RESPONSE TO MARTHA GRAHAM’S NIGHT JOURNEY (1947)
PERFORMERS: Taryn Griggs, Carol Ockman, and Netta Yerushalmy
TEXT: Carol Ockman
RUNNING TIME: 32 minutes
ESSAY: Trauma, Interdiction, and Agency in ‘The House of Pelvic Truth’
COSTUMES: Magdalena Jarkowiec
“My exploration of Night Journey highlights the physical and emotional trauma in Martha Graham’s woman-centered world, her subversion of traditional male narratives, and the ways she anticipates Second Wave Feminism by twenty years. Graham’s bloodthirsty repertory, her bad girls who defy expectations much as she did, make Night Journey especially resonant today. I claim that Netta’s dismantling and reassembling of Graham’s iconic work exposes and gives shape to psychic trauma through the wordless language of the body. The rigorous distillation of form that these two choreographers share opens veins of deep emotion and shocks us into thought.”
PERFORMANCE HISTORY:
Joyce @ DANY Studios / New York, NY / January 16, 2016
Movement Research at Judson Church / New York, NY / January 18, 2016
Trinity College / Hartford, CT / March 21-23, 2017
LMCC’s River to River Festival National Museum of the American Indian / New York, NY / June 15 & 19, 2017
'62 Center for the Arts @ Williams College / Williamstown, MA / October 27, 2017
Jacob’s Pillow / Becket, MA / August 8-12, 2018
University at Buffalo / Buffalo, NY / November 17, 2018
Wexner Center for the Arts / Columbus, OH / February 7-9, 2019
New York Live Arts / New York, NY / March 14-17, 2019
Bates Dance Festival / Lewiston, ME / July 25-28, 2019
The Festival of the New at The New School / New York, NY / October 2, 2019
The University of Virginia / Charlottesville, VA / January 31, 2020
PHOTOGRAPHS: Sandy Aldieri