Overview

Night Journey, the dance, had its premiere only two and a half years after Appalachian Spring, and it is a close cousin. It too has a stream-of-consciousness narration: Jocasta, as she is about to kill herself, remembering what has happened to her. It too contains soul-delving solos, broken up by ensemble dances. Here, however, the ensemble is a darker element. As the story was taken from Greek tragedy, so the corps is the equivalent of Greek tragedy’s chorus. They tell us how to feel: afraid mostly. In this piece Graham pushed her habitual economy to its limits.

Top Cast

Martha Graham

Queen Jocasta

Bertram Ross

King Oedipus

P

Paul Taylor

Tiresias

Helen McGehee

Chorus Leader

Mary Hinkson

Chorus

A

Akiko Kanda

Chorus

Ethel Winter

Chorus

L

Linda Hodes

Chorus

C

Carol Payne

Chorus

B

Bette Shaler

Chorus