''Columbiad'' is a solo modern dance choreographed by

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

to music by

Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography t ...

. Edythe Gilfond designed the costume; Philip Stapp created the set. The ballet premiered on December 27, 1939, at the St. James Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.''Columbiad (Ballet choreographed by Martha Graham)'', ''Performing Arts Encyclopedia'', Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200182827/default.html ''Columbiads debut was part of an event called the Holiday Dance Festival, which included four additional works by Graham and pieces by the

American Ballet Caravan The American Ballet was the first professional ballet company George Balanchine created in the United States. The company was founded with the help of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg, managed by Alexander Merovitch and populated by students ...

, Carmalita Maracci and Dance Group, and Korean modern dancer Sai Shoki.

Synopsis

Program notes described the work as "an American Ode to Freedom."''Martha Graham and Dance Group'', ''American Dancer'', May 1940 http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200154173/default.html A quotation from Revolutionary War era poet

Timothy Dwight IV Timothy Dwight (May 14, 1752January 11, 1817) was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He was the eighth president of Yale College (1795–1817). Early life Timothy Dwight was born May 14, 17 ...

was also included: The choreography was basically a slow simple march, during which Graham, dressed in white, flourished red and blue scarves.

Critical reception

The critic for ''Chicago Dancer'' thought the work's appearance on the program "unnecessary and repetitious, when

American Document ''American Document'' is a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham in response to rising Fascism in 1930s Europe. The piece premiered on August 6, 1938 at the Vermont State Armory in Bennington, Vermont. The ballet features spoken word exc ...

says all that it does and so concisely and convincingly." The same reviewer found the "obvious red, white and blue" theme to be "too much." Another called the dance "patriotic propaganda."Claudia Cassidy, ''Martha Graham Dances at'' the Civic, ''Journal of Commerce'' (Chicago, Illinois), March 11, 1940 http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200154187/pageturner.html The critic for ''American Dancer'' wrote "it left many in the audience with a feeling of frustration and a growing distaste for modern dance. The entire number seemed confused, jumbled and unimportant." The ''New York Times John Martin had a more favorable opinion, "Though there is nothing in any way new about the vocabulary in which it is couched, a familiar idiom is given fresh values by the beautiful dignity that illuminates it. It is the kind of dance nobody but Martha Graham could possibly make substantial or moving, but she succeeds notably in both directions."

References

{{reflist Ballets by Martha Graham Ballets set in the United States 1939 ballet premieres