''Cave of the Heart'' is a one-act

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

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 (''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'' suite) by

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

.Martha Graham Dance Company Repertory http://marthagraham.org/press-presenters2/repertory It was first performed on May 10, 1946, with the title ''Serpent Heart'', at the second annual Festival of Contemporary American Music in the McMillin Theater of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. ''Serpent Heart'' was commissioned by the festival sponsor, The Alice M. Ditson Fund.John Martin, ''Ballet by Graham in World Premiere'', ''The New York Times'', May 11, 1946 http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200153626/pageturner.html

Overview

The piece is loosely based on

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

' tragedy ''

''. The choreography is rich in Jungian symbolism, an important influence on Graham. According to the 1946 program notes, the work is “much like the myth of

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

, the warrior hero, and Medea, granddaughter of the sun…a dance of possessive and destroying love…” The four-person original cast included Graham as One Like Medea,

Erick Hawkins Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer. Early life Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univer ...

as One Like Jason, Yuriko as The Princess and May O’Donnell as The Chorus.Wayne Clifford Wentzel, ''Samuel Barber: A Guide to Research'', Psychology Press, 2001, p.33-34 The set was designed by

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...

, the costumes by Edythe Gilfond. The ballet is approximately 28 minutes in length with seven movements/parts: Parados, Choros, Young Princess Dance and Dance of Jason, Choros, Medea's dance, Kanticos Agomas and Exodus (with fanfare of trumpets). The dance is part of Graham's “Greek Cycle,” which also includes ''

Night Journey The Israʾ and Miʿraj ( ar, الإسراء والمعراج, ') are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632) took during a single night around the year 621 (1 BH – 0 BH). With ...

'', a retelling of the

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

story, '' Errand into the Maze'', and ''Clytemnestra'', a ballet based on the ''

Oresteia The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of th ...

''.Martha Graham Dance Company, Touring Repertory 2016-2017, Classics by Martha Graham http://www.shaganarts.com/images/2016%20EPK%20(06-12-15).pdf ''The New York Times'' reviewer John Martin found the original ballet more of a draft that a finished work and thought the story missed the “force of the Medea myth, because here the Medea kills only the daughter of the king, who is her rival for Jason’s love…In the myth itself, she kills her own children in order to torture Jason, their father. There is almost too much wrath and passion here for so usual a denouement.” Martin deemed the music “brilliant” and the set “remarkable.” The ballet was revised and renamed by Graham for the following season. ''Cave of the Heart'' was first performed on 27 February 1947, at the

Ziegfeld Theater The Ziegfeld Theatre was a single-screen movie theater located at 141 West 54th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City. It opened in 1969 and closed in 2016. The theater was named in honor of the original Ziegfeld Theatre (1927–1966) ...

in New York. It featured the same cast but different character names: Graham as The Sorceress, Hawkins as The Adventurer and Yuriko as The Victim. The name of O’Donnell's character, The Chorus, remained the same. Graham invented one of her signature movements for the ballet, a step subsequently known as the "cave turn." The motion is a swooping heads-down spin in arabesque penché with a torso contraction. John Martin critiqued the premiere of ''Cave of the Heart'' for the February 28 edition of the ''Times''. He described the piece as “greatly strengthened” but added it would “probably never rank among the masterpieces of the Graham repertoire.” Graham's ballet begins well into the myth, when abandoned by Jason and exiled from her home, The Sorceress (Medea) plots revenge on her husband and her rival. Inflamed by jealousy, she murders the princess, Jason's new wife, and kills her own two children. Donning a metal garment of flame-like spikes, she becomes symbolically trapped in a prison of her imagining. ''Cave of the Heart'' was one of Graham's favorite dances. Despite the anti-heroine's dark and brutal nature, the piece is ultimately a tale of transformation, as The Sorceress, cleansed by fire, returns to her father the Sun. ''Cave of the Heart'' is still in the Graham Dance Company repertory. It is one of the troupe's most enduring ballets and is considered a classic. The documentary film ''An Evening of Conversation and Dance with Martha Graham'' includes ''Cave of the Heart'', as well as ''Errand into the Maze'' (1947) and ''Acts of Light'' (1981).''An Evening of Conversation and Dance with Martha Graham'', Great Performances: Dance in America, December 14, 1984 http://www.locatetv.com/tv/great-performances-dance-in-america/105 1401

References

{{reflist Ballets by Samuel Barber Ballets by Martha Graham Ballets with sets by Isamu Noguchi 1946 ballet premieres 1947 ballet premieres Works based on Medea (Euripides play) Ballets set in ancient Greece