On the 28th May I travelled to New York to be present and part of the Graham Company 2 performance, which, was a gala event to honor Robert Cohan. Paul Jackson and Anne Donnelly had also travelled to be part of this celebration. The company performed a duet from Cohan’s Forest, The Virgin Queen by Darshan Singh Bhuller and Temptations of the Moon by Martha Graham. The company were exceptional, particularly the dancers who performed Forest, Charlotte Landreau and Gildas Lemonnier (now Martha Graham Dance Company Apprentices)
Linda Hodes opened the evening with a wonderful speech, which was followed by Paul Jackson reflecting on Cohan’s influence and development of dance in Britain. Janet Eilber spoke about Cohan’s history with the Graham Company and then Robert Cohan spoke about Martha herself. The speeches were a powerful reminder of how important our dance history is, the stories we hear and the lessons we learn all inform our own history and the future of dance. I was honored to be there, amongst such incredible artists of our past and of our future.
One very special person was there, Susan Macpherson, the dancer that the solo Canciones Del Alma was made for. It was such an honor to meet her and talk about her own experience of making the solo. A very wonderful woman, who I hope to be able to meet again.