Lloyd Knight, photo by Hibbard Nash
TICKETS:
FRONT ROW
General Ticket: $60
Member Ticket: $50
GENERAL SEATING (includes Mezzanine)
General Ticket: $30
Member Ticket: $25
Pre-Sale for Director’s Circle, Board, and Pledges: Begins Wednesday, January 7th
Ticketing for all other Member Levels & General Public: Begins Friday, January 9th at 12 PM
This program has been generously supported by the SHS Foundation in honor of its Treasurer, Sara Throne; and; Steve Pesner in honor of Michèle Pesner
We are thrilled to start the year with a dance project of historic proportions: on January 24th, we will present the first look at a new solo being created for the Martha Graham Dance Company – to be performed by none other than Lloyd Knight, acclaimed lead dancer of the Company. Based on archival materials assembled over many years, the performance takes inspiration from a work choreographed by Martha herself in 1938. After its creation at The Church, the new solo will become a centerpiece of the Company’s repertory for 2026 – its 100th season.
The Premiere Showing will offer audience members a first look at the choreography and music created during a one-week residency at The Church. This process brings together Lloyd Knight, composer-percussionist Stahv Danker, and choreographer Jamar Roberts for an intense collaboration with roots in the Graham legacy.
Inspired by the materials from Martha Graham Dance Company archives, Roberts will create the new solo in five days as Danker composes the music. These materials include a one-minute silent film of a man dancing a solo thought to be from Graham’s 1938 American Document, as well as poetry from that work, and some of the original musical score. Graham’s choreography was never recorded and is considered to be lost. Roberts is not charged with recreating Graham’s work, but rather, to create something completely contemporary inspired by the past.
This performance is part of the exhibition programming of Martha Graham: Collaborations, on view January 18 – March 22. The exhibition explores the 100-year history of the company through the lens of its myriad artistic collaborations – thereby breaking down the completed work of a choreographed piece into the many creative practices it encompasses.
LLOYD KNIGHT
Dancer
Photo by Hibbard Nash
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Llloyd Knight joined the Company in 2005 and performs major roles of the Graham repertory including Appalachian Spring, Embattled Garden, Night Journey among others. Bessie Nominated for best Performer in 2022, Dance Magazine also named him one of “Top 25 Dancers to Watch” in 2010 and one of the best performers of 2015. Mr. Knight has starred with ballet greats Wendy Whelan and Misty Copeland in signature Graham duets and has had roles created for him by such renowned artists as Nacho Duato and Pam Tanowitz. Knight has performed as a principal guest artist for The Royal Ballet of Flanders directed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as well as with Twyla Tharp Dance. Born in England and raised in Miami, he trained at Miami Conservatory of Ballet and New World School of the Arts. Recently he was an 2023 Dance Research Fellow for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and will be performing his One Person show titled the “The Drama” at The Guggenheim in 2025.
JAMAR ROBERTS
Choreographer
Photo by Nina Robinson
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Jamar Roberts (Miami, FL) was the Resident Choreographer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 2017-2022. Mr. Roberts made five works on the Company, all to critical acclaim: Members Don’t Get Weary (2016), Ode (2019), A Jam Session for Troubling Times(2020), Holding Space (2021), and In a Sentimental Mood (2022). He also set Gemeos on Ailey II. Mr. Roberts is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts and the Ailey School and has danced for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and Complexions. Mr. Roberts won the 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer and has performed as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. Commissions include Vail Dance Festival, Fall for Dance, The Juilliard School, BalletX, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, L.A. Dance Project, ABT Studio Company, Miami City Ballet, Parsons Dance and Works and Process at the Guggenheim where he created the film Cooped. The March on Washington Film Festival invited Mr. Roberts to create a tribute to John Lewis and he has also made a film for the LA Opera entitled The First Bluebird in the Morning. Mr. Roberts was a Director’s Fellow at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts, Creative Associate at the Juilliard School in 2023, and was recently featured on the cover of Dance Magazine, previously having been on the cover in June 2013 and been named one of “25 to Watch” in 2007.
STAHV DANKER
Composer
Photo by
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Stahv Danker (Composer) Born in Los Angeles and raised in Israel, Stahv Danker is a composer, percussionist, and pianist whose work bridges rhythm and movement. He studied at the New School Extension for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Tel Aviv before earning a scholarship to The New School in New York City, completing his BFA in 2015. He has performed internationally, including a residency at the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and was the drummer for the Off-Broadway production The Office: A Musical Parody. In New York, Danker has become a leading accompanist for dance, working with the Martha Graham School, The Juilliard School, The Alvin Ailey School, and Giordano Dance Chicago, for whom he composed Sana in 2025.