Martha Graham Artistic Director Delivers Lawther Lecture Oct. 20

By Dan Nonte, University Relations

Contact: (336) 334-4314

Posted 10-6-09

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Martha Graham was one of the great creative minds of the 20th century.

Her influence on modern dance is so powerful that it poses a challenge to performers of her classic works: How can today’s audiences appreciate her shocking originality when other artists have adopted so many of her innovations?

Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Center, will tackle that question when she delivers the annual Lawther Lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the UNCG Dance Theater. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Graham Center has experimented with ways to provide audiences with new points of access. Eilber will use media to provide samples of these experiments – from the “Appalchian Spring” video program notes to the “Clytemnestra” ReMash Challenge – all with references to the program the Graham Company will perform in UNCG’s Aycock Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Eilber started performing with the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1972 while still a student at the Juilliard School. During the next several years, Graham created roles for Eilber in almost every one of her new works.

As a principal dancer with the company, Eilber performed on all tours, on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera House, and starred in three programs for Dance in America. She soloed twice at the White House and danced with Rudolph Nureyev in “The Scarlet Letter” and “Lucifer” in roles created for her by Graham. During the 1980s and ’90s, while pursuing an active acting career, she often returned to be a guest artist with the company.

On Broadway, she was a guest star with the American Dance Machine and starred in its Showtime special with Gwen Verdon. She starred in Bob Fosse’s “Dancin’” and “Stepping Out,” directed by Tommy Tune (1987 Drama Desk nomination). Her film credits include “Whose Life Is it, Anyway?,” “Romantic Comedy,” “Antigone” and “Hard to Hold.” She has starred in two TV series and made guest appearances on a number of programs, including “Hitchcock” and “Columbo.”

Eilber’s choreography has been performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet and in many Los Angeles theater productions. She is co-founder of the American Repertory Dance Company and has received four Lester Horton Awards for her work with the ARDC.

She is principal arts consultant to the Dana Foundation and a trustee of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is married to screenwriter and director John Warren with whom she has two daughters, Madeline and Eva.

The Lawther Lecture honors Ethel Martus Lawther, who served the university tirelessly for 43 years. She joined the faculty in 1931; became head of the physical education department in 1947; was named dean of the newly formed School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (now Health and Human Performance) in 1971; and retired in 1974.