Embattled Garden premiered at the Adelphi Theater in New York City on April 3, 1958.  Set to a score commissioned from Carlos Surinach, and in an environment designed by Isamu Noguchi consisting of a forest of supple poles and a stylized tree, Martha Graham created her own Garden of Eden.  It was a garden of highly charged amorousness rather than biblical solemnity, according to critic Walter Terry.  Choreographed the same year as the glorious full length epic Clytemnestra, it inspired critics to marvel at the breadth of Graham's talents.


In a frankly erotic romp, this tragi-comedy explores sacred and profane love.  Seduced by the worldly Stranger and his companion Lilith (Adam's first wife), the innocence of the Garden of Eden is shattered.  According to Bertram Ross, who originated the role of Adam, "it started in rehearsal with sweet and gentle little primitive images of Adam and Eve."  Clearly, this did not last long.  Both Ross and Glen Tetley, who danced the Stranger, recall how Graham quickly stripped the work-in-progress of any sentimentality, preferring to plunge directly into the violent passions which lurked just beneath the pastoral surface.  The innocence of Adam and Eve was never to be restored; in one of the final tableaus of the dance a wiser but sadder Eve cradles Adam in a moment of tenderness, a comforting mother as well as an erotic playmate.  --ELLEN GRAFF

Martha Graham has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture.  She single-handedly defined contemporary dance as a uniquely American art form, which the nation has in turn shared with the world.  Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day, including sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composers Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Gian Carlo Menotti.


Graham's groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release.  By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion.  The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.


Graham influenced generations of choreographers that included Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp, altering the scope of dance.  Classical ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov sought her out to broaden their artistry.  Artists of all genres were eager to study and work with Graham - she taught actors including Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Liza Minelli, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Joanne Woodward to utilize their bodies as expressive instruments.


During her long and illustrious career, Graham created 181 dance compositions.  During the Bicentennial she was granted the United States' highest civilian honor, The Medal of Freedom.  In 1998, TIME Magazine named her the "Dancer of the Century."  The first dancer to perform at the White House and to act as a cultural ambassador abroad, she captured the spirit of a nation.  "No artist is ahead of his time," she said.  "He is his time.  It is just that the others are behind the time."
Graham’s groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.

With an artistic practice deeply ingrained in the rhythm of American life and the struggles of the individual, Graham brought a distinctly American sensibility to every theme she explored. “A dance reveals the spirit of the country in which it takes root. No sooner does it fail to do this than it loses its integrity and significance,” she wrote in the 1937 essay “A Platform for the American Dance”.

Consistently infused with social, political, psychological, and sexual themes, Graham’s choreography is timeless, connecting with audiences past and present. Works such as Revolt (1927), Immigrant: Steerage, Strike (1928), and Chronicle (1936) — created the same year she turned down Hitler’s invitation to perform at the International Arts Festival organized in conjunction with the Olympic Games in Berlin — personify Graham’s commitment to addressing challenging contemporary issues and distinguish her as a conscientious and politically powerful artist.

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the development of contemporary dance since its founding in 1926.  Informed by the expansive vision of its pioneering founder, the Company has expanded contemporary dance's vocabulary with masterpieces such as Appalachian Spring, Lamentation, and Chronicle, rooted in social, political, psychological, and sexual contexts.


Always a fertile ground for experimentation, the Martha Graham Dance Company has been an unparalleled resource in nuturing many of the leading choreographers and dancers of the 20th and 21st centuries.  Graham's groundbreaking technique and unmistakable style have earned the Company acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.


Today, the Company continues to foster Graham's spirit of ingenuity.  It embraces a new vision that showcases classics by Graham, her contemporaries and their successors alongside newly commissioned works.  The Company is actively working to create new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences.