in case of fire, speak

Choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans, in conversation with dramaturg Ain Gordon, will use archival material alongside new musical composition, writing and visual design to create his response to Martha Graham's 1938 work "American Document". Co-commissioned by Penn Live Arts, this first collaboration between the Martha Graham Dance Company and PHILADANCO! brings us back to Graham's essential question, "What is an American?". Dancers from both companies come together on stage in a piece that invites us to imagine what an American voice could be at this moment in history - and in this semiquincentennial year.

MGDC and PHILADANCO! are seminal to the canon of American concert dance. Martha Graham through her groundbreaking choreography and a legacy continued by Janet Eilber as the current artistic director; and PHILADANCO! Founder Joan Myers Brown through her commitment to a repertory that, since its founding in 1970, has become a creative archive of transformational African-American choreographers. Both companies remain immersed in their founding ideas while inviting and embracing new perspectives in contemporary exploration by choreographers of this moment. The presentation of the new piece includes an exhibit of archival material that explores the respective company histories alongside the creative process of the new work - curated by Ain Gordon and designed by Azsaneé Truss with support from the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.

For tickets, please head to https://pennlivearts.org/event/MGDC2026.