NEA Grant Supports Staging of ‘Steps in the Street’

By Dan Nonte, University Relations

Contact: (336) 334-4314

Posted 6-1-09

GREENSBORO, N.C. — When he was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Duane Cyrus would find a seat in the wings or in the audience to watch spellbound as his fellow dancers performed “Steps in the Street.”

Now, more than 15 years later, Cyrus, an assistant professor of dance at UNCG, will spend the next year studying and sharing that 1936 composition with a new generation of dancers.

Supported by a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and university matching funds, the project will culminate with performances at the end of the spring semester. Venues will include local high schools, where UNCG student dancers will perform and discuss the work.

“Graham was, in many ways, the mother of all contemporary dance,” said Jan Van Dyke, head of the UNCG Department of Dance. “Since her death, we all feel a responsibility to keep her work alive and relevant to our students and the general public. This grant will enable us to do just that.”

Cyrus picked “Steps” after consulting with Katherine Crockett, a principal dancer with the Graham Company who will visit campus in the spring. A landmark work by a pioneer of modern dance, it is inspired by devastation, homelessness and exile, themes readily grasped by dancers and audiences alike. That accessibility is critical, Cyrus said.

“Maybe you’ve not seen dance before. We want you to be able to come see it and not be alienated,” said Cyrus, a dancer in the Graham Company from 1990-93. “Sometimes dance in its more intellectual form can be too distanced from the general populace. Graham, particularly ‘Steps in the Street,’ is accessible.”

The driving music was another factor in his choice. “The music by Wallingford Riegger is so dramatic and sweeping. Just listening to it without the dance you get taken up by the music. Giving the dancers in our department the opportunity to work with such theatrically rich music I know will pull them along with their movement.”

This summer, Cyrus will research the dance, including attending classes at the Martha Graham Center in New York City. During the fall, he will teach Graham’s technique and history to dance majors and will hold auditions for the cast.

In the spring, he will guide rehearsals, performances and outreach, including presentations to dance appreciation and dance history students about “Steps” and Graham. Crockett plans to spend more than two weeks in Greensboro during the spring semester leading intensive rehearsals. Next summer, Cyrus will complete a DVD and other summary materials about the project.

Cyrus is the founder and director of Cyrus Art Production, an organization that presents dance and theater in unique and thought-provoking cultural events. As well as Martha Graham Dance Company, he has performed with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, “The Lion King” (original London cast), “Carousel” (U.S. tour) as well as directing domestic and international tours with Cyrus Art Production.

UNCG is offering additional opportunities to appreciate Graham’s legacy in the coming year. The Graham Company will perform in Aycock Auditorium Oct. 24 as part of the University Concert & Lecture Series. That same week, the Department of Dance has scheduled Janet Eilber, Graham Company artistic director, to present the annual Lawther Lecture.