Protas Sues As Graham Dancers Go Back To School - Ron Protas, Martha Graham School of Contempoary Dance - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, April, 2001 by Wendy Perron

Just three days before its grand reopening, Martha Graham's heir, Ron Protas, slapped the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance with a lawsuit. The suit, filed January 13, alleges trademark infringement, breach of contract and personal distress along with fourteen other claims. Protas also demanded the return of property including costumes by fashion designer Halston and sets by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. The resumption of classes ended an eight-month hiatus while plunging the school into a legal battle.

The suit is the latest development in an ongoing fight between Protas and the school over the rights to Graham's works and technique (see Presstime News, January 2001). Executive Director Marvin Preston said the impending litigation was hardly unexpected and probably unavoidable. "Without it, the dialogue wasn't moving forward. This forces the issue and structures a debate. We're not anxious to get ownership," he adds. "We just want the rights to do the ballets and concentrate on the mission we've had all along."

With former Graham dancer, educator and choreographer Stuart Hodes at the helm, the school is assembling a staff of illustrious figures with a deep knowledge of Graham's work, including Pearl Lang, Ailey veteran Dudley Williams, Bertram Ross, Terese Capucilli (see Dance Magazine Awards, p. 48) and Christine Dakin.

According to one of Protas's attorneys, James McGuire, the credentials of the instructors play no part in the legal issues. "The fact that the people teaching at the school have worked closely with Graham is irrelevant to the question of whether or not the school may use the name `Martha Graham' without the permission of those who own the rights."

"We are not seeking to close the school, merely to bar the school from using the trademark `Martha Graham,'" said McGuire. Protas has formed a new foundation, the Night Journey Foundation, which has proposed to align itself with an educational institution in New York to establish its own Graham school.

But Hodes maintains that the dancers' experience is irreplaceable. "We pass on our traditions by showing the movements and giving images. That's a beautiful, sacred process. My job is to build the school and collect the people who can do this and get the technique out into the world."

"Graham-based technique gives us a starting point," Hodes added, "something in common, and from there we can continue to discover. We're not teaching a static body of knowledge, but an evolving approach, as it always was." He told of a time when a group of Graham teachers was arguing about the correct use of arms in a particular combination. Graham, who was listening, suddenly said, "Stop! You're codifying this thing to death." Said Hodes, "She wanted there to be a little leeway so you could perform it without being a robot."

Hodes pointed out that Graham was ambivalent about the possibility of her work outliving her. "Martha knew she could hold an audience with her own magic and charisma," he said. "She felt her choreography depended on herself and the dancers who were animated by this technique--Terese Capucilli, Christine Dakin, Janet Eilber, Takako Asakawa, Peggy Lyman." She preferred film to notation as a preservation method, he said, because she could at least have a role in the making of a film.

January 16 was the first day of classes and also the first day in court. Protas tried, unsuccessfully, to get a temporary restraining order against the school. But the suit, much of which centers on whether the school can legally use Graham's name, moves forward.

Pro-bono counsel for the Graham center and school Dale Cendali said, "Graham, in her will, did not enumerate what property she left to Protas. Any rights to her name and anything she owned would go to him, but she did not specify ownership of the school. And she never indicated that she thought her name could be separated from the school." Cendali said that since the school has had uncontested use of the Graham name for seventy-five years, it already owns it. "I could leave you the Brooklyn Bridge in my will," she said, "but if I don't own it, it doesn't do any good."

The Charities Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's office is attempting to mediate a settlement. Meanwhile, Federal Judge Miriam Goldman Sederbaum ordered the two parties to come up with a schedule for bringing issues to trial by late spring.

In the midst of the legal wrangling, classes, which are meeting at a studio in Chelsea while the building on East 63rd Street is being redesigned, went on. And students were working as fervently as ever. "I love the personal intensity that you have to bring to this style of dance," said Jenny Emerson, a member of the junior company. "Now we have greater attention and readiness to dance. We're taking class not just to warm up, but to be part of a legacy."

For a schedule of classes, visit marthagrahamcenter.org.