Graham Center Folds, Dancers Cancel - Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance closes - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, August, 2000 by Wendy Perron

CITING A $500,000 financial deficit and beset by top-level turmoil, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance--which includes the Graham dance troupe and school--suspended operations in late May. Francis Mason, acting chair of the center's board, said he hoped the suspension would be temporary. But the crisis deepened a few days later, when the company's dancers voted to cancel a June engagement at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina, since they would have appeared as a pickup company rather than as the Martha Graham Dance Company.

"It was a difficult decision," said company member Elizabeth Auclair. "We all want to dance. Everyone is devastated by the suspension." Associate artistic directors Terese Capucilli and Christine Dakin issued a statement that read, "It is as though Martha herself has died once again."

The center's board is at odds with Ron Protas, Graham's longtime confidant and associate, who became her heir upon Graham's death in 1991 and who heads the Martha Graham Trust (which owns the rights to Graham's dances). The board voted in March to remove Protas as artistic director after Protas refused to hand over the reins of artistic director as planned (see Presstime News, June 2000).

"The board tried everything," Janet Eilber, artistic director designate, said. "They negotiated for two years on the licensing agreement, and tried to help him take a step back in every way they could." Eilber said she is frustrated by the stalemate. "The board was told by certain government officials and foundation representatives--people who have an overview of the funding community--that the financial situation rests on Ron," she said. "Until his artistic influence is reduced, there won't be ongoing institutional funding."

Protas, through his lawyer, claimed that the board's vote was a power play because Mason did not accept proxy votes. Protas's counsel says that the Trust is at work preparing for Graham's Diamond Jubilee celebration in 2001.

Eilber said that she was proud of the dancers' decision not to appear as a separate entity: "They are courageous and have sacrificed not only their paychecks, but--more precious--the opportunity to perform."

As for where blame lies in the financial fiasco, new executive director Marvin Preston said, "There are two camps: Some board members blame Ron, who has dominated the board since Graham's death, and other people place the responsibility on the trustees as a group."

But Preston is looking ahead. "We want to rearrange our relation with the trust so that we'll be able to rebuild and sustain the center," he said. "We're hibernating for a while so that we can find a long-term resolution." Dance studios, including the 92nd Street Y Dance Center and Peridance Center have, in response to the crisis, expanded their offerings of Graham-based classes. However, the Joyce Theater season slated for November has been canceled.