Denver Public Library: Martha Graham Dance Company

The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your theatre experience.

READ Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati (2020)

Martha Graham was known for her focus on Greek mythological women, including Clytemenstra as a ballet in 1958. Graham expanded the story of the vengeful queen to include Clytemenstra’s power, cunning, and perspective of the Trojan War. Read an unforgettable modern retelling of this complicated queen.

WATCH Dance, Girl, Dance, dir. Dorothy Arzner (1940)

Dance, Girl, Dance is a 1940 American comedy-drama film that looks at friendship, jealousy, and ambition in the world of mid-20th century show business. Directed by Dorothy Arzner, the sole woman to work as a director in the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s and 1940s, and starring Maureen O’Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy, Dance, Girl, Dance is unique in that it is a rare Hollywood film that addresses issues of female artistic struggle and self-actualization.

LISTEN Antigone by Mikis Theodorakis (2003)

Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works including the scores for Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). In the years before and after 1990, Theodorakis composed the great lyric tragedies based on classical literature: Medea, Elektra, Antigone. Theodorakis himself was the librettist for his Antigone. Listen on Freegal, a new music service with free access through your library card.

DOWNLOAD Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern: a Life by Neil Baldwin (2022)

This major biography of the “Picasso of Dance” will deepen your appreciation of the Newman Center’s celebration of Graham’s work and legacy. Available to download as an audio ebook or to borrow in hardcover.