Primitive Mysteries is a modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham to music by Louis Horst. Graham also designed the original costumes. The piece premiered on February 2, 1931 at the Craig Theatre in New York City. From the first performance, critics hailed the ballet as a masterpiece and acknowledged Graham's rising role as a major force in American dance.
Theme and structure.
The stark, minimalistic piece is staged for a female soloist, garbed in white, and an ensemble of sixteen female dancers, dressed in blue. The title and theme reference religious rituals as performed by Native Americans of the Southwest U.S. Graham began work on the ballet shortly after she and Horst returned from a trip to New Mexico, her imagination sparked by ceremonial dances of the native peoples.
The dance is divided into three sections: "Hymn to the Virgin", "Crucifixus" and "Hosannah". In the original staging, Graham danced the role of The Virgin with the other cast members as celebrants.
In each section, the Virgin enters and leaves the stage with the women in blue. Each section ends with the chorus encircling the Mary figure.
Dance critic John Martin described the ballet as "the ritual integrity of a religious people who have welcomed the young gods of the white people into the company of their own ageless Indian deities of earth and sky." Some viewers thought the work's overtly religious nature groundbreaking for the era.
When the ballet was revived in 1999, Graham provided further insight, saying the work was not intended to represent adorants worshiping The Virgin, but as a ceremonial rite of initiation celebrating the figure through one of their own. She also revealed the inspiration for her diaphanous organdy costume as the night-blooming Cereus that flowered outside her Santa Barbara window.
Performance history.
"Primitive Mysteries" is one of Graham's signature pieces, lauded from its debut as a masterwork. Yuriko was the first dancer other than Graham to perform the lead role. Others who have appeared as the Virgin Mary include Takako Asakawa, Christine Dakin and Terese Capucilli. The dance is frequently performed by the Graham company.
References.
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