Night Journey (1960)
Overview
Night Journey, the dance, had its premiere only two and a half years after Appalachian Spring, and it is a close cousin. It too has a stream-of-consciousness narration: Jocasta, as she is about to kill herself, remembering what has happened to her. It too contains soul-delving solos, broken up by ensemble dances. Here, however, the ensemble is a darker element. As the story was taken from Greek tragedy, so the corps is the equivalent of Greek tragedy’s chorus. They tell us how to feel: afraid mostly. In this piece Graham pushed her habitual economy to its limits.
Cast
Martha Graham
Queen Jocasta
Bertram Ross
King Oedipus
Helen McGehee
Chorus Leader
Mary Hinkson
Chorus
Ethel Winter
Chorus
