Martha Graham Dance’s long-lost ‘Immediate Tragedy’: Your must-watch of the day
A long-lost work by a legendary choreographer is reborn for the digital age as the Martha Graham Dance Company, the L.A.-based alt-classical collective Wild Up and the Soraya in Northridge join forces to present “Immediate Tragedy.”
Created and danced by Graham in 1937 as a response to the cruelties of the Spanish Civil War, the original solo piece was never captured on film. But photographs and other notation survived and serve as source material for a world-premiere reimagining of the work that features multiple dancers and musicians performing from home, plus new music from Wild Up’s Christopher Rountree. This socially distanced event will also include interviews with the creative team as well as a recent performance of “Deep Song,” another Graham work from 1937.
The entire 30-minute program premieres at 4 p.m. Friday on the Facebook page of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, where it will be available for one month, and at 11:30 a.m. Saturday on the Martha Graham Dance Company’s YouTube Channel. The new digital version of “Immediate Tragedy” also will be available indefinitely as a standalone video on both platforms following the premiere. All streams will be free to watch.
Looking for other ways to engage with culture while the coronavirus crisis keeps you mostly at home? We’ll continue to share picks for streaming concerts, online musicals, virtual art exhibitions and more. Here’s Friday’s list, all times Pacific.
coLAB’s fourth annual Juneteenth Presentation
The Old Globe in San Diego commemorates the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States with a virtual celebration featuring music and spoken word performances, a new play reading and more. Noon to 4 p.m. Friday. Free. theoldglobe.org, facebook.com/TheOldGlobe and youtube.com
Live With Carnegie Hall Juneteenth Celebration
The storied New York venue streams highlights from a 2019 event including speeches by journalist Bill Moyers and Bishop Michael Curry and performances by pianist Joseph Joubert and the Juneteenth Mass Choir. The Rev. James A. Forbes Jr. hosts. 4:30 p.m. Friday. Free. youtube.com/carnegiehall, facebook.com
“All’s Well That Ends Well”
Loyola Marymount University’s annual Shakespeare on the Bluff summer festival goes virtual with a socially distanced performance of the Bard’s romantic comedy. 8 p.m. Friday. Free. RSVP at cfa.lmu.edu/rsvp/
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with Alisa Weilerstein
The cellist joins the orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme” in this live concert from Hamburg, Germany. The program also includes works by Bartók and Haydn. 11 a.m. Friday. Free. ndr.de
The Antonyo Awards
Black theater artists are celebrated in this inaugural ceremony presented by Broadway Black and featuring appearances by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Tituss Burgess and others. 4 p.m. Friday. Free. youtube.com
“La Forza del Destino” (The Force of Destiny)
Soprano Leontyne Price stars in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1984 staging of Verdi’s rarely produced romantic tragedy. It’s presented in Italian with English subtitles. Available until 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Free. metopera.org
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“Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids”
Actors from IAMA Theatre Company, Celebration Theatre, Echo Theater Company and other local troupes take part in a live reading over Zoom of Vincent Terrell Durham’s new play about a liberal white couple hosting a cocktail party for a Black Lives Matter activist and others in their Harlem brownstone. 6 p.m. Friday. Free. Register at zoom.us
foaTV
This new online library from Laguna Beach’s Festival of Arts features highlights from the annual Pageant of the Masters’ tableaux vivant plus artists interviews. Available anytime. Free. foapom.com/tv
“Act One”
Tony Shalhoub portrays playwright Moss Hart in a 2014 Lincoln Center staging of James Lapine’s drama based on Hart’s autobiography. Andrea Martin and Santino Fontana co-star. 5 p.m. Friday; available on demand until July 3. Free. lincolncenter.org, youtube.com
Our recurring coronavirus-era recommendations are indexed in the same place arts event listings (sigh) used to post.
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