PHILADANCO! and Martha Graham Dance Company present in case of fire, speak by Tommie-Waheed Evans

Entitled in case of fire, speak, the new dance responds to Graham’s American Document (1938), Evans told me. American Document—one of Graham’s first works on political themes—is a dance-theater piece inspired by essential writing on the question, “What is America?” Meanwhile, Evans has a knack for creating work that is at once accessible, powerful, and subtle. I can’t think of better qualities to bring to an exploration of America. The new piece has a conversational relationship with its predecessor, Evans told me: American Document asks a question, and in case of fire, speak answers. He envisions the dance as an exchange between Graham and himself, addressing “the America she lived in, and the America I live in now.”

An American connection

Times have changed since American Document premiered, and so have perspectives. Americans today have different responses to the question “What is America?” than folks did in the late 1930s. The two choreographers reflect varying perspectives in microcosm. Graham, a white woman, lived from 1894 to 1991, through multiple global conflicts and technological revolutions. These shaped our 21st-century world. Evans, queer Black man, lives in that world, with its unique concerns.

Yet the two artists share a connection. Graham is an important figure in the Black dance community, Evans explained. When racial segregation was the norm in American dance, Graham, along with fellow modern dancer/choreographer Lester Horton, welcomed Black dancers (Alvin Ailey was one). Because Graham “allowed Black Americans to come into her space,” her influence spread among dancers of color, Evans said. He pointed out Graham’s influence on Ailey’s signature work, Revelations (1960). Today, Ailey American Dance Theater and PHILADANCO! maintain a close relationship, and Evans himself trained in the Graham technique.

The partnership between MGDC and PHILADANCO! reflects a creative and meaningful way to honor Graham’s legacy and celebrate Black excellence in dance. It began with a co-commission from PLA and ArtPhilly, Evans said. ArtPhilly executive director Bill Adair proposed a collaboration between companies, helmed by a Philly choreographer. PHILADANCO! founder Joan Myers Brown suggested Evans for the role.

An exciting collaboration

To develop in case of fire, speak, Evans took the “recipe” of Graham’s American Document and made it his own. He aims “to create a new aesthetic” in the work, which holds hope as it recognizes injustice. A multiracial cast of nine dancers from the two companies will perform. Rehearsals posed a logistical challenge, with dancers in Philly and New York. They handled this by traveling back and forth between cities, a week or several days here and there, to rehearse together.

It is an exciting collaboration between the two companies, and the conversation between Graham and Evans promises to be an interesting one. The program at PLA will also include Frontier (a tribute to the pioneer woman) and Hope Boykin’s En Masse, a new work in honor of America’s Semiquincentennial set to music by Leonard Bernstein. Both local premieres, these works combine with in case of fire, speak to offer a range of perspectives on the American experience, past and present.