Martha Graham’s revolutionary spirit found a revolutionary soulmate in another creative force. A classically trained dancer, she is known the world over as an accomplished artist. It moves like water. Her pole dancing is quite impressive, very. These are FKA branches.
On Thursday, will make her debut as a dancer with the Graham Company in the solo ‘Satyric Festival Song’ (1932); “To me, honestly, this is like winning a Grammy,” he said. “I feel like I’m winning a Grammy.”
At the company’s gala show, FKA will step into her suit, a bold and graphic striped dress designed by Graham. It will burst into the air like the floor is on fire. She will twist and bend her body into jagged edges. And he’ll tease the audience with head tilts and dancing, expressive eyes. It is a solo inspired by rituals observed by Graham in the pueblos of the American Southwest, specifically, the kachina figures that served as comic relief in religious ceremonies. Graham also poked fun at her serious, dramatic self.
An artist of vast imagination whose music defies genre, FKA twigs is adventurous in all her pursuits. Her glistening, fluent physicality, displayed over the years in videos and performances, is equal parts fearless and sinister. “My values of success and achievement are maybe slightly different than other people’s values,” FKA twigs said in an interview from London. Many of her colleagues will be at Coachella in the next two weeks, “which is obviously a great honor,” she said. “But I’ve spent my whole life in the dance studio. I studied the Martha Graham technique in dance school. I took the class many times when I was a younger dancer.”
The Graham company, however, did not know that it had studied the technique. So how did this solo come about? Through this unofficial dance network known as Instagram.
Last year, the company published a pandemic season video of Laurel Dalley Smith performing “Satyric Festival Song” at various locations in London. Being the Graham fan that she is, FKA twigs reposted it. The company thanked her with a DM and suggested we do a project together. “She immediately sent us the contact information for her manager,” said Janet Eilber, the group’s artistic director. And as the conversation progressed, Eilber said, the company asked, “Would Graham like to dance solo?”
The solo is suitable for FKA branches. “The attitude in ‘Satiric Festival Song’ is so flirtatious, comical and quirky,” Eilber said. “And it’s one of the few Graham solos where the fourth wall is down, so this little character is actually talking to the audience and having her way with them.”
Daley Smith taught FKA twigs the solo and a series of Graham exercises in London (and the FKA branches will continue to work on it in New York at the Graham studios). “It wasn’t just cut and paste, wear it, learn it, do it,” Dalley Smith said of the process. “It’s recognizing someone who’s trying something new, recognizing someone who wants to go down a certain path.”
Her artistic bravery echoes some of Graham’s choice words: More than 80 years ago, he told a despairing Agnes de Mille to “stay open and aware of the impulses that drive you. Keep the channel open.”
For FKA twigs the channel is wide. She’s committed to being “bold and bold and really making art,” she said. “And I mean it Really they make art. I’m not talking about, for example, looking gorgeous on a red carpet or really thinking in my music video or really being a queen in a radio interview.”
She is grateful for these opportunities, but artistic excellence is what matters to her. “When I die and take my last breath, these are the things I’ll be thinking about: What did I do with my life?” he said. “I want to say that I was kind, I worked hard, I served my practice and I made art. Next week I will serve my internship.”
The following are edited excerpts from our conversation.
What did you find challenging about soloing?
The stamina. It starts with really big jumps. I haven’t jumped since I was probably 22. [Laughs] Even in the dance I’m doing now, whether it’s pole or even contemporary, if I was on stage, I wouldn’t choose to do, say, nine jetés in a row.
So start a performance with nine really energetic jumps and continue normally in a very controlled Martha Graham, heavy contraction way? You know this is something I’ll have to work on.
What has come more naturally?
His playful solo and expression. It’s really cute and funny. You turn your head and it’s kind of like: Are you watching me? Do not look at me. I will demand your attention. Okay, now look away.
What is your dance training?
I am trained as a ballet dancer. I was, like, a complete bunhead as a kid. I did my lessons in the car on the way to dance practice and practiced for four hours after school, Monday through Saturday. I did it from the age of 8 to 16. Then I quit for a few years and moved to London to go to dance college. My journey as a musical artist was actually moving to London to go to dance college.
To be honest with you, I have a very strange dance history.
How come?
I actually started dancing professionally when I was 12 or 13, I was in a dance group called ZooNation, which was a street or hip-hop dance group – although it was also contemporary. I did that and then trained in dance.
And then I moved to London to go to dance school, and I just kept dropping out. When I got to about 19, 20 — you know what the problem was? I just climaxed a little too early in the dance.
You dance when you sing. How is this different?
For the past couple of years, I’ve been really trying to come to terms with the type of artist that I am. Within my industry, there’s a big push to seek certain accolades, whether it’s streaming a certain amount or winning certain awards. With the Martha Graham Company – running a routine – you can’t fake that.
This is pure craftsmanship. It is pure practice and it is expression. This is art in its truest form, which is so rare these days. Honestly, this is one of the greatest things I’ve done in my career.
Why;
You can’t fake an extended leg, you can’t fake a turn, you can’t fake performance or hold an audience. And that to me is so exciting. This is purely in my hands. Whatever happens, it will be the truth.
How do you see Graham’s repertoire in terms of what you usually dance?
I am always involved in classical and contemporary dance. This is different, I guess, because it’s a work that’s well known and respected. And it is very sacred. It is something that is very important to remember and pass on. It is like a secret or folk song. I’m a half-Jamaican girl from Gloucestershire and I’m going to New York to learn a Martha Graham piece. Like, if anything, that’s not proof for me. This is proof her.
And is this an example of art in its truest form?
Exactly. We have such extremes in society when it comes to dance, when it comes to music, when it comes to expression — as it should be. But there is a holy grail. And this is Martha Graham, she is [Lester] Horton, is Alvin Ailey. This is the purest form of dance, expression, practice. She’s not just Martha Graham, she’s Martha Graham technique. It’s not Horton. It’s Horton’s technique.
It is something in your toolbox that once you study this form, it will stay with you in everything you ever do. I could apply Martha Graham to pole dancing. I could apply Horton to pole dancing. It’s a way of thinking.
What is so critical about this show?
This is very important to my spirit. There’s a 12-year-old in me who didn’t go play with her friends at the park. She went to the dance studio instead. My friends were going out, playing in the park, drinking cider behind the bike sheds — I wanted to do all those things but I was in the studio. This young girl! I feel like I’m playing with Martha Graham’s company, in a way, I’m embracing her. I let her know it was worth it.