The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts > Exhibitions

Mirrors to the Past: Ancient Greece and Avant-garde America

From October 15, 2004 through January 8, 2005
Vincent Astor Gallery
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498 (directions)

See related Online Exhibition.

American artists have long been moved by the august cultures of ancient Greece. Motivated by the enlightened minds that produced works of incomparable beauty and emotional resonance, they in turn forged new directions, discarded rules, and redefined their art forms. This multimedia exhibition, which draws on rare material housed in all four research divisions of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, focuses on the liberating force of archaic and classical Greece and the countless 20th-century American choreographers, theater artists, composers, visual artists, and designers it inspired.

Maverick composers and jazz innovators redefined their music in favor of Just Intonation and archaic Hellenic and Mediterranean modes. Hellenic art and narratives inspired the experimental choreographers of the early 20th century, among them Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn, and later generations of modern dance creators, from Martha Graham to Clarinda MacLow. Revivals and re-interpretations of Greek tragedies gave theater creators a chance to investigate new forms of performance and production. Annotated scripts, scores, and designs document re-interpretations by the Federal Theatre Project, the Living Theatre, and many other experimental companies. An online version of the show will accompany the gallery exhibition.

Mirrors to the Past is part of the Library’s Hellenic Festival, made possible by a generous grant from the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation.

Press Release