I just recently finished performing my show, Appalachian Spring in Tokyo, Japan, and it was a huge success. The show was originally commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, and it was actually first presented in the theatre there. I commissioned the score, which was written by Aaron Copland, and since then Appalachian Spring has been the most popular ballet in the Graham repertory.
In the performance, I play the bride. I was fifty years old when the show was first performed in 1944. My future husband, Erick Hawkins, played the husband. May O'Donnell was the part of the pioneer woman. The story told is a spring celebration of American pioneers in the 1800s after building a new Pennsylvania farmhouse. I loved dancing this show and danced the role of the bride into my sixties.
In the performance, I play the bride. I was fifty years old when the show was first performed in 1944. My future husband, Erick Hawkins, played the husband. May O'Donnell was the part of the pioneer woman. The story told is a spring celebration of American pioneers in the 1800s after building a new Pennsylvania farmhouse. I loved dancing this show and danced the role of the bride into my sixties.
