Janet Eilber Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company , Celebrating Martha and the Centennial

Join "Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey and special guest Janet Eilber this episode of  "Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey, host Joanne Carey  speaks with Janet Eilber, the artistic director of the Martha Graham Dance Company. They discuss Janet's early beginnings in dance, her time at the Juilliard School, being a teenager in NYC as well as her experiences with the Martha Graham Technique, and the profound impact of Martha Graham's teachings on her career.

Janet shares insights into her roles within the company, the creative process of Martha Graham, and the legacy she aims to uphold as artistic director. They also explore the upcoming celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the company, innovative projects, and the importance of engaging audiences through open rehearsals.

Janet Eilber has been Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance Company since 2005 pioneering new forms of audience access to the Graham legacy.

Ms. Eilber is a graduate of the Juilliard School where she was mentored by teachers of the Graham and Limón legacies and directed by José Limón in several of his classics. While still at Juilliard, she was invited to join the Graham Company where she worked closely with Martha Graham for almost a decade. She danced many of Graham’s greatest roles, had roles created for her by Graham, and was directed by Graham in most of the major roles of the repertory. She soloed at the White House, was partnered by Rudolf Nureyev, starred in three segments of Dance in America, and worked with Graham’s major collaborators such as Isamu Noguchi, Aaron Copland and Halston.  She has since taught, lectured, and directed Graham ballets internationally for companies such as the Dutch National Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. 

Apart from her work with Graham, Ms. Eilber has co-starred in films such as Whose Life is it Anyway? with Richard Dreyfuss, and Romantic Comedy with Dudley Moore.  She was featured in several television series in the 1980s, and danced and acted on and off Broadway directed by such greats as Agnes DeMille and Bob Fosse. For her performance in Stepping Out directed by Tommy Tune, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Featured Actress in a Play.

Ms. Eilber received four Lester Horton Awards for her reconstruction and performance of seminal American modern dance. She served as Director of Arts Education for the Dana Foundation, guiding the Foundation’s support for Teaching Artist training and contributing regularly to its publications. She is a Trustee Emeritus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts and was recently honored with a Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Juilliard School.

At the 2022 celebration of the 50th anniversary of her first performance with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Ms. Eilber received a congratulatory letter from President and First Lady Biden saluting her half-century contribution to the arts in America.  She is married to screenwriter/NYU professor John Warren, with whom she has two daughters, Madeline and Eva.

To find out more

⁠https://marthagraham.org/company/⁠

⁠⁠⁠Follow the company on Instagram

@marthagrahamdance

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