''Adolescence (Prelude and Song)'' was an early modern dance solo choreographed by

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

to music by

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

. It premiered on March 2, 1929, at the Booth Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The all-solo program included two other new works, ''Danza'' and ''Resurrection'', and eight previously performed pieces: ''Dance'', ''Immigrant'', ''Valses Sentimentales'', ''Four Insincerities'', ''Tanagra'', ''Two Variations from Sonatina'', '' Fragilité'' and ''Fragments''. Seattle's ''Week Town Crier'' described the work as depicting youth, "curious, yearning, fearful, swept away by strange visions and dreams. A very difficult, complex thing made sweepingly beautiful by its utter simplicity and sincerity." '' Dance Magazines reviewer called the solo "delicate and sensitive." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic wrote, "The dancer has achieved an exquisite result. Simple and stark in design, it is at the same time warm and tender in mood, childishly frank and yet deft and penetrating. It is the happiest use Miss Graham has yet made of her economy of movement, and perhaps the least inclined in the direction of ugliness."

References

{{reflist 1929 ballet premieres Ballets by Martha Graham