''Resurrection'' is a modern dance solo created 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

Tibor Harsányi Tibor Harsányi (June 27, 1898 in Magyarkanizsa, Kingdom of Hungary – September 19, 1954 in Paris) was a Hungarian-born composer and pianist. He studied at the Budapest Conservatory under Zoltán Kodály. He toured as a pianist around Europe ...

. The piece premiered on March 3, 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 ...

. On June 2, 1930, Graham performed another work, ''Unbalanced'', that also used Harsányi's music. ''Unbalanced'' does not appear in most Graham chronologies, so it is speculated the two pieces were the same. To confuse things further, a dance critic of the time wrote that ''Resurrection'' had previously been titled ''The Avenger''. Two other new works appeared on the afternoon's program, ''Adolescence'' with 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 ...

, and ''Danza'' with a score by Darius Milhaud. ''

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dance critic wrote the work was "composed with complete originality and in faultless form. It builds relentlessly on a striking movement theme to an inevitably foreshadowed climax." The dance's connection to the title was, however, unclear to the reviewer, "it is not spelled out in letters that those who run may read." The critic for ''

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'' was even more mystified, "Of the three new numbers offered, ''Resurrection'' to music by Harsanvi (sic) was the least definite and effective, a bizarre interpretation in expressionistic vein."

References

{{reflist 1929 ballet premieres Ballets by Martha Graham