DANCE: EVENT OF THE WEEK

The Martha Graham Company Tue to 29 May Barbican Centre, London EC

Martha Graham's achievement was the beginning of American modern dance as we know it today. Others had pointed the way - Isadora Duncan and Graham's own teacher Ruth St Denis - but it was Graham in the 1930s who wrote the maps of possibility for drama and depth in movement which others have been exploring ever since. Returning to London after a 20- year gap, her company brings a collection of its late founder's early work, including the landmark ballet which Aaron Copeland wrote for her, Appalachian Spring, evoking the courage of the pioneers who opened up a new land. Equally characteristic of Graham's originality is Errand into the Maze, where Greek myth forms the basis of psychological insight into a woman's hopes and fears about sex. This programme shows a pioneer of dance at her most powerful.

Barbican Centre, London EC2 (0171-638 8891) Tue to 29 May, 7.45pm

John Percival