The legacy of Martha Graham will be celebrated this weekend at The Church with a puppet show for all ages and a conversation about a new book featuring photographs of dance company members in action.
Inspired by the Sag Harbor cultural center’s current exhibition, “Martha Graham: Collaborations,” Kim Profaci, an artist, educator, and founder of the Modern Marionette Company, has created puppets and costumes that provide a new medium for understanding the forms, movements, and expression of the Graham technique.
The ingenious use of costumes that require activation by the performer is a hallmark of Graham’s legacy. On Friday at 4:30 p.m., Ms. Profaci’s handmade three-foot marionette puppets will perform “Lamentation” and other works from the Graham canon that bring their costumes to life.
Tickets are $20, and $15 for members and students 18 and under.
The Church will host a talk with Ken Browar and Deborah Ory, who will discuss their new book, “Martha Graham Dance Company 100 Years,” on Saturday at 5 p.m. The authors will be joined by their friend Bonnie Rychlak, an artist, writer, and former chief curator of the Noguchi Museum, to discuss their histories, the spirit of collaboration, and the curatorial process.
Mr. Browar and Ms. Ory photographed the Graham dancers over many years in preparation for the book, capturing on film over 24 of their most famous ballets in photos of the entire company as well as studio photos. In addition, the book includes archival photographs from many artists who worked with Graham, including Barbara Morgan, Philippe Halsman, Andy Warhol, Miró, and more.
Saturday’s talk, which will include images from the book, will be followed by a question-and-answer session and a book signing.
Mr. Browar is a renowned fashion and editorial photographer whose attraction to dance began when he lived in Paris and photographed members of the Paris Opera Ballet. Ms. Ory began her career after being injured as a dancer, photographing rehearsals. She has worked as a photo editor at Condé Nast and Mirabella and as an editorial photographer.
Their work has been featured in newspapers and magazines worldwide, including Harper’s Bazaar, Dior Magazine, and The New York Times. Their photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries, and they are the authors of two previous books, “The Art of Movement” and “The Style of Movement: Fashion and Dance.”
As an artist, Ms. Rychlak has exhibited her work in museums and galleries in the United States and Japan. Her residencies have included the American Academy in Rome, the Surnadal Billag A/S Artist Residency in Norway, and the Bellagio Residency in Italy, and she has received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the arts.
She was Noguchi’s studio assistant from 1980 until his death in 1988, after which she remained at his foundation and its eventual museum, serving as chief curator until 2010. While there she organized its exhibitions both nationally and internationally, and wrote for the accompanying catalogs. (Noguchi was a frequent collaborator of Martha Graham.) Since then, Ms. Rychlak has curated shows at LongHouse Reserve, Art Helix and the Bogart Salon in Brooklyn, and, most recently, the Bridgehampton Museum.
Tickets are $20, $15 for members.
The Church’s Insight Sunday series will move in a different direction on Sunday at noon when Laura L. Rubin illuminates the creative process behind her soon-to-be-published book, “The Big Unlock: Liberate Your Creativity Through Mindful Journaling.”
Ms. Rubin, who lives in Sag Harbor, is the founder of AllSwell Creative, a company devoted to cultivating self-awareness and creativity through journal writing. She also founded EndsWell, a nonprofit that pairs trained journaling facilitators with underserved communities, using the written word as a tool for healing, self-expression, and resilience.
Copies of her book will be available to the public for the first time at the end of the discussion. BookHampton is collaborating with The Church on this program.
Tickets are $10, free for members who R.S.V.P.
