"[5] The work meshes with Graham's stated goal to create a "uniquely American" dance form, to help "bring forth an art as powerful as the country itself.
Two lengths of rope are arranged in a V-shape that stretches from either wing of the stage to meet in a point behind the fence, an effect suggesting limitless perspective.
It consisted of a long pale pink gingham jumper with asymmetric collar over a simple, long-sleeved white blouse.
The overall effect of set and costume is one of a rugged pioneer woman joyously at home in "the vastness of the American landscape before it was fully tamed by the settlers.
"[10] Graham's mentor and musical director Louis Horst composed the ballet's score for a small ensemble: wind instruments, drum and piano.
"[12] Its rhythmic patterns shift unexpectedly to support relatively short sections of thematically-related movement, but are integrated smoothly into a unified composition.
[6] Frontier marked the first time Graham smiled as part of the choreography, shedding the emotionless expression worn in her previous dances.
The movement now becomes a parade step, as the soloist marches up and downstage exuberantly swinging one arm as she kicks sideways with the opposite leg.
"Instead of static preoccupation with abstract considerations of form and medium...," wrote a Massachusetts critic, "The center of her attention has shifted so that now the dancer may be thought of as looking outward into the world where history as the component of complex human factors is to be studied."
"[18] The New York Times' critic John Martin wrote of a later performance, "Frontier is deeply felt and simply projected...
Here, one believes, Miss Graham has touched the finest note of her career..."[19] The set and costume were also praised and appreciated as visual aids to understanding the work.
"One wished that Miss Graham would see fit to use in her other dances of suggestive props such as those employed in Frontier, where they prove of inestimable value as stimulation to the observer's fantasy.
[21] In retrospect, some Graham scholars regard Frontier as a sketch for her best-known work Appalachian Spring since they are similar in theme and style.
[11] Frontier briefly reentered the Martha Graham Dance Company repertory in 1975, performed by both Janet Eilber and Peggy Lyman.
The troupe performed six Graham works: Frontier (Janet Eilber), Lamentation, Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Adorations and Cave of the Heart.