Heretic (ballet)

Dancers for the premiere were: Graham, as the woman in white, Kitty Reese, Louise Creston, Irene Emery, Ethel Rudy, Lillian Ray, Hortense Bunsick, Sylvia Wasserstrom, Mary Rivoire, Ruth White, Lillian Shapero, Virginia Briton, Sylvia Rosenstein, Evelyn Sabin, Betty Macdonald and Rosina Savelli.

They move stiff-legged with a thumping heel to toe stride, then stop, legs planted firmly, a stern, monolithic barrier.

Arm movements are also wooden and limited, either held akimbo with cupped hands at the hips, kept low in parallel to the thighs or upraised to shoulder height and then sharply folded across the chest.

"[5] The New York Telegraph's critic wrote, the work presented "a black circle of relentless figures, toward which an angelic soul draped in white cried and pleaded.

As the plea registered with the merciless circle they rose to their fullest height and turned menacingly..."[2] Recalling the work, years later, Graham dancer Bessie Schonberg noted the dance could be interpreted as the contrast between Martha's oeuvre and tradition.

[6] In his memoir, Stuart Hodes described the piece as possibly "a metaphor for Martha's life - one against many - her role in the world, in dance, in her troupe, and likely, in her own family.

The ensemble members were Thea Nerissa Barnes, Kathy Buccellato, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Judith Garay, Sophie Giavanola, Joyce Herring, Debra Kantor, Theresa Maldonado, Maxine Sherman, Kim Stroud and Denise Vale.