I find music that I think is within the feeling of what Martha was doing. But the vocabulary is all hers, and I guess that's why it works."Get him talking about Graham technique, its "contraction and release" principle, and you'd believe Move's intentions were high-minded indeed But, I say, he surely can't deny a certain mischievousness. The subjects Graham explored – the Greek myths especially – are deadly serious. Isn't there a sense in which Move is pulling their pants down?"Yeeees, in a way But the Greek stuff is total soap opera.
So the potential for humour is kind of all there for me if I tweak it up a notch. As for Martha herself, you have to remember she was an egomaniac, a diva of the Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson school So, yes, I lightly send that up. But in her writings and pronouncements on art and life there was a good deal of intentional humour, very dry and deadpan. So I'm able to speak her words verbatim, and it's funny."I point out that as the years go by, fewer and fewer people in the audience will have seen the Graham company, still less the great dame herself. Education, he says, isn't his focus, "but it's a definite by-product. If people come away having glimpsed a broad cross-section of Graham's art and life, and wanting to know more, I'm happy."'Martha': Criterion Theatre, London WC2 (020 7413 1437), tonight and Monday.
It's in the middle of nowhere, or more precisely in the middle of the Vale of Ewyas – or the Llanthony Valley, as it is also known – in the Black Mountains. Take the A465 from Hereford towards Abergavenny and look for signs to the hotel, turning off on to the unmarked road towards Hay-on-Wye Where is it?In the middle of nowhere. Or more precisely in the middle of the Vale of Ewyas – or the Llanthony Valley, as it is also known – in the Black Mountains. Take the A465 from Hereford towards Abergavenny and look for signs to the hotel, turning off on to the unmarked road towards Hay-on-Wye. What's it like?A 12th-century abbey, in a state of near decay, now officially graded as an Ancient Monument The hotel occupies the one tower that remains intact. There are just five rooms – best to book in advance – each leading off a spiral staircase. A pub sits at the base of the tower; next to it is the restaurant, which is for guests only.What's its USP?The abbey, for starters, which oozes history from its every fissure. The priory was completed around 1200 and was built on the site of a 6th-century hermitage.