Martha Clarke

Martha Clarke (born June 3, 1944, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.) is an American choreographer and dancer whose emotionally evocative work draws extensively on theatrical elements.

Clarke studied at the exclusive Perry-Mansfield School of Theater and Dance in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She attended summer sessions at the Connecticut College School of Dance, where she worked with José Límon and Alvin Ailey. At the Juilliard School in New York City she studied the Martha Graham technique and then joined the modern dance company of Anna Sokolow, under whose direction Clarke tapped what she later described as an emotional expressionism evident in all her subsequent work.

Clarke joined the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, a previously all-male acrobatic troupe, in 1973; intense competition and discord between members caused her to leave the group in 1979. With Robert Barnett and Félix Blaska, Clarke then formed Crowsnest, a chamber group. Her dramatic and imaginative solos—such as Fallen Angel, in which, clad in an evening gown and bird mask, she danced to a Gregorian chant—were highly praised. She worked with actress Linda Hunt on performance art pieces, including A Metamorphosis in Miniature (1982), a musical adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. In 1984 Clarke created a phantasmagoric series of sketches called The Garden of Earthly Delights, based on the work of the 15th-century painter Hieronymus Bosch. Her other works included Vienna: Lusthaus (1986), which evokes the decadence of fin de siècle Europe; The Hunger Artist (1987), about the life of Kafka; and Miracolo d’amore (1987–88), an exploration of erotic love that some critics called obscene.

In 1990 Clarke staged Endangered Species at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. The theatre piece was intended to consider the irony of human cruelty and animal gentleness, and its cast included a number of live animals, notably an elephant. Costly to mount and widely panned by critics, the production closed before its run was scheduled to end. In the wake of that disappointment Clarke focused on directing plays and operas, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute (1992) and Così Fan Tutte (1993) at Glimmerglass Opera (later the Glimmerglass Festival), Cooperstown, New York, and Alice’s Adventures Underground (1994) for the Royal National Theater, London. She returned to full-length dance-theatre in 1995 with An Uncertain Hour, which was performed by Nederlands Dans Theater 3, a company of dancers over the age of 40. Clarke later created Vers la Flamme (1999; “Toward the Flame”), a piece drawing from Anton Chekhov’s short stories.

In the 21st century Clarke created such pieces as Sueño (2005), recalling Francisco Goya’s etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1797–99); Kaos (2006), inspired by the short stories of Italian author Luigi Pirandello; and Sandman (2008), based on the photographs by Diane Arbus. Clarke’s later works included Angel Reapers (2011; with text by Alfred Uhry), which explores the life of Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers; Chéri (2013), based on French author Colette’s 1920 novel; and Canticle (God’s Fool) (2021), a narrative about St. Francis of Assisi.

Clarke was the subject of Martha Clarke, Light and Dark: A Dancer’s Journey, a 1981 Public Broadcasting Service documentary. She also was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship (1990).