Martha Graham’s Cold War frames the story of Martha Graham and her particular brand of dance modernism as pro-Western Cold War propaganda.Although modern dancer Martha Graham claimed, “I am not political,” she and her company performed at the behest of the State Department on five continents during the administrations of eight U.S. presidents. From a White House performance for the Roosevelts in 1937, to a planned tour under George H.W. Bush to Eastern Europe in November 1989, noted scholar Dr. Victoria Phillips, Ph.D., connects readers to the depths to which Graham and her company infiltrated the American propaganda machine. Join Phillips as she discuss her new book, Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy.

Victoria Phillips specializes in Cold War history, cultural diplomacy, and international relations. Her articles have appeared in such varied publications as the New York Times, American Communist History, Dance Chronicle, and Dance Research Journal. She has curated several exhibits on dance and politics in Europe and Washington, DC. Before her academic career, she was a dancer and then a portfolio manager on Wall Street. Her papers are held at the Library of Congress as the Victoria Phillips Collection.

This event is presented in Zoom. Live closed captioning will be available.

Image description: book cover for Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy, which depicts a shadow of Martha Graham, seated, in profile.