Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet presents Dance Legends: Little Traverse Bay Celebrates Graham100
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2026
PETOSKEY, Mich. — The Crooked Tree Arts Center (CTAC) School of Ballet will present two performances in Petoskey this season of Dance Legends: Little Traverse Bay Celebrates Graham100. The first will be held on May 29 at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts and the second on August 22 at John M. Hall Auditorium.
Dance Legends: Little Traverse Bay Celebrates Graham100 is part of a global celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company, the country’s oldest dance company. Under the guest direction of former Martha Graham Dance Company Principal Dancer Peter Sparling and CTAC School of Ballet Artistic Director Heather Raue, the performances will include stagings of two of Graham’s most acclaimed dance works, Appalachian Spring (1944) and Lamentation (1930).
“These works are the most famous and perhaps the most accessible of Graham’s repertoire,” says project director, Peter Sparling. “They suit the occasion of celebrating and sharing with the Little Traverse Bay communities the significance of Graham’s legacy, demonstrating to today’s audience how dance can communicate timeless themes of grief, love, religious belief, and the settlement and expansion of the American continent.”
The May 29 performance of Appalachian Spring will feature Principal dancer with Miami City Ballet and CTAC School of Ballet alumna, Taylor Naturkas, and dancer with Grand Rapids Ballet, Sam Epstein. Naturkas will perform the role of the Bride and Epstein will perform the role of the Husbandman.
Naturkas reflects on her first time working with Sparling at Miami City Ballet. “We did Diversion of Angels (Graham, 1948) there and it was a new experience for me to work in the Graham technique. I continue to want to push and challenge myself in my dancing, so when this opportunity came up to work with Peter again, I was quick to say yes.”
“I’m so grateful to Heather [CTAC School of Ballet Artistic Director] for having me as a guest,” says Epstein. “It’s such a joy to dance alongside Taylor and to be learning so much from Peter throughout the rehearsal process. I’m really excited to return to Petoskey and to share this work with the audience.”
In addition to performing Graham’s original work, Sparling seeks to reimagine Graham's 1938 dance-theater piece, American Document. This work aims to be a community collaboration that explores local and personal histories gleaned from testimonials of a cross-section of members of the local population. Titled Our Own American Document, this reimagined work will fuse dance, music and the spoken word as it asks what it means to be an American living in a democracy in the Little Traverse Bay area.
“Like the original work,” Sparling describes, “these new ‘takes’ will ask the same question that Graham attempted to ‘answer’ in dance and spoken word. I did extensive research on the history of Little Traverse Bay and recorded oral histories of a dozen local citizens to incorporate into this script for the new work. These words will be spoken by two actors while the dancers bring them to life through movement interpretations.”
A lecture-demonstration including the performances of Appalachian Spring and Lamentation will be held for local schools at the Great Lakes Center for the Arts on May 29. This lecture-demonstration will engage young students in guided conversation about storytelling through movement, including an activity where students will be able to explore moving through fabric to connect themes from Lamentation.
Each performance of Lamentation will feature CTAC School of Ballet alumna Marie Millard, accompanied by celebrated pianist Thomas Nickell.
More information about the Graham100 project can be found online at www.crookedtree.org. Tickets for the May 29 performance can be purchased through Great Lakes Center for the Arts online at www.greatlakescfa.org or by calling 231-439-2600. Tickets for the August performance will be available online through CTAC later this season.
Barbara Morgan, Martha Graham, “Celebration” (Trio), 1937, printed later, gelatin-silver print, 17 7/16 x 13 13/16 in., Gift of Richard and Lois Zakia, © Barbara and Willard Morgan photographs and papers, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA Library Special Collections
Peter Sparling (third from left) performing with Martha Graham (center) and company of Graham's Acts of Light, 1984. Photo by Martha Swope. Courtesy of Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
School of Ballet pre-professional dancers Callie Carlson and Leif Vanhorn performing Appalachian Spring during a lecture-demonstration at Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (RADFest). Photo credit: Fran Dwight.
Ben Cheney and cast performing Appalachian Spring during a lecture-demonstration at Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (RADFest). Photo credit: Fran Dwight.