Talking about dance can be like talking about sex:

How much can mere words enlighten a primarily non-verbal means of physical exchange? 

Martha@BAM—The 1963 Interview puts this question to the test. A restaging of an interview with Martha Graham, she shares her thoughts on specific dances from her career, as two dancers concurrently bring them to life, on the same stage.

Watching choreography accompanied by a voiceover of the choreographer’s explanations is a staple of dance documentaries, but it feels like a rare opportunity in a fully-realized production, a side-by-side conversation and juxtaposition in the relationship between text and visuals as forms of artistic expression.

And yet, because Richard Move as Martha Graham remains seated center stage totally illuminated for the entirety of Martha@BAM, the audience has to choose whether to watch Graham’s choreography, or Move’s corporeal reenactment of Martha’s interview performance, her figurative pas de deux with the interviewer.