In the News: Checkout this press roundup for 'in case of fire, speak'
The first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Martha Graham Dance Company and PHILADANCO! was celebrated for its impact.
As part of ArtPhilly's What Now: 2026, choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans used archival material alongside new musical composition, writing and visual design to create his response to Martha Graham's 1938 work "American Document."
Philadelphia Tribune called out the project's powerful historical context:
At the heart of "in case of fire, speak" is a question that refuses to grow old: What is an American? Choreographer Evans created the work for eight dancers, four from each company, inspired by American Document, a work Graham created in 1938 in reaction to the rise of fascism in Europe. That Graham-era urgency feels unmistakably present tense in 2026.
"As a Black, queer choreographer, I do not experience democracy as something guaranteed. I experience it as something negotiated. Freedom, for me, is not abstract. It is physical. It is whether my body can move, speak and exist without being policed, reduced or erased,” Evans shared via Penn Live Arts.
Broad Street Review appreciated Evans' singular vision:
Evans has a knack for creating work that is at once accessible, powerful, and subtle. I can’t think of better qualities to bring to an exploration of America. The new piece has a conversational relationship with its predecessor; Evans told me: American Document asks a question, and in case of fire, speak answers. He envisions the dance as an exchange between Graham and himself, addressing “the America she lived in, and the America I live in now.”
Broadway World previewed the collaboration:
MGDC and PHILADANCO! are seminal to the canon of American concert dance: Martha Graham through her groundbreaking choreography and continuing legacy; and PHILADANCO! for its commitment to a repertory that, since its founding in 1970 by Joan Myers Brown, has been a creative archive of transformational African-American choreographers. Both companies remain immersed in their foundational ideas while inviting and embracing new perspectives in contemporary exploration by choreographers of this moment.
Photos by Daniel Jackson for Embassy: Interactive.