I’m Nobody! Who are you?  

Are you - Nobody - too?  

                                     — Emily Dickinson (1830-186)

PREMIERED APRIL 2, 2025 AT THE JOYCE THEATER, NYC. 

Produced with support from Martha Graham Dance Company, New York University Tisch Department of Dance, The O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, and GoFundMe contributors. Archival footage courtesy of the Martha Graham Dance Company, all rights reserved.
Still photo by Isabella Pagano @visualsbyispagano 

Letter to Nobody

Letter to Nobody is a new work conceived by Martha Graham company member Xin Ying and created by Xin Ying in collaboration with Mimi Yin and NUUM Collective. Using archival footage we fabricate a duet with the past to reflect on what's possible in the future.

Letter to Nobody revives Letter to the World, a 1940 work dedicated to Emily Dickinson and immortalized by Barbara Morgan in her iconic photograph, Kick.

An impressionistic narrative ballet, Letter does not attempt to recount Dickinson’s life but instead uses the poet’s own words to express the many facets of her inner life. 

The 1940 performance features Graham alongside notable company members including Eric Hawkins and Merce Cunningham brings Martha back to the stage to perform a duet with Xin Ying that transcends the generations of dancers that have now passed through the company since Martha’s death in 1991, never having danced or talked with her in life.

In this 100th year of Martha Graham, what does it mean to carry on Graham’s legacy?

She's Martha Graham, Who are you? by Brian Seibert New York Times April 7, 2025