MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: WE ARE OUR TIME Premieres March 27, 2026 on PBS

Celebrating 100 Years of Innovation from America’s Oldest Contemporary Dance Company, Featuring the Words of Graham Herself, Voiced by Meryl Streep

PBS announced the new two-part series, MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: WE ARE OUR TIME will premiere on Friday, March 27, 2026, at 9:00 p.m. ET, with episode two airing on Friday, April 3 at 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app. As the Graham Company nears its landmark 100th anniversary, WE ARE OUR TIME offers a rare behind-the-scenes portrait of the company, exploring Graham’s legacy through the dancers who embody her work today. For over three years Partisan Pictures embedded within the dance company, filming from rehearsal to premiere, across a global tour, and at home with family.

Woven throughout are the words of Martha Graham herself, spoken by Meryl Streep: “No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time.”

Graham’s singular vision revolutionized dance. Often listed alongside artistic forces such as Picasso and Stravinsky, she upended classical tradition with a striking vocabulary of movement that favored emotional truth over beauty. “I was a heretic,” Graham wrote, “I showed on stage what most people came to the theater to avoid.” With one of the first racially integrated companies, dances that explore the female psyche, and works of political protest, Graham challenged mid-20th century audiences. She believed dance should be vital, not decorative, describing it as “an arrow pointing to life at an instant.”

Through stunning dance sequences, verité storytelling, and interviews with dancers across generations – those who studied with Graham and those who’ve followed – the series reveals the devotion and sacrifice of a dancer’s world. Graham interrogated the American identity, relentlessly questioning what it means to create “American” art. Today, the company continues her pursuit. “We are not making a sacred altar to Martha Graham,” explains artistic director Janet Elber. “We are honoring her appetite for the new.”

“PBS is honored to celebrate one of America’s most groundbreaking artistic institutions,” said Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming at PBS. “MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: WE ARE OUR TIME offers audiences a rare window into the creative legacy that reshaped modern dance, while highlighting the artists who continue to carry Graham’s vision forward. We are proud to share programming that reflects PBS’s mission to broaden the national conversation about such an important subject.”

Episode one, “American Spirit” follows the Graham dancers from rehearsal to premiere as they carry her legacy forward with a new work, a protest dance from choreographer Jamar Roberts in collaboration with Pulitzer-winning composer Rhiannon Giddens. Episode two, “Athletes of God” takes viewers on a world tour with the dance company. Traveling across Europe, the dancers reflect on both the exhilaration and the physical and emotional toll of life on the road. As the first American dance company to tour China post-pandemic, their journey echoes Graham’s belief in movement as a universal language.

Martha Graham’s legacy is not just a technique, but a demand: that art confront and reflect the world as it is. WE ARE OUR TIME captures the passion and urgency required to keep the company – and its founder’s spirit – alive. For the vibrant dancers of the company, that urgency is lived in their bodies. They train for years for that one weightless moment on stage. Company member Alessio Crognale-Roberts summarizes this experience, “You’re alive. You get everything out of yourself, even if it’s sweat, even if it’s pain. Like, I just give it all to you.”

“Capturing the athleticism and breathtaking elegance of each dancer in intimate settings, both in their homes and backstage, was a challenging yet thrilling experience,” said directors Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean. “It was also a first for the Graham company: never before had a documentary team been granted unrestricted access to the day-to-day operations of the company and its dancers. In filming them, we came to understand what Graham meant by being ‘born to the instant.’ Whether through movement on stage or through a camera’s lens, we were both capturing the moment.”

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MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY: WE ARE OUR TIME is a Partisan Pictures production for PBS. It is directed and produced by Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean. Executive Producers are David Kener and Peter Schnall. Editors are Rob Kuhns and Jennifer McGarrity. Cinematography by Peter Schnall, Andrew Baker and Jerry Risius and the Music Supervisor is Jonathan Zalben. The Associate Producer is Lena Schnall.