Produced and Directed by Terese Capucilli

Camera: Nan Melville, Aleksandr ‘Sasha’ Popov

Edited by: Susan B. Ades, Terese Capucilli

Since 1978, Reed Hansen’s beautiful and inspiring music has carried me as a student, performer, director and teacher. The necessity to document his vast wealth of knowledge drove me to set up a single camera in the studio in 2014. For years, I had been thinking about how essential it was to capture Reed in his element. I knew instinctually that time was of the essence and it was Nan Melville’s generous guidance and steadfast optimism throughout that gave me the courage to move forward in earnest.

Then 82 years old, Reed had been accompanying classes of the Martha Graham Technique™ at The Juilliard School since 1958 and has had an enduring relationship from the early ’ 70’s with the Martha Graham School and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Martha chose Reed as her personal accompanist.

It has been well established that all existing contemporary dance techniques can find their roots in the vocabulary and principles of pedagogy pioneered by Martha Graham. The musician is a critical component to the teaching of Graham’s technique and to a student’s ability to understand its expressive and dynamic physicality. The Graham accompanist’s vital role in the classroom, however, has never before been documented to provide a way that replicates how so many musicians learn to play for the technique — through intensive observation and sensitive listening in the spontaneity of the classroom. For those so fortunate to observe him in the studio, Reed Hansen has been that distinguished musician to emulate.

Reed has a deep-rooted sensibility of the union between teacher, student and accompanist. Through masterful improvisation, his lifetime development of the musical underpinning of Graham’s formalized physical language, its progressive vocabulary, transitional phrasing and nuance, has enriched the artistry of generations of dancers and forged the way for other dance accompanists. His contribution to the preservation of the methodology for teaching Martha Graham’s codified technique and philosophy is unprecedented.

I see Reed as one of our unsung heroes and, through the filming process, have not been able to separate the man from the work. The two are so selflessly intertwined. The Sacrosanct Accompanist, reveals the journey of a dedicated life, one that always brings such ‘amazing grace’ into our studios. A documentary and educational tool focusing on Graham’s essential floorwork vocabulary, this film gives an inside look at the technique, uncommonly — and solely— from the perspective of the accompanist. It is my gift to Reed and to those I hope will follow in his footsteps.

Terese Capucilli, Faculty, The Juilliard School; Martha Graham Dance Company (1979-2005) Principal Dancer, Co-Artistic Director

This beautiful documentary offers a pristine journey through sound and movement, giving overdue credence to the essential contribution that accompanists make to the dance world. This film is a kind of valentine to Lawrence “Reed” Hansen, who for generations has been one of the most inspiring musicians in the field.

Master of the art of improvisation for dance, Hansen makes this noblest of art forms an extraordinary pleasure to watch. At once, the documentary captures Reed’s delightful demeanor and evidences this stellar musician’s passion for and skill at accompanying dance classes.

How he does this is at the core of this film as he accompanies specific exercises drawn from Martha Graham’s technique. Each exercise is articulated by Hansen at the keyboard and demonstrated exquisitely by students of The Juilliard School and the Graham studio where musician-accompanists are a critical part of the classroom experience. This cross-pollination of disciplined caring and devotion illuminates the kinetic genius of Graham’s movement invention: each segment becomes a sculpted masterpiece for the eyes and ears, doubly rewarding for the viewer.

Throughout, Reed’s invaluable comments explain how he incorporates basic components of pulse, meter, style, register, tone, melodic and rhythmic phrasing, and dynamic range to achieve his extraordinary brand of improvised dance accompaniment. Stressing the importance of internalizing the tempo, Reed’s music lifts and supports, as he plays with rhythms — both subtle and seductive, syncopated and forceful, with shifting dynamics and qualities, accumulations, and suspenseful silences, all conceived to supply an aura of expansion and possibility.

Central to this film is Hansen’s quiet generosity and commitment to the dance field, day after day. Clearly, the word ‘accompanist’ does not describe the full extent of this musician’s role within the classroom. Reed Hansen’s influence is much greater. He is a movement facilitator seamlessly connecting the aural and physical experience — And it is Terese Capucilli’s extraordinary and dedicated direction as filmmaker/producer that reveals this.

— Janet Mansfield Soares, Dance Educator, Author, Louis Horst: A Musician in a Dancer’s World and Martha Hill and the Making of American Dance

Very little has been documented about the person who sits in the corner, behind their instrument, and contributes significantly to the daily life of the dancer – the dance class musician. 

As collaborative artists in the classroom, dance musicians who provide music for the dance technique class interpret movement through their music. In a typical class, the teacher demonstrates the dance exercise and provides the framework for the music through the tempo, meter, rhythmic energy, and character of the movement. Then the musician creates music that supports all of the musical and physical aspects of each exercise; sometimes reading or improvising on a score or composing music spontaneously. At the end of class, the tradition is to acknowledge the teacher and the musician through a reverential moment.

There is important historical significance about this film. It is the first film, that I know of, to document the life and work of a dance musician and is a rare opportunity for the viewer to see an expert in improvisation for dance in action. Through Reed’s life, Capucilli examines the craft of dance accompaniment and helps us learn what it is and how it can be done. We have examples of music that contribute to the history of improvisation in music and music improvisation for dance.

Hansen is not only a supreme example of an artist who knows how to create music in a class of Martha Graham’s technique, but also for making music in modern/contemporary dance classes in general. The depth and breadth of his improvisations is remarkable. Of particular note, is the variety of music he provides for the floorwork associated with a Graham class.

The Sacrosanct Accompanist demonstrates the crucial role that the musician plays in the training and education of dancers. We can see that the musician is elevated to a rightful place in the dance classroom — as partner and driving force in the learning community — and we are witnesses to the genius of one of the most important class musicians from the 1950’s to the present.

— Dr. Suzanne Knosp, Professor of Dance, Music Director for Dance, specialist in the research, education and training of dance musicians, creator of the curriculum for the Master of Music in Dance Accompaniment, The University of Arizona

This film was made possible through the generous support of

 The Princess Grace Foundation-USA

 Additional funding by Jody and John Arnhold

and

The John Erskine Faculty Prize, The Juilliard School

 Filmed at The Juilliard School and The Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance, NYC

 Running time: 115 mins