TV REVIEWS : PBS Ably Presents ‘Martha Graham’

The vagaries of international co-production send PBS’ “Dance in America” series to Paris tonight for “Three Dances by Martha Graham.” The 48-minute telecast is scheduled for 9 p.m. on Channel 24, 10 p.m. on channels 28 and 15.

Although we periodically see a Paris Opera audience, the lighting and camera placements for at least two of the works aren’t those of a standard theater shoot.

Director Peter Mumford doesn’t sustain his best ideas, but at least he begins “Steps in the Street” boldly, with superimposed long shots and close-ups appropriate for a 1936 social abstraction that maintains a double focus on the individual and the group.

An excerpt from “Chronicle,” to music by Wallingford Riegger, “Steps” boasts a magnificent sense of spatial design that doesn’t come over in a television version inevitably divided into shots. However Denise Vale and the women’s corps forcefully execute the stark, utilitarian movement vocabulary of this seminal revival.

In contrast, the intimate, episodic “El Penitente” (1940, music by Louis Horst) proves ideal for television, though perhaps we shouldn’t be so near Kenneth Topping’s bare back that we can check whether his flagellation solo leaves welts. With Joyce Herring looking underpowered as the eternal female, Topping’s intensity becomes increasingly dominant in this deceptively naive sketch of Southwest Christian pageants and the deep beliefs they unlock.

Graham’s last completed dance, “Maple Leaf Rag” (1990, music by Scott Joplin) pokes fun at her image along with exploring the gymnastic possibilities of a free-standing barre. Terese Capucilli pouts delectably as the surrogate Martha G., but the piece really belongs to the full company--allowed to look more footloose here than usual.

Spoken by actress Kathleen Turner, the introductions to each work supply essential biographical data and also reveal intriguing links between Graham and visual artists of the period. All in all, this is perhaps the most satisfying Graham telecast in both repertory and directorial sensitivity since the earliest “Dance in America” episode devoted to her.