Martha Graham Dances Revived

LIZA MINNELLI and Mikhail Baryshnikov were on hand to kick off the Martha Graham Dance Company's season opening last week. The performance was also a tribute to the late Ms. Graham and began with a 1936 film of her dancing the solo, "Frontier."

The show included two revivals performed by her current company, "Panorama" and "Salem Shore," which have not been seen on stage since 1947.

Ms. Minnelli introduced the program at the City Center, and Mr. Baryshnikov spoke at the end, saying the show was the first step leading to a celebration of Graham's life and work in May 1994, the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Graham had asked actress Claire Bloom to narrate her "Letter to the World" 17 years ago, but Ms. Bloom had other commitments. Last Tuesday, Bloom narrated the dance, "Salem Shore," speaking lines from an Elinor Wylie poem that recalls wedding vows. Graham also requested that if "Salem Shore" were reconstructed it be dedicated to her friend, philanthropist Alice Tully.