Jesse Factor
The Marthaodyssey
Schaeffer Theatre
Adult: $40
Student/Senior/Educator: $20
A limited number of $5 tickets will be available to anyone while supplies last!
“A delectable spectacle that merges Graham’s rigor, pop’s ecstasy, and drag’s defiance.”
– Elise Ryan, Petrichor Pittsburgh
What happens when the “High Priestess of Modern Dance” meets the “Queen of Pop”?
Step into a world where the rigid lines of the proscenium arch melt into the neon glow of a stadium tour. The Marthaodyssey is a solo, evening-length spectacle by dance artist Jesse Factor that dares to ask: What if Martha Graham choreographed Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition World Tour?
It’s a high-camp, high-art drag transformation. Factor siphons the rich, visceral physicality of Martha Graham’s legendary archive and recontextualizes it through the sonic landscape of Madonna’s most iconic era.
Expect a lip sync like you’ve never seen before—where the angular contractions of modern dance collide with the fierce attitude of the 90s ballroom scene.
Jesse Factor’s obsession with the cultural phenomenon of the diva figure, iconicity, and remembering provides an entry point into his solo work. This growing repertoire centers artifice, nostalgia, and cross gender-identification. His ongoing ‘Marthaodyssey’’ series builds imagined combinations of archival Graham movement and themes with popular music and takes delight in the dissonant intersections of these worlds. Other works such as ‘Relic’, ‘Mommie Queerest’ and ‘Kween Kong’ embody impossible fusions, bridge cultural worlds, and play with concepts of the monstrous and sublime. Awards include National Dance Project Finalist and Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Arts Revival Grant for ‘Show Queen’, Twin Cities Arts Reader Critics Pick and Minnesota Fringe Staff Pick for ‘RELIC’ at the MN Fringe Festival, and Outstanding Dance Performance for ‘Marthagany’ at the Fresh Fruit Festival (NYC). Factor received a Kelly Strayhorn Theater Freshworks residency (Pgh) for ‘I am a Haunted House’, a collaborative work with multimedia artist Scott Andrew in 2020. Factor’s work has been presented at TQ Live! – Andy Warhol Museum (Pgh), Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, KYLD Inhale (Phila), OUTsider Festival (Austin), Milton Art Bank (Milton), RADfest (Kalamazoo), Fierce Queer Burlesque (Toronto), St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, Fresh Fruit Festival (NYC) and House of Yes (NYC). Factor danced professionally with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Graham II, National Touring Company of CATS, and earned a BFA from Tisch/NYU, MFA from the University of Iowa.
Website:. jessefactor.com/marthaodyssey
Follow on Instagram: @jessefactor
