Dance in Film · 1943
Lamentation (1943)
Simon Moselsio's archival film preserves Martha Graham herself inside the jersey tube of Lamentation, turning the costume's stretched diagonals and her seated contractions into a rare screen record of one of modern dance's defining solos.
Lamentation is a 1943 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 1 indexed dance sequence ↓
Where to watch: No legitimate public stream, subscription stream, or current retail edition of Simon Moselsio's 1943 film was verified on 2026-08-08; MUBI retains a U.S. catalog page without a current play option, and the Library of Congress documents the archival film.
The dance sequences in Lamentation
1 sequence — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Complete Lamentation solo
Graham TechniqueDanced by Martha Graham · Choreography Martha Graham
Graham's head, hands, and feet emerging from purple jersey as the fabric stretches into severe geometric shapes around her seated body.
Restricting nearly the entire solo to a seated struggle inside a purple jersey tube concentrates Graham Technique into bodily tension and sharp diagonals, turning grief into a moving sculpture rather than a literal narrative.
Open the film at this point · Not currently available to stream; timestamp is for reference. Indiana University Libraries lists an 11:41 archival film including John Martin's introduction, but the item requires sign-in. MUBI's U.S. page was opened on 2026-08-14 and showed only a catalog synopsis, not a play option. Library of Congress records a 1943 release while dating the Bennington filming variously to 1937 or 1939; no timestamp was inferred.
Poster artwork and title data from TMDB. This site uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.