Martha Graham Sets and Costumes Damaged By Hurricane Sandy

Andrea Mohin/The New York TimesFang-yi Sheu (center) and fellow members of the Martha Graham Dance Company performing in the reconstructed “Clytemnestra.”

Most of the sets and costumes of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, stored in a downtown basement, were submerged under 6 feet of water in Hurricane Sandy flooding, company officials said on Friday.

The material included programs and posters and a number of sets designed by Isamu Noguchi, one of Graham's most important collaborators. One Noguchi set, for “Clytemnestra,” was built by the artist himself, the company said. Most of the company's costumes were also inundated. The materials were stored in a nearly 4,000-square-foot basement at the Westbeth artists complex, where the center had moved in July. Other submerged productions were “Cave of the Heart,” “Embattled Garden” and “Errand into the Maze.”

LaRue Allen, the Graham center's executive director, said water was almost completely pumped out on Friday and the extent of damage was still to be determined. “I'm afraid we're probably going to have to recreate a lot of stuff,” she said. On the plus side, the sets for “Appalachian Spring,” one of the most famous Graham works, and “Chronicle” were still in College Station, Tex., where the company had recently performed. Those two works are scheduled for a Graham tour in Italy next month. Ms. Allen said she was contacting companies with Graham works in their repertories for help in recreating other sets and costumes.

Valuable video and film had also been removed previously for ar chiving. Ms. Allen said the company took precautions before the storm by moving material onto pallets, anticipating no more than 2 feet of water. “In retrospect, that was amusing,” she said.