Errand into the Maze Errand into the Maze Errand into the Maze is a Martha Graham ballet based on a poem by Ben Belitt set to music by Gian Carlo Menotti. The surrealistic set was designed by Isamu Noguchi, the costumes by Graham herself. The dance uses the Greek myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur to explore the theme of conquering one’s inner demons, more specifically the fear of sexual intimacy. The piece premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre on February 28, 1947, with Graham as the protagonist, a sort of female Theseus, and Mark Ryder as the Minotaur-like character. The original program notes describe
Seduction of the Minotaur Seduction of the Minotaur Seduction of the Minotaur is an autobiographical novel by the mixed nationality writer Anaïs Nin, the last part of her "Cities of the Interior" sequence. It is about a woman named Lillian, and her self-psychoanalysis. The setting is taken from Anaïs' diary account of her first trip to Acapulco in 1947, and the novel repeats much of the first part of "The Diary of Anaïs Nin" volume V. Since the author was concerned with psychology rather than physical adventure, there is actually less violence in the novel than in the diary account. The exception is that