Maple Leaf Rag (ballet) An audience favorite since the first performance, "Maple Leaf Rag" is a staple of the Graham company repertoire. It is also included in "Three Dances by Martha Graham", a TV program produced by WNET for PBS. Terese Capucilli appears as the Graham surrogate. Kathleen Turner provides the narration. Maple Leaf Rag (ballet) Maple Leaf Rag is a storyless Martha Graham ballet set to ragtime compositions by Scott Joplin. The work premiered on October 2, 1990 at New York City Center with costumes by Calvin Klein and lighting by David Finley. Chris Landriau arranged the music and played piano at the
Maple Leaf Rag Joplin's contract with a $0.01 royalty would have given Joplin an income of $4, or approximately $ in current value. Later sales were steady and would have given Joplin an income which would have covered his expenses; in 1909 estimated sales would have given him an income of $600 annually (approximately $ in current prices). In addition to sales of sheet music, it was also popular in orchestrations for dance bands and brass bands for years. Joplin failed to repeat the success of Maple Leaf Rag, with none of his other famous rags (such as The Entertainer) garnering as much