The Spanish Civil War began in July of 1936. Martha Graham created Chronicle during that summer.
Some 9 months earlier, in September of 1935, Graham received an invitation from the Third Reich to participate in the 1936 Summer Olympics being held in Berlin.
Graham’s invitation – signed by Reich Minister of Propaganda Dr. Joseph Goebbels
And Martha Graham’s response:
“I would find it impossible to dance in Germany at the present time. So many artists whom I respect and admire have been persecuted, have been deprived of the right to work for ridiculous and unsatisfactory reasons, that I should consider it impossible to identify myself, by accepting the invitation, with the regime that has made such things possible.”
(Martha Graham, Blood Memory)