Pearl Lang, who started dancing with the Graham company in 1942, called the news devastating.

"You can't open a school without a dollar for teachers or the accompanist," said Pearl Lang, a former company dancer and noted choreographer.

Pearl Lang's accomplishments in the world of modern dance have been unusually varied and enduring.

There is no movement without emotional resonance in Pearl Lang's choreography.

"Three accompanists showed up," Pearl Lang, a former Graham star who teaches at the school, said yesterday about a class this week.

The trust was not aware at the time that each of the five visiting teachers had signed the letter, including the choreographer Pearl Lang.

Pearl Lang, once one of Graham's leading dancers, has restaged this first revival since 1984 with the firm hand of a theatrical director.

The two had performed together in Pearl Lang's modern-dance company.

He was married to dancer, teacher and choreographer Pearl Lang from 1964 until her death in February 2009.

Pearl Lang, 87, American dancer and choreographer, heart attack.