Martha Graham Overview

As a dancer, teacher, and choreographer of almost mythic stature, Martha Graham loomed over American dance. She created a technique that married energetic force to form; an entire new dance vocabulary resulted from her study of the dynamics of breath. Calling... [more]

As a dancer, teacher, and choreographer of almost mythic stature, Martha Graham loomed over American dance. She created a technique that married energetic force to form; an entire new dance vocabulary resulted from her study of the dynamics of breath. Calling her dance creations "a graph of the heart," Graham approached her art with a commitment to truth bordering on the fanatical. At 20 she enrolled in the controversial Denishawn dance school. The school's musical director, Louis Horst, noted her raw brilliance and utter devotion to dance, and (after becoming her lover) encouraged her to strike out on her own. Once she began choreographing for herself, her training in flowing lines and sensuous posturing metamorphosed into a stark new drama of angles and intersections. When her first solo recital received mixed reviews, Graham turned to teaching to supply her income, and her fierce charisma attracted flocks of young bohemians. One pupil, Bette Davis, landed an acting job by performing a Graham-styled fall down a flight of stairs. Graham's early ballets, such as "Primitive Mysteries" (1931), traverse emotional ranges from writhing agony to jubilant glee, and pulse with the undercurrents of tribal rituals. "Appalachian Spring" (1944), choreographed to Aaron Copeland's classic suite, is both an exhilarating mating dance and a celebration of American heritage. Graham's utter originality and spare, highly stylized symbology of movement was informed by her investigation of literature, myth, and philosophy, as well as her own emotions. "I do not do choreography. I create vehicles for myself," Graham declared. Her complex web of narrative associations, technical genius, and sheer dramatic magnificence left audiences breathless. The grande dame of the dance, whose indefatigable spirit and commitment to art compelled her to choreograph into her 90s, bequeathed a rich legacy. [show less]