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For the supercentenarian, see Martha Graham (supercentenarian). Martha Graham ( December 27, 1844 &ndash June 25, 1959) was an American Supercentenarian who became the oldest recorded
See also: Category:Ballets by Martha Graham
Martha Graham, shown here with Bertram Ross
Martha Graham, shown here with Bertram Ross

Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American dancer and choreographer regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, and is widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic See also, Choreography (literally "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" (circular dance see chorea) and "γραφή" See also Dance, Concert dance Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Graham invented a new language of movement, and used it to reveal the passion, the rage and the ecstasy common to human experience. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and during that time was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, the first dancer ever to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and the first dancer ever to receive the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable. "

Contents

Biography

Early years

Martha Graham was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a small town that is now part of Pittsburgh. There is also Allegheny County and several Allegheny Townships in Pennsylvania Her father, George Graham, was what in the Victorian era was known as an "alienist", or a doctor of nervous disorders, which was an early form of psychiatry. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities Psychiatry is a medical specialty which exists to study, prevent, and treat Mental disorders in Humans Psychiatric Martha's father was a third generation American of Scots-Irish descent, and her mother a tenth generation descendant of Myles Standish. Captain Myles Standish (c 1584 &ndash October 3, 1656) (sometimes spelled Miles Standish was an English born military officer hired As a doctor's family, the Graham's had a very high standard of living. For example, Dr. Graham often brought his wife strawberries in the winter at a time when they were difficult to acquire, and the Graham children were looked after by a live-in, Irish maid. Although, the social status in which Martha was raised contributed to her education and exposure to art, her family's status largely worked against her. As the eldest daughter of a prominent and strict, Presbyterian, doctor's family she would be strongly discouraged from considering any career in the performing arts. Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity

Though her father was a man of science, he was also theatrical, often playing music and singing for his children. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Martha was the eldest daughter in the family and a willful child. Once, when she got in trouble, her father asked her what she had done, and Martha lied to him. He read her body language, knew she was lying to him, and told her, perhaps apocryphally, "Movement never lies. " This phrase would become a catechism she would remember and repeat throughout her life.

When Martha was fourteen years old, her family left the often cold and sooty Western Pennsylvania and moved to Santa Barbara, California as a remedy for Mary, Martha's sister, who had respiratory condition. Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County California, United States. The Graham family traveled cross-country by train. The seemingly infinite expanses of the Midwest made an impression on young Martha and would later inform such works as "Frontier". Santa Barbara, a wonderland of sunshine, oak trees and flowers, provided a strong stimulus to the Graham children, and was a significant contrast to Pennsylvania.


When Martha was sixteen years old, she saw a poster for a dance performance by Ruth St. Denis in Los Angeles, and she begged her father to take her. Ruth St Denis ( January 20, 1879 – July 21, 1968) was an early Modern dance pioneer Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West He complied. In her autobiography, Blood Memory, Graham recalled that her father bought her a bouquet of violets from a Japanese flower vendor outside of the theater. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The performance was a revelation to her, and she decided on the spot that she would devote her life to dance. This did not go over well with her parents. The world of dance was not a proper pursuit for the daughter of an upstanding physician, let alone a Presbyterian. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health But something she saw on that stage in Los Angeles struck a chord within her. Graham was undaunted.

The prevailing style of dance in the early 20th century United States was an odd mixture of fledgling influences. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Ballet had been well-established for centuries in Europe and translated fairly well for American audiences. But American dance also drew on a range of other styles and less formal influences including tribal dance, folk dances, burlesque, vaudeville, fantasy, acrobatics, and others. In contrast to high-brow European ballet, American dance was seen as more exotic, popular entertainment and not a form of high art.

Martha was in the right place at the right time. Californian Isadora Duncan had begun to redefine the concept of American dance, and had developed a platform upon which the art form could step beyond itself to something richer and more complex. Isadora Duncan (May 26 1877 &ndash September 14 1927 was an American dancer Many of her dances had a naturalistic style, reminiscent of plants and flowers, with women dressed in gauzy, flowing dresses who moved about the stage barefoot. For people with the name Barefoot see Barefoot (surname Going barefoot (also barefoot ed) means for a person not to use or Duncan drew upon Greek Mythology for her influences. Simultaneously in California, another dance pioneer, Ruth St. Denis, worked along parallel lines, though she drew upon Asian, Egyptian, Mexican, and Native American influences. Both Duncan and St. Denis took the first steps in building the foundation of what Graham would do later. However vital their influences were to Graham's development, their progress in the field was incremental whereas Graham's would be revolutionary.

As soon as Martha had completed high school she was enrolled at the Cumnock School, a junior college where she could study liberal arts as well as the arts. In 1916, at the age of twenty, Martha enrolled with the Denishawn Dance School, studying under Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. She was told that she was too old to begin to dance and that her body did not have the correct build for it. But she persevered. Martha proved to be a quick study with an impressive attention to detail and she worked incredibly hard to train her body to great precision.

1920s

Graham toured with the Denishawn company for years before she moved to New York City in 1923 where lived in Greenwich Village, and had some success as a dancer on Broadway with the Greenwich Village Follies. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada The City of New York Greenwich Village (ˌgrɛnɪtʃ ˈvɪlɪdʒ often simply called the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern Manhattan Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Although, she was able to make an impressive sum of money, she also felt dissatisfied. At the age of thirty she accepted a teaching position at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she directed a newly formed dance department. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. She enjoyed having her own students to teach but she chafed against the limits and the bureaucracy of the school. She returned to New York City and began to teach dance out of a classroom in the back of Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east During this time she began to choreograph some of her earliest dances. On April 18, 1926, she gave the first performance of her own dance company. Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This was an important milestone for the young dancer but even she recognized her early performances as derivative of her work with Denishawn. As she continued to choreograph, her dances increasingly became her own, each one pushing herself and the art form further. With early dances such as "Revolt" (1927) and "Fragments" (1928) Graham found her voice. Her breakthrough was in 1929 with "Heretic", in which Graham appeared as a sole dancer dressed in white facing a wall of opposing dancers dressed in black while a simple, stark, Breton song was pounded out on the piano by Louis Horst. Horst would go on to become a life-long collaborator. 1930's "Lamentation" saw Graham as a solo dancer on a bare stage encased in a tube of stretch jersey fabric, rocking with pain and anguish.

Graham's early dances were not generally well-received by audiences who were not sure what they were seeing. The works were spare, powerful and modern, devoid of the dreaminess and glamour of the works of the previous decades. The dances were often based on strong, precise movement and pelvic contractions, and were charged with beauty and emotion. It was a stirring period of revolution for Graham in which she would begin to establish a new language of dance which was different from everything that preceded it and which would leave everything that came after it indelibly changed.

In the 1930s, Graham taught at Bennington College and New York University where Martha Hill directed the dance departments. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. Bennington College is a nationally recognized liberal arts college located in Bennington Vermont. New York University ( NYU) is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in New York City. Martha Hill ( December 1, 1900 &ndash November 19, 1995) was one of the most influential American dance instructors in history In 1951, Graham became a founding member of the dance division of the Juilliard School, also directed by Martha Hill. The Juilliard School, located in New York City, is a world renowned Performing arts conservatory.

A new era in dance

Photo by Yousuf Karsh, 1948
Photo by Yousuf Karsh, 1948

In 1936, Graham made her defining work, "Chronicle", which signalled the beginning of a new era in contemporary dance. Yousuf Karsh, CC ( December 23 1908 &ndash July 13 2002) was a Canadian photographer of Armenian The dance brought serious issues to the stage for the general public in a dramatic manner. Influenced by the Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression and the Spanish Civil War, it focused on depression and isolation, reflected in the dark nature of both the set and costumes.

In 1926, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance was established. Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is located in New York City and is the headquarter to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Martha Graham Dance One of her students was heiress Bethsabée de Rothschild with whom she became close friends. Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild (name sometimes spelled Batsheva ( September 23, 1914, in London - April 20, 1999 When Rothschild moved to Israel and established the Batsheva Dance Company in 1965, Graham became the company's first director, groomed its first generation of dancers, and created dances for the company. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The Batsheva Dance Company is a honored dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel and founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild

In 1948, Graham married Erick Hawkins (a principal dancer in her company), who was younger than she was. Frederick Hawkins known as Erick Hawkins ( April 23, 1909 - November 23, 1994) was a leading modern-dance choreographer and dancer Although Graham was not really interested in marriage as an institution, she felt that after eight years of living with Hawkins that marriage would be an appropriate step.

Her largest-scale work, the evening-length Clytemnestra, was created in 1958, and features a score by the Egyptian-born composer Halim El-Dabh. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh ( Arabic: حليم عبد المسيح الضبع; born in Sakakini, Cairo, Egypt on March 4

Graham's mother died in Santa Barbara in 1958. Her oldest friend and musical collaborator Louis Horst died in 1964. She said of Horst "His sympathy and understanding, but primarily his faith, gave me a landscape to move in. Without it, I should certainly have been lost. " Graham's lighting designer Jean Rosenthal died of cancer in 1967.

Graham actually despised the term "modern dance" and preferred "contemporary dance. " She thought the concept of what was "modern" was constantly changing and was thus inexact as a definition.

For a majority of her life Graham resisted the recording of her dances and would not allow them to be filmed or photographed. She believed the performances should exist only live on the stage and in no other form. At one point she even burned volumes of her diaries and notes to prevent them from being seen. There were a few notable exceptions. For example, she worked on a limited basis with still photographers, Imogen Cunningham in the 1930s, and Barbara Morgan in the 1940s. Imogen Cunningham ( April 12 1883 - June 24 1976) was an American Photographer known for her photography of botanicals Barbara Morgan (1900-1992 was an American Photographer best known for her work in dance The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be Graham considered Philippe Halsman's photographs of "Dark Meadows" the most complete photographic record of any of her dances. Philippe Halsman (Filips Halsmans 2 May, 1906 Riga, Latvia - 25 June, 1979 New York City) was a Latvian Halsman also photographed in the 1940s: "Letter to the World", "Cave of the Heart", "Night Journey" and "Every Soul is a Circus. " In later years her thinking on the matter evolved and others convinced her to let them recreate some of what was lost.

Graham started her career at an age that was considered late for a dancer. She was still dancing by the late 1960s, and turned increasingly to alcohol to soothe her own despair at her declining body. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 A younger generation who had heard of her legend went to her later performances and were confused about what all the fuss was about. Her works from this era included roles for herself which were more acted than danced and relied on the movement of the company dancing around her. Graham's love of dance was so profound that she refused to leave the stage despite critics who said she was past her prime. When the chorus of critics grew too loud, Graham finally left the stage.

In her biography Martha Agnes de Mille cites Graham's last performance as the evening of May 25, 1968 in a 'Time of Snow'. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. But in A Dancer's Life biographer Russell Freedman lists the year of Graham's final performance as 1969. In her 1991 autobiography Blood Memory Graham herself lists her final performance as her 1970 appearance in "Cortege of Eagles" when she was 76 years old.

Those who had the privilege of seeing her perform in her prime have attested to her precision, form and mesmerizing brilliance as a dancer on stage. Though she is arguably one of the most important choreographers in the history of dance (and perhaps one of the most important artists of the 20th century) she always said that she preferred to be known and remembered as a dancer. In the years that followed her departure from the stage Graham sank into a deep depression fueled by views from the wings of young dancers performing many of the dances she had choreographed for herself and her former husband Erick Hawkins. Frederick Hawkins known as Erick Hawkins ( April 23, 1909 - November 23, 1994) was a leading modern-dance choreographer and dancer Graham's health declined precipitously as she abused alcohol to numb her pain. In Blood Memory she wrote:

"It wasn't until years after I had relinquished a ballet that I could bear to watch someone else dance it. I believe in never looking back, never indulging in nostalgia, or reminiscing. Yet how can you avoid it when you look on stage and see a dancer made up to look as you did thirty years ago, dancing a ballet you created with someone you were then deeply in love with, your husband? I think that is a circle of hell Dante omitted. "

"[When I stopped dancing] I had lost my will to live. I stayed home alone, ate very little, and drank too much and brooded. Finally my system just gave in. I was in the hospital for a long time, much of it in a coma. "

Graham not only survived her hospital stay but she rallied. In 1972 she quit drinking, returned to her studio, reorganized her company and went on to choreograph ten new ballets and many revivals. Her last completed ballet was 1990's Maple Leaf Rag.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 by President Gerald Ford (the First Lady Betty Ford had danced with Graham in her youth). The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is along with the equivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr (July 14 1913 December 26 2006 was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 and the fortieth Vice President First Lady is a term used in the United States to describe the wife of an elected male Head of state. Elizabeth Anne Bloomer Warren Ford (born April 8 1918 is the widow of former United States

Graham choreographed until her death from pneumonia in 1991 at the age of 96. She was cremated, and her ashes spread over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for " Blood of Christ " are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America.

In 1998, Time listed her as the "Dancer of the Century" and as one of the most important people of the 20th century. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and

Quotes

According to Agnes de Mille: "I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. . . . I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly,"

'"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. . . . No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"'
from The Life and Work of Martha Graham [1]

"It was [Robert Edmond] Jones who used to say to his classes, Some of you are doomed to be artists. Martha picked up this phrase and used it many times thereafter. She also borrowed from him the phrase doom-eager, which he had borrowed from Ibsen. "

from The Life and Work of Martha Graham [2]

Quotes from the public

1998,TIME Magazine
1998, People Magazine
1920, Unknown
1976, President Gerald R. Ford

Choreography

Early dancers

So many important dancers appeared in Graham's company that any listing involves editorial decisions that leave out deserving performers. Some lists made by scholars include:

"Graham's original girls were superb - Bessie Schonberg, Evelyn Sabin, Martha Hill, Gertrude Shurr, Anna Sokolow, Nelle Fisher, Dorothy Bird, Bonnie Bird, Sophie Maslow, May O'Donnell, Jane Dudley, Anita Alvarez, Pearl Lang - as were the second group - Yuriko, Ethel Butler, Ethel Winter, Jean Erdman, Patricia Birch, Nina Fonaroff, Matt Turney, Mary Hinkson. Anna Sokolow (February 9 1910 Hartford Connecticut &ndash March 29 2000 in New York City New York) was a Jewish American Dancer and Sophie Maslow ( March 22, 1911 - June 25, 2006) was an American choreographer modern dancer and teacher and founding member of New Dance May O'Donnell ( 1909 - February 1, 2004) was an American modern dancer and Choreographer. Pearl Lang (born 1922 is a Modern dance teacher and choreographer who worked with dance legend Martha Graham. Jean Erdman (born February 20, 1916) is a dancer and choreographer of Modern dance. Patricia Birch is an American Choreographer and director for Musical theatre and Film. And the group of men - Erick Hawkins, and after him Merce Cunningham, David Campbell, John Butler, Robert Cohan, Stuart Hodes, Glen Tetley, Bertram Ross, Paul Taylor, Mark Ryder, William Carter. Frederick Hawkins known as Erick Hawkins ( April 23, 1909 - November 23, 1994) was a leading modern-dance choreographer and dancer See also Merce Cunningham (born April 16, 1919 in Centralia Washington, United States is an American Dancer and choreographer Born in New York in 1925 Robert Cohan is a Dancer, Choreographer, and teacher a key figure in the development of British contemporary dance Glen Tetley ( 2 February 1926, Cleveland Ohio &ndash 26 January 2007, Florida) was an American ballet and modern Paul Taylor (born July 29, 1930) is one of the foremost American Choreographers of the 20th century. " [3]

Graham also taught movement classes to actors including Woody Allen. Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and Madonna was a pupil of Graham's as well in the 1980s. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

Later former dancers

Elisa Monte, Takako Asakawa, Lyndon Branaugh, Christine Dakin, Peggy Lyman, Terese Capucilli, Maxine Sherman, Joyce Herring, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Dudley Williams, Tim Wengerd, Dan Wagoner, Donlin Foreman, Peter Sparling, Pascal Rioult, Kenneth Topping, Steve Rooks and Larry White. Terese Capucilli is an American Modern dancer best known for her work with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Peter Sparling is a Thurnau Professor and former chair of the University of Michigan Department of Dance and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor-based Peter Sparling Dance

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ^ *de Mille, Agnes (1991). was a prominent Japanese American Artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades from the 1920s onward The American Dance Festival is a six-week summer festival of Modern dance performances and a school for dance currently held at Duke University in Durham Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is located in New York City and is the headquarter to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Martha Graham Dance Agnes George de Mille ( September 18, 1905 &ndash October 7, 1993) was an American Dancer and Choreographer See also Dance, Concert dance Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of Modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the Terese Capucilli is an American Modern dancer best known for her work with the Martha Graham Dance Company. 20th century Concert dance is the name given to a category of Dance forms that include Free dance Modern dance This is a list of dance and ballet companies A B C D E F John Martin became America’s first major dance critic in 1927 See also List of New York City Ballet repertory, NYCB 2008 Summer tour repertory Episodes is a ballet made by New York City Ballet Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham. NYC: Random House, p. 264. ISBN 0-394-55643-7.   de Mille precedes the Graham quotation with: "The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. Schrafft's was a candy and chocolate company based in Sullivan Square, Charlestown Massachusetts. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly, . . . "
  2. ^ Ibid. (de Mille, 1991), p. 115
  3. ^ Ibid. (de Mille, 1991), p. 417

Further reading

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