Dancer and choreographer Martha Graham: biography. Martha Graham School and Dance Technique

listen)) is an American dancer, creator of American modern dance, which appeared as a development of free dance.

Her parents were members of the Presbyterian Church, and as a child, she had to regularly attend her. Subsequently, she recalled what a nightmare it was for a child to go to a gloomy, dark church and sit out completely unemotional, lifeless services there. The dance, which she later discovered, was in complete contrast to the boredom of the church service; it was a celebration, a "miracle" of a moving body.

Although the Graham family was religious and considered dancing a sin, she was once allowed to go to a concert by famous dancer Ruth St. Denis. In addition, despite the strictness of their views, Martha's parents were not against her college education. Vassar College, where her parents intended her, was known not only for the quality of education, but also for its sports traditions and suffragist sympathies (suffragism is a movement for women to get the right to vote on an equal basis with men). However, after seeing Ruth Saint-Denis perform, Martha wanted to become a dancer. In the year she was allowed to enroll in the School of Expression in Los Angeles; she then attended Denishawn School, which Saint-Denis herself founded with her partner, Ted Shawn, in California.

During the years of Graham's apprenticeship, dance was seen mainly as entertainment - it was an integral part of vaudeville, costume performances, society balls. Only one type of dance had the status of art - ballet, which in America was considered a European thing. In American dance schools, however, students were trained to participate in shows and cabarets, and were treated accordingly. But Martha wanted to be not a cabaret girl, but a real artist. She proudly recalled later in her memoirs that she was the only one in the school who was exempt from the strict supervision that all other girls were subjected to, on the grounds that "Graham is an art." And subsequently all her men looked up to her as an artist and a genius.

Many commentators on her work have noted Graham's connection with feminism. On the dust jacket of one of her biographies is a quote taken from an article in the New York Times: "The most militant and most talented feminist, Martha Graham, freed both woman and dance!" Although she herself believed that she did not take part in the emancipation movement, Graham broke the stereotype with her dance: a woman is a weak creature.

Literature

Martha Graham. blood memory. New York, 1991.
Don McDonagh. Martha Graham, A Biography. New York, 1973.

Links

I. Sirotkina. Free dance and woman's release -

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Wigman, Mary
Kung

See what "Graham, Martha" is in other dictionaries:

Graham Martha

Graham Martha- (Graham) (1893, according to other sources, 1894 1991), American dancer, choreographer. In 1929 she organized her own troupe. One of the largest representatives of the modern dance school in the USA. * * * GRAHAM Martha GRAHAM (Graham) Martha (b. 1893, after ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Graham Martha- Graham (Graham) Martha (b. 11. 5. 1893, Pittsburgh), American dancer, choreographer, honorary doctor of art history from Harvard University (1966). In 1918–23 she studied at the school of R. Saint Denis and T. Shawn and worked in their troupe. In 1926≈30 she performed with ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

GRAHAM Martha- (Graham, Martha) (1894 1991), American dancer, teacher and choreographer (author of more than 190 productions). She was born in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) on May 22, 1894. In 1916 she entered the Denishawn Dance School (R. Saint Denis T. Shawn) in Los Angeles and through ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

Graham, Martha- M. Graham. Scene from the ballet Majestic Gesture. Iengela. 1935. Graham (Graham) March (1893, according to other sources, 1894 1991), American dancer, choreographer, teacher. One of the brightest representatives of modern dance. Since 1928 she has performed with solo ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Graham, Martha- see Graham, Martha...

Graham (Graham), Martha- (Graham, Martha) (05/21/1894, Allegheny, Pennsylvania 04/01/1991, New York) American dancer, choreographer, dance theorist. Daughter of a psychiatrist. In 1914 she began studying drama and dance at a college in Los Angeles, in 1916 ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Expressionism

Martha Graham- Martha Graham, or rather Graham (eng. Martha Graham; May 11, 1894, Allegheny April 1, 1991, New York) is an American dancer, the creator of American modern dance, which appeared as a development of free dance. Her parents were parishioners ... ... Wikipedia

Graham M.- Martha Graham Martha Graham, or rather Graham (eng. Martha Graham; May 11, 1894, Allegheny April 1, 1991, New York) was an American dancer, the creator of American modern dance, which appeared as a development of free dance. Her parents were her ... ... Wikipedia

Graham- Graham is an English surname. Another transcription of Graham. Known speakers: Clan Graham is one of the clans of the lowlands of Scotland. Graham, Benjamin (1894-1976) Economist and professional investor ... Wikipedia

Martha Graham
Martha Graham photographed by Yusuf Karsh Date of Birth: Date of death: Profession: Citizenship:

USA

Awards:

Biography

Although the Graham family was religious and considered dancing a sin, she was once allowed to go to a concert by famous dancer Ruth St. Denis. In addition, despite the strictness of their views, Martha's parents were not against her college education. Vassar College, where her parents intended her, was known not only for the quality of education, but also for its sports traditions and suffragist sympathies (suffragism is a movement for women to get the right to vote on an equal basis with men). However, after seeing Ruth Saint-Denis perform, Martha wanted to become a dancer. In the year she was allowed to enroll in the School of Expression in Los Angeles; she then attended the Denishawn School, founded by Saint-Denis herself with her partner, Ted Shawn, in Spain.

During the years of Graham's apprenticeship, dance was seen mainly as entertainment - it was an integral part of vaudeville, costume performances, society balls. Only one type of dance had the status of art - ballet, which in America was considered a European thing. In American dance schools, however, students were trained to participate in shows and cabarets, and were treated accordingly. But Martha wanted to be not a cabaret girl, but a real artist. She proudly recalled later in her memoirs that she was the only one in the school who was exempted from the strict supervision that all other girls were subjected to, on the grounds that "Graham is an art." And subsequently all her men looked up to her as an artist and a genius.

In her era, there were rigid stereotypes of masculine and feminine, about, for example, that men are cerebral and women are emotional; men in the dance express themselves in pushing rectilinear movements, and women - in smooth movements that take place along the trajectories of curves. Graham has stated that she "doesn't want to be a tree or a flower or a wave". In her dances, she abandoned the standard view of femininity and strove to make her characters impersonal, conventionally formal, strong and even masculine. In the body of a dancer, according to Graham, the audience should see a person in general - disciplined, capable of high concentration, strong. Many commentators on her work have noted Graham's connection with feminism. On the dust jacket of one of her biographies is a quote taken from an article in the New York Times: "The most militant and most talented feminist, Martha Graham liberated both woman and dance!" Although she herself believed that she did not take part in the emancipation movement, Graham broke the stereotype with her dance: a woman is a weak creature.

Variations on a theme

The tour of the Martha Graham Company is taking place in downtown Manhattan on the stage of the City Center for the first time after a fifteen-year break (past - rare after the death of Graham theater performances in New York - took place at other venues). Three programs are made up of Graham's ballets from different years.
These performances are a real treat for those who love the art of dance in all its manifestations.
Martha Graham (in Russian literature they used to write Graham) is a great choreographer, a great woman, a great creative person of the 20th century. As soon as she was not called in the American press: “Dancer of the century” ... “Icon of the century” ... everything will be fair, Martha Graham cannot be overestimated.
Let me remind you once again of her biography. Graham (1893-1991) is a native American Indian. Graham studied dance at the famous school of modernist dancers of the beginning of the last century, Ruth Saint Denis and H. Shawn. In 1926, Graham founded her troupe and school. She created the language of modern dance. From her school came many famous contemporary modern dancers, modernist choreographers, including Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. Graham was not only a dancer and choreographer, she herself ordered music for her ballets from famous composers, in most cases she created costumes herself. In a word, Graham was a multi-talented creative person, like Diaghilev, Fokine and Benoit rolled into one.
Martha Graham staged dance numbers for artists from other theaters: Margo Fontaine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev. Together with her troupe and in the repertoire of the troupe, world ballet stars Makarova, Plisetskaya, Baryshnikov and Nureyev performed.
Martha Graham believed that movement should be a means of self-expression of the human soul (unfortunately, followers left this fundamental part of Graham's teachings unattended, being mainly engaged in “moving the body in space”). Graham believed that dance is “the instrument of life itself”, the language of the soul. The body, according to Graham, keeps the memory of the most important human states, it is in the dance that the essence of a person is revealed.
Martha Graham knew well not only European culture, but also the culture of the East. The fabric of her choreography, among other things, includes the poses and movements of traditional folklore dances of oriental cultures, oriental symbols.
Graham was interested in ancient Indian mysteries, legends, Greek mythology and literature. The tragic female image is a constant character in Graham's ballets; for many years she was also the first performer of her ballets (the text of Graham's "manifesto" is printed in the programs for performances).
Everything that Graham said, she carried out in her productions. I want to immediately highlight two ballets that again made a stunning impression on me, again - after a twenty-year break, when I saw them for the first time. First of all, this is “The Cave of the Heart” to the music of Samuel Barber (staged in 1946). The ballet is based on the famous Greek myth of Medea and Jason. Medea, one of the greatest sorceresses of Greek myths, fell in love with the leader of the Argonauts, Jason, and helped him get the Golden Fleece. As a result of a series of adventures, Medea and Jason settled on the island of Corinth, where Medea gave birth to two sons from Jason. But Jason decided to marry the daughter of the Corinthian king Creon. Medea gave the newlywed a poisoned veil, and she was burned alive. To top it off, Medea, so that Jason would not have any consolation, killed her sons and flew away from Corinth in a chariot drawn by dragons, which her grandfather Helios, the god of the Sun, presented to her. This is the plot of the myth in a nutshell. Graham brought Medea, Jason and the Princess, his bride, onto the stage. Another dancer plays the role of the Greek choir.
Graham's choreographic dance language is more limited than, say, the language of classical dance or the language of contemporary modernists. But combinations and compositions are infinitely inventive and subservient to meaning. Each gesture is precise and symbolizes the state of mind of the hero. No matter how many characters are on stage at the same time, they never dance in unison (I don't mean rare scenes with an ensemble), but the overall choreographic picture is mesmerizing. With the help of her dance vocabulary, Graham created images of such emotional expressiveness, gave her characters such an accurate description, which is not always found in choreographers of other directions. Jason (the only and excellent performer of the role is artist Kenneth Topping) is a narcissistic male who constantly demonstrates his pumped up biceps. Even in the jump, Jason's body remains motionless: as if a frozen statue was thrown up. And only after seeing the dead body of the bride, Jason forgets about his greatness. The body loses its monumentality, the profile lines resemble a falling statue that has broken into pieces: the plasticity fully expresses the hero's despair.
The dance of the bride is carefree, mostly we see her clinging to Jason's body. Ballet is not only movement, it is also a pose, a frozen moment. Graham often uses frozen groups of dancers in his ballets to enhance the semantic and emotional expressiveness of the performance. So, for example, a frozen group - victorious, monumental Jason, looking somewhere over the heads of the people around him, and a little girl clinging to his leg - contrasts magnificently with the suffering Medea rushing about the stage. When Medea runs up to Jason in the hope of tearing the Princess away from him, Jason pushes her away with his hand, without turning his head, without looking at his former lover. How not to remember the lines from the poems of Marina Tsvetaeva: “Kissed - to wheel: to kiss another”, - they answer.
The woman representing the choir is performed by a tall dancer in long dress, whose folds seem to dance along with her body. Graham liked to dress her heroines in such dresses, the folds of which complemented the aesthetic image, emphasized the femininity and beauty of the dance. Unfortunately, the performers of the two compositions that I saw were not equal: the majestic, expressive Katherine Crockett was replaced by Heidi Stoekley, a tall dancer who absolutely did not feel the peculiarities of Graham's plasticity.
The set was designed by Isamu Naguchi. The scenery in Graham's ballet is always laconic: these are several constructions that are essential for the idea against the background of a drawn (more often monophonic) backdrop.
In the center of the ballet is Medea. When the curtain opens, we see in the depths the frozen figure of the “woman from the choir”. And on the right, against the background of some fantastic silver “tree” with long branches-needles, stands Jason, behind him, embracing him, is the Princess. Medea, who stands behind everyone, is not visible to us, we see only her hands, which grabbed Jason and his bride: Medea is trying to keep Jason. But Jason and his bride break out of Medea's hands. Jason stands majestic and infallible. The bride froze, covering her face with her hands - she does not understand anything in this story and does not see her fate. It is impossible to list all the symbols used by the choreographer.
I saw two performers in the role of Medea: Teresa Capucilli and Christine Dakin. Both dancers started their careers under Martha Graham, and now they are the directors of the troupe. Medea Capuchilli - passionate, suffering, frantic. But Dakin, an actress with a hidden temperament, impressed me more. Her Medea is a strange, nervous, mysterious little sorceress. Medea Capuchilli is a woman, Medea Dakin is rather a creature of another world. Even when she is not dancing, but lies motionless on the floor behind an exotic silvery “tree” and looks into the hall, you cannot take your eyes off her. While the bride dances her childish, serene dance or fawns over Jason, Medea contemplates a plan for revenge. As if spellbound, I followed the change of spiritual states, hidden, coming from the depths of the offended soul, which were read on Dakin's face, in her huge, bright, almost unblinking eyes. And, of course, the height of Dakin's skill is the scene of witchcraft. Instead of a scarf, Medea in the ballet puts a crown on the head of the princess, which crushes her head. The Princess and Jason run backstage, and Medea is alone on the stage - she conjures, in fact, kills the Princess with her sorcery. This choreographic scene and the magic of the performer cannot be expressed in any words. When Medea-Dakin finished her witchcraft ritual, the hall burst into applause.
At the end of the ballet, while Jason is suffering, a woman from the choir silently “screams”, Medea picks up an exotic tree, carries it deep into the stage, attaches it to a dais and herself stands in the middle of this strange structure. So it stands in the midst of vibrating silver branches, triumphant and mysterious. Graham called this tree “spider clothes”, which Medea puts on for a magical transformation: according to the idea, Graham, having committed a crime, should lose the appearance of an earthly woman.
After the end of the ballet, the audience got up from their seats, applauded, shouted. Brilliant choreographer. Brilliant Martha Graham.
The program also includes other ballets on the theme of Greek myths with the main character - a strong, passionate woman. The ballet “On an Assignment in the Labyrinth” to the music of Gian Carlo Menotti (1947) is based on the myth of the Greek mythical hero Theseus and Ariadne. Theseus arrives on the island of Crete, he is doomed to be eaten by the Minotaur living in the labyrinth. Ariadne, falling in love with Theseus, helps him escape death. She hands the hero a ball of thread. After killing the Minotaur, Theseus, using a thread attached to the entrance, was able to get out. Graham made Ariadne the heroine of her ballet, Theseus is not in the ballet. The plot of the ballet is more like a legend about a girl sacrificed to a dragon. Ariadne descends into the center of the labyrinth, where she meets the Minotaur and kills him. Ariadne's terrible “walking” through the mysterious labyrinth, the dances of the Minotaur, the erotic duet-fight of the Minotaur and Ariadne, the return of Aridne from the labyrinth - all this was staged by Martha Graham at the highest level of her gift and skill.
Iradiad (ballet of 1944 to the music of P. Hindemith) also appears before us somewhat unusual. This suffering woman, found herself alone at the end of her life, spends her time staring at her image in the mirror. Instead of a mirror, the artist Noguchi put a rather peculiar design that resembles a skeleton or one of the images of Salvator Dali. For many nations, the mirror is a magical symbol. Perhaps, in this case, this mirror-skeleton is a symbol of the sins of Iradias. Looking at him, Iradiada cannot bear the severity of her crimes and decides to commit suicide.
One of the ballets, "Circe", is associated with the images of Homer's poem "The Odyssey". The 1963 premiere, with music by Alan Hovanes, is staged as a fantasy tale. The woman here is an evil sorceress, a seductress who turns men into animals. But Odysseus and his companion manage to avoid this fate. Erotic, but unkind world of Circe, they prefer their difficult lot - to be a man. One can only marvel once again at the endless ingenuity and resourcefulness of the choreographer, the clarity of the plastic characteristics, as always, precise, expressive and understandable.
One of the programs includes a merry comedy ballet about the love of a pussy cat and an owl (1978). In another, comic ballet of 1990, “Ragged Linden Leaves,” when Graham passed away, she composed a hilarious parody of herself and the theater she created.
The ballet of 1936 “Episodes from the Chronicle” stands apart in the program. This is one of Graham's few ballets with a political theme. In 1936, her company was invited to tour Germany during the Olympic Games. Graham canceled the trip. She did not want to perform in a country with a fascist regime, especially since some of the artists of her troupe could not go on tour because they were Jews. She was insulted for her fellow Jewish artists who had to leave their homeland, Germany. Graham created a ballet consisting of a series of temperamental dances. The mournful monologue of the female soloist (Miki Orihara) is interspersed or combined with mass dances, passionate, mournful, angry. There are no military scenes in the ballet, but the pain of loneliness, exile is conveyed in it. This performance has not been performed by the troupe for a long time. Now it has been restored from small video recordings of that time and from photographs by the famous photographer of the past - Barbara Morgan.
The ballet world of the 20th century changed, new directions arose and developed, new idols appeared and disappeared. But the great Martha Graham is still the great Martha Graham today. Great and immortal, because her ballets - both later and created more than half a century ago - have not become outdated.
For several years after Graham's death, it seemed that the theater was dying. But today we saw an excellently selected and properly trained troupe of dancers-actors. And today, artists in general perform her ballets with a full understanding of the style they reproduce. Passionate emotions, "encoded" in Graham's choreography, are still transmitted to the viewer today.
The last performance of the Martha Graham troupe is April 25th.
Photo by Nina Alovert

Biography

Although the Graham family were religious and considered dancing a sin, she was once allowed to go to a concert by famous dancer Ruth St. Denis. In addition, despite the strictness of their views, Martha's parents were not against her college education. Vassar College, where her parents intended her, was known not only for the quality of education, but also for its sports traditions and suffragist sympathies. However, after seeing Ruth Saint-Denis perform, Martha wanted to become a dancer. In 1913, she was allowed to enter the Los Angeles School of Expression; she then attended Denishawn School, founded by Saint-Denis herself with a partner, Ted Shawn, in Spain.

During the years of Graham's apprenticeship, dance was seen mainly as entertainment - it was an integral part of vaudeville, costume performances, society balls. Only one type of dance had the status of art - ballet, which in America was considered a European thing. In American dance schools, however, students were trained to participate in shows and cabarets, and were treated accordingly. But Martha wanted to be not a cabaret girl, but a real artist. She proudly recalled later in her memoirs that she was the only one in the school who was exempted from the strict supervision that all other girls were subjected to, on the grounds that "Graham is an art." And subsequently all her men looked up to her as an artist and a genius.

The name of the dancer Martha Graham (Graham) will stand in a place of honor as a free dance genius. She can be called a revolutionary and a destroyer of foundations. The Graham school and its technique became the basis for modern choreography and influenced the development of ballet throughout the world.

The beginning of the dance path

Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894 in a small American town. Neither the environment, nor the family, nor the time seemed to portend a great future for this girl, but fate decreed otherwise. The Graham family descended from the first settlers in America who came from Scotland. The father of the future dancer was a psychiatrist, her parents professed Presbyterianism and adhered to very conservative views on life. The family was quite wealthy, little Marta was surrounded by a Catholic nanny and servants, Chinese and Japanese worked in the house. Thus, a girl from childhood could get acquainted with different cultures.

But dancing in the family was regarded as something unworthy and sinful. Therefore, Marta first encountered the art of choreography at almost 20 years old. She managed to attend the performance of the famous Ruth Saint-Denis, which turned the girl's world upside down. She makes a categorical decision to enter the School of Expression, and later continues her studies at the famous Denishawn School, which was led by Saint-Denis herself along with the outstanding choreographer Ted Shawn. A few years later, she will join the Denishawn troupe and make her debut in its performances on the big stage.

Dance at the turn of the century

At the turn of the century in public opinion there was a strong idea that dance is not a serious occupation. He was an element of entertainment shows: vaudeville, cabaret. In the United States, classical ballet at that time did not receive significant distribution; there was no formed national school. There were also many stereotypes about dance. Men were prescribed rational, straightforward jerky movements, while women were supposed to embody the smoothness of lines. Restrictions also applied to the plots of dances, classical, antique plots were preferred. The woman was obliged to realize lyrical roles with a soft plastic pattern.

Dive into the dance

Martha Graham came to choreography late even by the standards of that time - at the age of 20, so classical dance was difficult for her, and she was not interested in it. In the Denishawn troupe, she was required to have lyricism, which was not characteristic of her. Ted Shawn - the recognized father of American dance - saw in Graham a special energy and ability, her charisma and passionate character, and made a production of Xochitl for her. Martha's special style, the "ferocity of the black panther" and her beauty could manifest itself in it. She passionately fell in love with modernity, which turned out to be consonant not only with the era, but also with her views and character. From childhood, Martha heard her father's reasoning that movements can convey the inner, emotional state of a person. It was this idea that led her to create her own technique.

Finding dance ideas and creating a unique style

The search for plastic possibilities was the trend of the time, and Martha Graham was no exception on this path, whose technique became a breakthrough in modern dance. She sought to eliminate gender inequality in dance, to give a woman the right to express strong feelings with the help of sharp, ragged movements. Graham wanted to create a technique that would help dancers become conventionally formal, embodying emotion and idea. She demanded discipline and high concentration from the dancers, at the same time she was able to simplify the classical tradition of plasticity for an easier understanding of the idea by the viewer and gave the dancers more opportunities to convey emotions. Reflection and creativity helped Graham understand that dance is based on three foundations: time, energy and space. Energy is associated with the emotions that movements evoke, this has become the starting point of her technique. Lessons in Martha's class began with a chain of simple movements that weaved into complex compositions. The technique is built on two principles: contraction (compression) and release (lengthening). She forced the dancer to concentrate on the center and obey the anatomical laws of plasticity. The search for self-expression in dance allowed Graham to create a unique technique in which breathing and concentration play an important role. She was able to understand and use for aesthetic purposes the possibilities human body. Her technique is still the basis for modern dance and is included in all training programs for professional dancers.

Marta understood that a person perceives the world through images, myths, archetypes, and used this in her productions. Martha Graham suggested putting dances on non-classical subjects. She tried to give the dancers the greatest freedom in expressing feelings. The Martha Graham Troupe In 1926, Martha left the Denishawn Troupe, in which she had no opportunity to realize her ideas. After all, the troupe had its own queen - Saint-Denis, and there was simply no place for Graham. She gathers her troupe in 1927, which was originally purely female, it included the most devoted students. Marta was close to feminist views, she thought a lot about the role of women in society and tried to give her more rights and opportunities. She even devoted several productions to this topic: "Heretic", "Border" and the famous "Lament". In these productions, Graham embodies his ideas and findings, captivating the audience with new plasticity.

In 1938, the first man appears in the troupe - Eric Hawkins, who encourages Martha to modernize her dance technique, she is enriched with classical elements. A little later, Merce Cunningham, who became famous as the destroyer of traditional choreographic canons, joins the troupe. Martha's troupe gained world fame after a tour of Europe and the Middle East. The choreographer also creates a school, which, together with the troupe, receives a permanent location in New York. This group still exists today. And not as a monument to the great Graham, but as a living, creative team. Many of Martha's productions have been preserved in the troupe's repertoire, all of her performances have been recorded for posterity.

Performances and productions

During her creative life, Martha Graham composed 180 performances. Her legacy is striking in its diversity and richness, it is difficult to single out something as the very best in it. But Graham's most notable productions are "Letter to the World", "Cave of the Heart", "Clytemnestra", "Phaedra", "Half-awake, half-asleep", "Acts of Light". Her performances were distinguished not only by excellent choreography, but also by thoughtfulness to the smallest detail. She chose costumes, music, made spatial decisions, and participated in the creation of scenery. Her performances today are a classic guide for dancers and choreographers.

dance partnership

There are many outstanding people in the history of ballet, but there are few who live their lives as a dance. The great dancer of the 20th century, who managed to embody all her passion and her history in dance, is Martha Graham. Photos of the ballerina amaze with strength and expression, she immersed herself in the image to the smallest detail, she thought over the choreography and costumes herself. And I paid a lot of attention to the choice of a dance partner. She happened to work with many great contemporaries (Nureyev, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Robert Wilson). A special line in her biography is associated with the creation of modern dance, and here the tandem of Jose Limon and Martha Graham is impossible not to remember. These two innovators, the greatest revolutionaries, created something that delights the audience to this day.

Influence on ballet

If there is a person who radically influenced the culture of the 20th century, then this is Martha Graham. Quotes from her statements vividly characterize the dancer and her attitude to the work of her life. She said: "The movement never lies, the body conveys the temperature of the soul." Marta made feeling the main idea of the dance, and this became her main merit. She was also able to develop a plastic language for expressing emotions, which became Martha Graham's unique technique. She is rightfully considered the founder of modern dance in America, and her importance for the creation of a national choreographic school cannot be overestimated.

She not only created a unique troupe, but also staged performances for many theaters, in which the audience could see such magnificent dancers as Rudolf Nureyev, Margo Fonteyn, Maya Plisetskaya, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova.

personal drama

Martha Graham, whose biography is entirely devoted to ballet, could not fully realize herself as a woman. Her husband was a dance partner, a handsome man - Eric Hawkins. They lived together for 6 years, and the breakup was a big shock for Martha, but she was able to draw from this emotional experience that became a source of inspiration in the dance. She left the stage at the age of 76, experienced severe depression on this occasion, but was able to overcome the illness and return to work as a choreographer, composing 10 more ballets. At some point in her life, Marta became addicted to alcohol, this happened almost immediately after her last performance as a dancer. The woman was so depressed that she even tried to commit suicide. However, soon Graham was still able to give up alcohol and restored her career as a choreographer. She lived long life and continued to choreograph until the very end. The dancer died of pneumonia on April 1, 1991 at the age of 96.

Martha Graham Troupe

The Martha Graham Troupe gained international fame after touring Europe and the Middle East. The permanent residence of both the troupe and the Graham School was the Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Center in New York. In 1957, the film A Dancer World was filmed, where Graham's main ideas are revealed in a live form and her troupe is beautifully presented. Her book The Notebooks of Martha Graham (1973) sheds light on Graham's source of inspiration as a dancer and choreographer. In 1984, Graham received the Legion of Honor.

Martha Graham Unique Videos