MARTHA GRAHAM
Martha Graham: The Mother of Modern Dance
Martha Graham is known worldwide as The Mother of Modern dance. She changed the way dance was performed, viewed, and practiced and turned dance into movements of passion and expression. Martha was born in a town called Allegheny City, which is now a part of Pittsburg, in May 1894. She grew up in a strict Irish-Scotch Presbyterian home with her father being a Doctor specializing in using movement as a way to help nervous disorders. She first started dancing at that Ruth St. Denis School of Dance and Related Arts (also known as Denishawn) at the age of fourteen. Little did she know when she stepped into her first diagnosis lesson that summer in 1916, she would become an innovator and creator of dance no one had heard of before her time.
The American culture in 1920 is well depicted in one of the most famous American novels The Great Gatsby. America was prosperous and free. America had just finished fighting World War I, the economy was wonderful, and the young seem to be enjoying the most out of America’s victories. There was still male superiority but it seemed to be challenged by the women of America who helped sustain the country while it was at war. Although America was prosperous, the dance community in the 1920’s was still not as popular as one might think. It was a struggle to keep audiences in theatres watching beautiful ballets from Moscow and France. Martha was just as prosperous as America and started her own dance company in 1926 and took control of the modern dance movement. Her first pieces captivated audiences and took America by storm. The change in pace, harsh movements, and expressions of stories in this new form of dance brought more of the American population to theatres and performances across the country.
Martha started her dance training with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in 1916 and started some of her first modern dance pieces in the mid 1920’s. Martha Graham lived in a time where women had just received the right to vote. All of America’s Society was driven by men but women were gaining more rights and recognition. The era of “The New Women” had begun in America which added a push to the women in the dance community. As the women of America were growing a little more scandalous, so were the women in American dance. Martha Graham’s passion for modern dance also lived through Isdora Duncan and her own teacher Ruth St. Denis. Women had gained not only their right to vote, but also the freedom for creativity. Martha Graham’s dance company opened the door for more modern dancers and the creations of more dance companies.
Although Martha Graham spent most of her education in the dance studios, Denishawn School of Dance had multiple different styles and types of studies for the students who attended. It cost five hundred dollars for twelve weeks of practice and teachings at Denishawn when Martha Garham attended. The teachings included ballet technique, yoga classes, ballroom dancing, ballet terminology, Javanese arm movements, and Cambodian flexibility training. There was also a period dedicated to expression and freedom where students would listen to a waltz and dance out movements they wanted to perform. The only rule for this period was that there was to be no practice of movements learned from that day. In the 1910’s when Martha was a student she had a tutor brought in by her strict Presbyterian-Doctor father who often denied her plea to join Denishawn Dance Company. When her father died her mother finally allowed her to dance, and so they moved to Los Angeles to have Martha join the company. In 1923 Martha left Denishawn to be employed by the Greenwich Village Follies, and from that moment on she grew into a dancer that changed the world’s way of moving.
Since Martha Graham’s start of modern dance in the 1920’s; there have been dance techniques, styles, combinations, and performances that have been inspired by her. Martha Graham technique in dance is focused on contraction of the body, releasing the body, and spiral movements. It is almost impossible to walk into a modern dance class today and not see something Graham created. Now across the globe there are multiple modern dance companies based in China, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, England, and Greece. The Martha Graham Dance Company is still successfully running today with shows constantly on the stages of New York City. “The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance has the distinction of being the longest continuously operating school of dance in America and is a charter member of the accrediting organization, the National Association of Schools of Dance.” (“History, 2012) The Martha Graham Dance Company also holds classes where anyone can attend in and dance with classes starting as little as sixteen dollars. Her love for dance and passion for movement lives on in her dance company and in modern dance practices around the world. In America, modern dance has just recently been declared the most popular dance form taught in dance companies. Modern dance has overcome jazz, tap, and even ballet to become the most taught dance form in studios.
Martha Graham’s creativity lies on the dance floor. When starting out dancing she was seemed to be “exceedingly shy and quiet” (Stodelle page 19). But Martha’s shy and quietness melted away on the dance floor. She choreographed over one hundred and fifty dance pieces and developed new ways of moving the body. She is most famous for her ideas of “contracting” and “releasing” the body. Contracting is compared to a “physical manifestation of grief” (Blum, 2009) and is the separation and stretching of muscles and bones in the body. When your body contracts the bones in the body are moving in the opposite way that they should be. Graham also had the idea of releasing, the counterpart of contracting, which the body takes in breath and relaxes. The ideas Martha Graham has made about dance and movement were thought to be unusual during her time period and still continue to be seen in the same light today. Martha Graham changed dance forever with her creativity.
Martha Graham is known worldwide as The Mother of Modern dance. She changed the way dance was performed, viewed, and practiced and turned dance into movements of passion and expression. Martha was born in a town called Allegheny City, which is now a part of Pittsburg, in May 1894. She grew up in a strict Irish-Scotch Presbyterian home with her father being a Doctor specializing in using movement as a way to help nervous disorders. She first started dancing at that Ruth St. Denis School of Dance and Related Arts (also known as Denishawn) at the age of fourteen. Little did she know when she stepped into her first diagnosis lesson that summer in 1916, she would become an innovator and creator of dance no one had heard of before her time.
The American culture in 1920 is well depicted in one of the most famous American novels The Great Gatsby. America was prosperous and free. America had just finished fighting World War I, the economy was wonderful, and the young seem to be enjoying the most out of America’s victories. There was still male superiority but it seemed to be challenged by the women of America who helped sustain the country while it was at war. Although America was prosperous, the dance community in the 1920’s was still not as popular as one might think. It was a struggle to keep audiences in theatres watching beautiful ballets from Moscow and France. Martha was just as prosperous as America and started her own dance company in 1926 and took control of the modern dance movement. Her first pieces captivated audiences and took America by storm. The change in pace, harsh movements, and expressions of stories in this new form of dance brought more of the American population to theatres and performances across the country.
Martha started her dance training with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in 1916 and started some of her first modern dance pieces in the mid 1920’s. Martha Graham lived in a time where women had just received the right to vote. All of America’s Society was driven by men but women were gaining more rights and recognition. The era of “The New Women” had begun in America which added a push to the women in the dance community. As the women of America were growing a little more scandalous, so were the women in American dance. Martha Graham’s passion for modern dance also lived through Isdora Duncan and her own teacher Ruth St. Denis. Women had gained not only their right to vote, but also the freedom for creativity. Martha Graham’s dance company opened the door for more modern dancers and the creations of more dance companies.
Although Martha Graham spent most of her education in the dance studios, Denishawn School of Dance had multiple different styles and types of studies for the students who attended. It cost five hundred dollars for twelve weeks of practice and teachings at Denishawn when Martha Garham attended. The teachings included ballet technique, yoga classes, ballroom dancing, ballet terminology, Javanese arm movements, and Cambodian flexibility training. There was also a period dedicated to expression and freedom where students would listen to a waltz and dance out movements they wanted to perform. The only rule for this period was that there was to be no practice of movements learned from that day. In the 1910’s when Martha was a student she had a tutor brought in by her strict Presbyterian-Doctor father who often denied her plea to join Denishawn Dance Company. When her father died her mother finally allowed her to dance, and so they moved to Los Angeles to have Martha join the company. In 1923 Martha left Denishawn to be employed by the Greenwich Village Follies, and from that moment on she grew into a dancer that changed the world’s way of moving.
Since Martha Graham’s start of modern dance in the 1920’s; there have been dance techniques, styles, combinations, and performances that have been inspired by her. Martha Graham technique in dance is focused on contraction of the body, releasing the body, and spiral movements. It is almost impossible to walk into a modern dance class today and not see something Graham created. Now across the globe there are multiple modern dance companies based in China, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, England, and Greece. The Martha Graham Dance Company is still successfully running today with shows constantly on the stages of New York City. “The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance has the distinction of being the longest continuously operating school of dance in America and is a charter member of the accrediting organization, the National Association of Schools of Dance.” (“History, 2012) The Martha Graham Dance Company also holds classes where anyone can attend in and dance with classes starting as little as sixteen dollars. Her love for dance and passion for movement lives on in her dance company and in modern dance practices around the world. In America, modern dance has just recently been declared the most popular dance form taught in dance companies. Modern dance has overcome jazz, tap, and even ballet to become the most taught dance form in studios.
Martha Graham’s creativity lies on the dance floor. When starting out dancing she was seemed to be “exceedingly shy and quiet” (Stodelle page 19). But Martha’s shy and quietness melted away on the dance floor. She choreographed over one hundred and fifty dance pieces and developed new ways of moving the body. She is most famous for her ideas of “contracting” and “releasing” the body. Contracting is compared to a “physical manifestation of grief” (Blum, 2009) and is the separation and stretching of muscles and bones in the body. When your body contracts the bones in the body are moving in the opposite way that they should be. Graham also had the idea of releasing, the counterpart of contracting, which the body takes in breath and relaxes. The ideas Martha Graham has made about dance and movement were thought to be unusual during her time period and still continue to be seen in the same light today. Martha Graham changed dance forever with her creativity.
REFERNCES
Stodelle, E. (1984). Deep song: The dance story of Martha Graham.
New York, NY: Schirmer Books.
History. (2012). Retrieved from
http://marthagraham.org/about-us/our-history/
Blum, E. (2009, June 23). Martha graham dance technique. Retrieved from
http://suite101.com/article/martha-graham-dance-technique-a127236
Stodelle, E. (1984). Deep song: The dance story of Martha Graham.
New York, NY: Schirmer Books.
History. (2012). Retrieved from
http://marthagraham.org/about-us/our-history/
Blum, E. (2009, June 23). Martha graham dance technique. Retrieved from
http://suite101.com/article/martha-graham-dance-technique-a127236