Martha Graham was born May 11th, 1894 and later died April 1st, 1991, during her life Graham gained recognition as one of the 20th century’s most important performers and a great artist. She was influenced greatly by her parents; her father was a physician who specialised in human psychology, he seemed to have a bit of a wild streak and liked to play music thus the beginning of Martha’s introduction to the arts. On the other hand, her mother, Jane Beers, was a tenth generation descendent of a Puritan figure and brought Martha up in a very religious environment, strict and uncompromising. Critic Walter Terry summed up Martha’s family background perfectly stating that “Martha turned out to be an even mix of the two parents, a stern indomitable God-fearing Puritan pioneer on one side, and on the other a wild tempestuous, moody, dream-obsessed and quick-to-anger creature of the Black Irish persuasion.” Graham began a dance revolution, inspiring people to change their perceived ideas of dance and movement for more relevant thematic choices. First with Revolt; a contemporary piece performed in 1927, this creation of Graham’s stunned audiences with its forthright interpretation and expression of human injustice and the demonstration of social values that were crucial in American society. Her innovative style grew from her use of elemental movements such as contraction and release; with the use of the most basic of activities her focus on the human form invigorated the body with electrically raw emotion. The sharp and angular movement included in her technique was an intense parting with the dance style at the time. Martha was constantly expanding her dance vocabulary finding significant and dramatic ways of moving. Her earthbound walk a... ... middle of paper ... ...ach move separate and isolated. She did not merely bow her head or hold her hands to her chest to convey sadness or grief she would allow her whole body to sink downwards. She said “when you are very upset you have a sinking feeling inside you. So as a dancer I showed on the outside what was happening on the inside.” Graham considered the upper body as the centre of a dancer’s energy – the site of the lungs, heart and spine – she believed every emotion begins or is discernible first in the torso. Works Cited http://missrosen.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/martha-graham-dance-is-the-hidden-language-of-the-soul/ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=LauOC7vYx-gC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=martha+graham+fragments+1928&source=bl&ots=e2SJ44tYV1&sig=Mp2HcHwMoXrQqmk5EcpfFcyBEA8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3BQVU976CYmUiQetpoHoAQ&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=martha%20graham%20fragments%201928&f=false
Katherine Dunham, born on June 22, 1909 was an African American dancer. Her mother Fanny June Dunham died when she became sick and her father Albert Dunham Sr., left to work as a salesman. Dunham and her older brother Albert Jr., were raised by their loving aunt Lulu on the ghetto side of Chicago. At four years old, Dunham would go to the salon, her aunt’s workplace, and would always remember how much her mother loved music. It was not long before that when Katherine noticed how people would look at her aunt because of the color of her skin. It was why Lulu lost her job and had to move in with other relatives as her aunt could not afford their little apartment anymore. They moved several times with Dunham family members, where Katherine discovered
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
Her goal was to move, not dance. She challenged the notions of what a quote on quote “female dancer” was and could do. Dance to her was an exploration, a celebration of life, and religious calling that required an absolute devotion (pg. 11, Freedman). She considered her dancers “acrobats of God”. An example of a dance which symbolized the “essentialized” body was Martha Graham’s Lamentation, choreographed in 1930, which served as an expression of what person’s grief, with Graham as the solo dancer in the piece. The costume, a tube-like stretchy piece of fabric, only allowed her face, hands, and feet to be seen, and, as Graham stated, “The garment that is worn is just a tube of material, but it is as though you were stretching inside your own skin.” In the beginning of the piece, she started out by sitting on a bench with her legs wide spread and arms held tight. Her head was going back and forth as if she was feeling sadness or maybe replaying thoughts in her head. By the way she was holding her hands so tight and close to her body, it symbolized the deep pain within her––the essence of her piece was grief, and she danced it from inside out. Russel Freedman, the author of Martha Graham A Dancers Life, stated, “She did not dance about grief, but sought “the thing itself”- the very embodiment of grief (p. 61).” Graham, dancing with strength and power, was encapsulated with her movement and was completely surrendered
Martha Graham was born May 11, 1894 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. Her father George Graham was an "alienist", a practitioner of an early form of psychiatry. He was a third generation American of Irish descent. Mother Jane Beers was second generation American of Irish and Scots-Irish descent. Martha was seen as one of the most influential American dancers and choreographers of her time and of the modern day. She passed away April 1, 1991 in New York.
After the performance Graham begged her parents to let her dance, but her father was a strong Presbyterian and it was against her religion. A few years later he passed away and she immediately began dance training at Denis’s and her husband, Ted Shawn, school. Dancing and instructing for them for a little over 8 years she then left the school to perform with the Greenwich
In 1930 Martha Graham formed her own dance company dismissing the classical form of modern dance and and replaced it with sharp, angular and sexually charged aesthetics. Her inspiration usually came from greek mythology, history, art or social commentary. (Martha Graham’s Legacy in Modern Dance History, 2011) Graham’s philosophy was to reveal the mans inner core, "I wanted to begin," she said, "not with characters or ideas but with movement…. I wanted significant movement. I did not want it to be beautiful or fluid. I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge.” (Martha Graham, n.d.).Martha Graham uses unique and symbolic contemporary to manipulate elements of the contemporary dance. Through her technique it helps to communicate the the mans inner core, one being Jocosta in Night Journey. Night Journey choreographed by Martha Graham in 1894 explores and portrays the strength and struggles of female characters. In Night Journey rather than telling the story of Oedipus, the main male character, as written by Sophocles, Graham focused on the female perspective of Jocasta, mother, Queen and wife of Oedipus.(Dodge, 2007). Graham focuses on Jocasta the main protagonist who finds out that she has married her son, Oedipus. The dance begins at the moment of Jocasta’s suicide as she stand motionless on stage holding a thin rope between her hands. Night Journey becomes even more complex following her memories that haunt her whig inevitably lead her to her death. Martha Graham has skilfully choreographed symbolic representations and motifs to convey Jocasta's emotions of desperation, grief, pain, love and loss while also conveying the impending doom that is to become of Jocasta. She also ...
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
The dancers begin in unison in a large clump. They dance together with slow movements; reaching up with their arms straight and palms open. It is to be noted that when they stretch their arms up, they tilt their head and look up as well. Throughout the piece the dancers repeat this movement, which represents reaching and praying to God. The dancers are constantly reaching up, embodying their despair and their yearning for help. As the dance progresses, the dancers repeatedly break out of the clump in the center and do different movements and their own sequences. After this, they always go back to their clump and do synchronized movement. Their constant breaking away from the group symbolizes their continual want to be free, as well as their persistency. On the other hand, their constant going back to the group shows how African-Americans will always be joined together by their culture, prayer, and hardships. Additionally during the piece, multiple dancers will run up to another dancer and jump or hold onto them, and then they do a couple of movements together. This shows how they are reliant and dependent on each other, and how they need each other throughout their suffering. Lastly, Much of the movement in this section possesses the downward energy characteristic of African dance, which symbolizes a connection to the earth. The choices Ailey made choreographically communicates all
(Phillips 65). She was influenced by her father, George Graham. He was a doctor who was a specialist in nervous disorders. He had an idea about the body, which was that the body could express its inner senses. This idea was very fascinating to his daughter Martha (“Martha Graham Bio”).
Martha Washington lived a life full of love and sacrifice. She was born as a simple little girl Martha Dandridge to her plantation home in New Kent; she was married at 18 to become Martha Dandridge Custis. Still yet she was widowed at the age of twenty-six with two children and a land of over 17,000 acres to run on her own. Then she met a gentleman by the name of George Washington and Martha became the figure we know today as Martha Dandridge Custis Washington or Martha Washington.
Contemporary 20th century choreographer Paul Taylor used the components of dance -space, time and energy to explore the struggle of an individual versus the conformity of the masses in his dance Esplanade. In addition, Taylor intertwined the principles of contrast, repetition, and resolution throughout Esplanade to portray the emotion, which accompanied this isolation. This esplanade (a long, open, level area usually by the sea) represented the journey of an independent women’s movement against the societal norm of heterosexual couples within the masses.
“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” These words fully sum up the essence of Mother Teresa. Having left the world 17 years ago in 1997, her life continues to inspire many. So many lives touched by her. The story of her life inspires an awe of how someone could live such a life starting from her childhood, through adulthood, and ending with her later years and legacy.
Margaret Walker was born on July 7, 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama to Reverend Sigismund C. Walker and Marion Dozier Walker (Gates and McKay 1619). Her father, a scholarly Methodist minister, passed onto her his passion for literature. Her mother, a music teacher, gifted her with an innate sense of rhythm through music and storytelling. Her parents not only provided a supportive environment throughout her childhood but also emphasized the values of education, religion, and black culture. Much of Walker’s ability to realistically write about African American life can be traced back to her early exposure to her black heritage. Born in Alabama, she was deeply influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and received personal encouragement from Langston Hughes. During the Depression, she worked for the WPA Federal Writers Project and assists Richard Wright, becoming his close friend and later, biographer. In 1942, she was the first African American to win the Yale Younger Poets award for her poem For My People (Gates and McKay 1619). Her publishing career halted for...
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
“Lamentation” is a famous ballet dance choreographed by the eminent Martha Graham. Martha Graham is one of the first generation contemporary modern dancers known for her abstract movements that communicate emotions and feelings. Lamentation means to mourn or to express one’s deep grief. The dance “Lamentation” expresses Martha Graham’s individual pain and suffering during the Great Depression. During WWII, the nation greatly suffered a great despair of deaths, along with sufferings of no food or funds. Lamentation truly expresses the country’s struggle of despair and a search for hope.