Martha Graham was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 11th, 1894. During her childhood her inspirations were everywhere. Her father was a huge inspiration because as a doctor he believed that the body could express its inner senses, and this intrigued Martha in many ways. When she was in her inner teens her family moved to California where she was continuing to be influenced and inspired by many people and places. At about 17 years old she asked her parents if she could study dance. However, Martha’s family were strong Presbyterians and would not allow her to explore dance. Graham didn't let that stop her, she later enrolled in an arts-oriented junior college to continue studying. Later, after her father died, Graham started going to the …show more content…
She continued to study and improve her technique as much as possible and began working professionally. She said her farewell to Denishawn in 1923 to take a job with the Greenwich Village Follies. She stayed with the Follies for about 2 years but left because she wanted to broaden her career. She took jobs at places like the Eastman School of Music and the John Murray Anderson School to support herself. In 1926 one of Martha opened the Martha Graham Dance Company, which led her to quickly find her own artistic style and began doing extensive and elaborate dance experiments. Although Graham started off with bad critiques she stepped up to the plate and became more respected overtime. The Martha Graham Dance Company expanded the vocabulary of the contemporary dance and forever changed the range of the art. She accomplished this by adding her technique and experiences to the roots of what was contemporary dance. Her company served and still serves as a resource in teaching and developing the work of several of the 20th and 21st century artists and choreographers. Grahams advances in dance are seen by so many people as an important achievement in America's cultural
Martha Graham following Mary Wigman choreographed to the “essentialized” body through using the breath, contractions, human emotion, and so on. Martha Graham believed the pulsation of life came from the breath (6). This breath represented the soul. Graham’s breath is controlled by the contraction and release upon which her choreography was based. Graham also went on to state, “Art is eternal for it reveals the inner landscape of a man” (4). Dancing from the inside of your soul out is what Graham wanted her dancers to do. In own opinion e access our soul through surrendering to the divine power of God, which starts by connecting to our breath. Isadora Duncan danced with a connectedness of her body and soul completely inspired by nature. Graham
Katherine Dunham not only significantly contributed to the rise of modern dance, but she was also a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology; and a staunch political and social activist. Dunham was born in Chicago, Illinois and primarily raised in nearby Joliet, Illinois. Dunham first became interested in dance when she was a teenager and trained with Ludmilla Speranzeva, formerly of the Moscow Theatre, Vera Mirova, Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page in Chicago before and during her college education. She even started her own private dance school, Ballet Négre, in 1930, while at the University of Chicago where she first began to cultivate her own technique that would change modern dance.
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 the body could express its inner senses. This idea was very fascinating to his daughter Martha (“Martha Graham Bio”). When she was 17 she saw a performance called Ruth St. Denis at the opera house in Los Angeles. She also was a Presbyterian and because of this her parents would not allow her to study dance (“Martha Graham”). The first years were spent in Allegheny, which she described as dark, grimy, and excessively puritanical in its attitudes—so much so that dancing was viewed as sinful and forbidden to her (Needham). After her father died she went she went to Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts which was a junior college. This is where she spent her 8 years or more where she was a student but she was also an instructor (“Martha Graham Bio”).
Undoubtedly one of the unique dancers and choreographers in the 20th century was Martha Graham. He was born in the suburb of Allegheny (now Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1894 ("Martha Graham Biography."). Martha mentioned that her first dance lesson was when her father told her always remembers that movement never lies (Aoki et al). Martha Graham trained and inspired a generation of performers and choreographers, including diverse artists as Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and Merce Cunningham (Tenaglia). She had an idea that movement should be "fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge." Thus in 1926, as an entrepreneur she established her own dance company in New York City. At the same time, she had developed her own unique, highly innovative style that reflected other influences and a unique dance vocabulary that we can define any movement in modern dance (Tenaglia). In fact, Martha Graham revolutionized modern dance.
7.Jerome Robbins started his dancing career when he majored in chemistry in his college days. He went to American Ballet Theatre when he graduated from the university. He was always pursuing to introduce traditional ballet into Broadway. For years’ hard work, Robbins successfully produced a lot of dramas to the public and made huge success. He was featured by giving young actors pressures of producing dramas by themselves and mixed classical musicals with modern dancing.
“The Dancer’s gift” is a love story between a young man and woman, Marcel and Samantha. But this novel was written not only to call feelings about love and passion; the main goal was to introduce students to sociological concepts. Overall, the book includes more than 180 sociological terms that flow with the story and closely connected to happening events. Marcel, a black man, arrives from Martinique (an island in the Caribbean Sea), and Samantha, a rich American girl, meet each other in college and fall in love. Both of them face obstacles in their lives: Marcel was grown up in a poor extended but a friendly family, while Samantha was a daughter of rich but divorced parents. Marcel comes to the U.S. to become a professional dancer, while Sam decided to become an attorney at law just like her father. Being lovers they decide to spend their Christmas holidays together and go to New York. Next holidays they go to Marcel’s homeland, Martinique, where they realize that there lives a woman who is pregnant by him. At that time all dreams of Sam just collapse due to this bitter disappointment, which becomes one of the reasons why they break up. Throughout the story, they both meet with numerous social issues such as education, marriage, gender issue, racism, deviance, divorce, religion, race and ethnicity. In this essay, the three main reasons why this novel is an effective tool for learning sociological concepts will be discussed.
In the 1920s, many grand events were experienced by the population. A short time before the start of the Great Depression, this decade was one of prohibition, lavish parties, flappers; and also of the Great Migration. The Great Migration was a time period from 1917 to 1970, during which much of the African American population moved from the southern states, to more urbanized northern communities (Great Migration). While many relocated to the Detroit area because of the booming automotive industries like Ford, some moved to other metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Illinois, and New York City. The surge of the Great Migration helped to initiate what is now known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great accomplishments for the African American community; from music, to art and poetry, and even to dance. This era was also a time during which the birth of racial equality happened. The Savoy Ballroom, located in the heart of the Harlem district, was the birth place of the lindy-hop and the quintessential swing movement, thus making it a crucial part of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the progression of dance even to this day (Swinging at the Savoy). This
During the early 20th century, dance underwent a major revolution. Previously, dance, specifically ballet, was very rigid and structured. With the turn of the century though, many choreographers began experimenting with techniques and styles that transcended the traditional norms of dance at the time such as the legendary Merce Cunningham. Known for works such as Variations and Nearly Ninety, Merce Cunningham left his impact on the modern dance world with his use of chance operations, his collaboration with various artist and musicians, and later in his life, technology. An apprentice of Martha Graham, Merce went on to teach famous dancers, such as Paul Taylor, who would go on to leave their own footprint in the history of dance.
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 start of American Modern dance began in the 20th century as dancers began to pull away from traditional forms of choreographed dance like ballet. One of the founders of this rapidly modernizing dance movement was Isadora Duncan. Isadora Duncan seeked to create dances that were free with out the rigorous or confined movements of ballet. As a result Isadora Duncan formed a dance style that was reflective of her free spirit. She looked for inspiration in classical Greek arts, social dances and nature. In a speech entitled The Dance of the Future she stated that the future of dance would be similar to the dance of the ancient Greek, natural and free. Consequently she developed a dance style based on improvisation and interpretation. Her dance movements consisted of running, rising, falling and skipping all movements that became the foundation of her dance style.
Isadora Duncan was born in 1878 in San Francisco, CA. Her mother believed it was exceedingly important to surround Isadora and her siblings with art, music, Shakespeare, and poetry. This was Isadora's awakening to the arts (Terry 9). She trained in ballet as a young girl and was exposed to Delsartean principles that influenced her greatly later in life (12). In 1896, Isadora and her mother traveled to Chicago to further Isadora’s budding career. While there, she met Augustin Daly who then took her to New York and gave her roles in theater productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream where she was first recognized by the press (25). While in New York she trained with ball...
Cunningham was born on April 16, 1919, in Centralia, Washington. At the age of twelve, Cunningham became interested in dance and started informal instruction. Upon graduation from high school, Cunningham began his formal dance instruction at the Cornish School of Fine and Applied Arts. After two years at the Cornish School, he studied at Mills College and at Bennington College; this is where he was invited to join Martha Graham?s dance company in 1939. Graham was an incredible dancer who also choreographed during her career. While dancing for Graham, Cunningham began to make a name for himself in the dancing community. It was with Graham?s encouragement that Cunningham started to choreograph on his own. His decision to start choreographing can be looked at as one of the most important decisions in the history of dance.
New Dance is described as a developing art form; this dance was articulated in the early 20th century. According to Chapter 8 in History of Dance book, “the new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The New Dance was a product of several strands that interlaced together dancers’ studies and backgrounds; these strands and others were woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework. For instance, one strand of New Dance consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. These strands influenced major dancers and choreographers, such as, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn.
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”