Russell Freedman, an American biographer and author, was born in San Francisco in 1929, and he graduated the University of California, Berkeley. He used to be a reporter, an editor, and a publicist for various network television shows. Lincoln: A Photobiography, the 1988 Newbery Medal book, made his name as “a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children”, which infers that he was credible and highly respectable person at that time. He had published over 50 nonfiction books for young people, and usually wrote about animal behaviors and American history. Freedman’s famous books are Freedom Walkers, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, and Kids at Work. Moreover, Mr. Freedman chalked up several Newbery Honors, the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award, the Sibert Medal, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and etc. In Martha Graham, a Dancer’s Life, the summary consists of a discussion of major themes, ideas, and character providing four excerpts from the work. Russell Freedman introduces four main themes, which are: Martha’s desperate effort, true friendship, revolutionary choreographing skills, and her desperate attempts to secure her fame. To begin with, Martha’s desperate effort was one of her strong strengths. When Martha began dance, many people murmured that Martha would fail because she was “quite a few years above the average age of all the other girls in the school” (28), “dumpy, [and] unprepossessing” (28). However, she astonished her dance teachers and others “with her determination to learn and her quick mastery of difficult exercises, gestures, and steps” (30). Martha usually spent her time on the studio alone all day and night, seeking for unique, exotic, and alluring movements of her own. Ted Shawn, Mar... ... middle of paper ... ...ht because “she could no longer kick as high or move as fast as she might have wished” (129). Not only her ability to dance, Martha had to overcome with “the dying of old companions and collaborators” (134), for best dances leave her company to advance their independent career. She often mourned for her declining power, which was not inspected at all. However, she didn’t give up at any moment. She nurtured her aptitudes, which are desperate effort and choreographing skills. Since Martha “was still a brilliant choreographer, an inspiring teacher, a great actress”, she became an active head of her company again. Even though Martha unwillingly retired in 1916, she remained as a luminous, marvelous dancer in the world. During Martha’s interview, she had added her thought by saying, “without dancing, I wished to die” (137). It shows how dance was significant in her life.
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
Analyzing each personal dancer I am detailing the differences of each artist dance styles first starting with, Maud Allen, dance style used impressionism emotions through her movement at the time of her performance telling the story based on her movements and own emotions (Aloff). Based on feelings within that depicted the way she moved within the performance and displayed to the audience watching. Maud Allen was famous for the dance of Salome a story told in biblical text about the beheading of john the Baptist a prophet, captured by Herod because he denounced the right to marry his wife’s name Herodias due to being his half-brothers
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
Catherine Little first began her dance training when she was eight years old and studied tap, ballet, and eccentric dancing from an Erie dance studio that is no longer in operation. When Catherine was 14 she began her teacher training in New York City at Ned Wayburn School. By the end of the year Ms. Little began to teach students in the music room of her parent’s home and every summer was spent studying in New York. While attending Lucille Stoddard’s Dance Congress Catherine was chosen from more than 200 students by the famous Bill “Bo Jangles” Robinson to be his protégé. Along with Bo Jangles, Catherine also studied with Ernest Carlos, Jack Manning, Peter Gennaro, Charlie Morrison, Charlie Lowe, Gene Kelly, and Katherine Dunham. While studying in New York Catherine performed at the Palace Theatre and even travelled to Cleveland, Ohio for the premiere of the first talking movie. Because of Catherine’s love for children and recognition that it was good for their development, she began to specialize in teaching pre-schoolers. Later, Catherine decided to take her work with children a s...
The degree of transcendence attained by a particular performance depends largely on the relationship the audience has with the performer. Claude McKay’s Harlem dancer is initially framed through the gaze of a group of rambunctious youths, densely packed into a Harlem night-club. The young men accompanied by their prostitutes cheer and laugh, debasing the dance to a lewd exhibition. Where the seductive disrobement of the dancer would be thought to warrant a level of hypnotic control over the viewers, their capacity for the manipulation of her image indicates that the performance holds little to no significance. While “perfection” is attained by the sway of her half-clothed body, rather than a testame...
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.
Just like Gene Kelly, Martha Graham was a sensational dancer and choreographer. She cleared the way for young, aspiring modern dancers, and created techniques that are still used today. She also used to be overweight, but she kept pursing her dream, and became the amazing dancer that people know today. Miss Graham eventually started a company, and became an influential teacher to her students. Even though Martha Graham is amazing, so is Gene Kelly, because he was also perseverant and highly recognized for his
“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” With this quote Martha Graham opines that the body says what words cannot. Martha Graham was a significant American dancer, teacher, and choreographer of modern dance in American history. Graham was a person who never thought about being “different” from anyone else, but she certainly was. Graham employed the psychological concepts of Freud and Jung into her dances. Graham also sought to give “visible substance to things felt”, which was a phrase that became a metaphor central to her art form. Among many things Graham was also a huge advocate of expressionism, a form of art in which an artist seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world into their work, and her revolutionary vision and artistic mastery has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture.
In the lines “they liked to hear me “speak pieces” and sing to see me dance the paraseme-la, and give me generously of their small silver for doing things,” (22-25). In these lines the author describes how she was entertaining tourist, which she was dancing for them and showing her affection about the art such as dance and music. She was not asking tourist for the money, her main goal was to show people that dancing was one of the best way to show the talent and it was a very important for her to show others how awesome was the
In 1916 Martha arrived in Los Angeles, California to begin her training at the Denishawn School. When Martha first arrived at Denishawn she studied under Ted Shawn. Ted Shawn nor his wife Ruth St. Denis believed Martha would ever be a dancer they thought she was good enough to teach lessons at the school but they did not allow her to perform. It wasn’t until Martha stepped in for the lead dancer in a solo choreographed by Ted Shawn entitled Serenata Morisca that Martha was allowed to perform. The lead dancer had fallen ill and Ted was trying to decide which dancer would replace her for the tour, Martha stood up and said she could do it Ted replied “really Martha? You’ve never danced” Martha got up and performed the entire solo and when she
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 ...
The fine art of modern dance is like many other fields in that it is based on the actions and deeds of those who were pioneers in the field. These pioneers helped to mold modern dance into what it is today. Of the many people who are partially responsible for this accomplishment is Isadora Duncan. Duncan, often referred to as the “mother of modern dance,” inspired many other dancers to the extent that the art of dance would not be the same today without her many contributions.
The teenagers were mesmerized as they sat and watched the Harlem dancer move her body provocatively to the sound of the music. Her voice was like the sound of a blended harmony being played by flutes. They were captivated and speechless by her naked form shielded by a thin piece of cloth that hung so graciously from her body. The Harlem dancer moved her body in a way that told a story one’s mind could only imagine. She moved from side to side waving her hands as her bouncy glorious hair swayed with her body and the music. She was in a timeless zone and era that only she knew of. As she danced, the audience showed their approval by throwing money at her feet. They could tell that the Harlem dancer was in a place in her mind that took her away from the present to a different place.
With our country in such disarray racially and politically, the image of African American women raising their fist really spoke to me. Using the fist as my motif, I spent a lot of time experimenting with movement that could be done while holding a fist. In hopes to avoid my choreographic habits I tried to reflect on the Martha Graham’s Lamitations piece I viewed earlier this week. Her movement was so simple, which was what I tried to reflect in my original piece. However I took the simplicity without the development. Unlike Martha I lost growth and improvement in my dance. I just repeated the same motif over and over. Ironically I was moving not only in my preference but I was being a lazy choreographer. In pursuit of being abstract by give
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.