Dancer of the Century: Martha Graham
This week marks the 127th birthday of Martha Graham, the creative force known as “Dancer of the Century.” The impact which Graham had on the art of dance has put her in the same category as other revolutionary artists such as Pablo Picasso or Frank Lloyd Wright. If you are or have ever been a dancer at any point in your life, you have been witness to Graham’s legacy — whether or not you were aware of it at the time.
Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894 in Allegheny City -- later a part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During her teen years, her family relocated to Santa Barbara, California and it is here that Graham was formally introduced to the art of dance. In 1911, when Graham was around 17 years old, she attended ballet dancer Ruth St. Denis’ performance at Los Angeles’ Mason Opera House. This inspired her to enroll in St. Denis’ newly founded Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. After her time at Denishawn, Graham relocated to New York City. By 1926, she had founded her own dance company out of a studio in Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall, a company that still bears her name and continues her legacy today.
In terms of her legacy, the sheer weight of Graham’s impact on American cultural history cannot be understated. She is considered to be the most important dancer of the 20th century as well as the mother of modern dance. Her particular style of choreography and movement, known widely as the Graham Technique, revolutionized the world of American dance. However, before we go any further into the life and legacy of Graham herself, it would be best to explain what exactly modern dance is to those who might not be familiar.
Modern dance, as the name suggests, is a contemporary genre of dance that rose to popularity in the early 1900s. While it is also interchangeably referred to as contemporary or lyrical dance, there are subtle differences between these categorizations of dance. However, all variants of modern dance are ultimately rooted in the key tenets of self-expression and improvisation. Modern dancers and choreographers take inspiration from many different genres of dance, most notably ballet or jazz, as well as their own personal emotions, philosophies, and interests. The genre of modern dance rose in popularity because many creatives embraced the freedom it offered as a way to rebel against the standardized motions and rigid guidelines perpetuated by more traditional genres of dance. In fact, it was Graham’s unique approach to movement and choreography that defined the modern dance genre as one of ingenuity and self-expression.
This video showcases the Graham Technique with Martha Graham herself narrating. It demonstrates key elements of the technique including a pattern of contraction and release, which is characterized by movements in which a part of the body clenches or draws inward followed by a movement in which the same body part is released or relaxed. The video also displays Graham’s use of jarring, disjointed, and choppy movements in order to heighten the impact of said movements on the viewing audience.
This is a good time to note that I am personally familiar with Graham as I was a dancer throughout much of my life. Much like Graham herself, I began my journey into the world of dance through ballet. Over the years I was introduced to other genres of dance yet it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I first encountered modern dance and was immediately taken in by the creative freedom it offered. For those of us who have dwelled in the world of modern dance, the work of Graham is inseparable from the genre itself.
Modern dance was founded as a rebellion against dance traditions of the past. It created a liberating space that encouraged artists to base their movement on personal experience and emotion instead of an established system of technique, in direct contrast to established dance traditions such as ballet. In many ways, Graham’s vision is directly responsible for this. In her work, Graham used the human body in order to convey emotion in a way that was truly raw and original, opting to create a style of her own instead of using one that already existed.
With her work, Graham sought to convey and invoke emotion in ways that other genres of dance could not and would often use jarring, disjointed, and trembling motions to do so. During a time when dance consisted of deliberate, graceful movements meant to exude beauty, Graham rejected these perceptions completely. She used dance in a way that was truly unique, raw, and human. In fact, one of the key lessons that Graham gave to her dancers was to unlearn several pre-existing notions surrounding beauty in dance:
“[The students] come with all sorts of conventional notions of prettiness, graceful posturing, and whatnot. My first task is to teach them to admire strength - the virile gestures that are evocative of the only true beauty. I try to show them that ugliness may be actually beautiful, if it cries out with the voice of power.”
During her seventy year long career, Graham created 181 unique works for which she drew her inspiration from a number of sources such as Native American traditions, Greek mythology, and more. In fact, one of the first pieces of choreography by Graham that I ever saw was the 1944 work “Appalachian Spring,” set to a score written by Aaron Copeland. Created as World War II was drawing to an end, Graham used movements inspired by American frontier traditions to embody hope for American men and women as they moved out of war into the future.
One of Martha Graham’s best known works, “Appalachian Spring” shows how Graham would incorporate elements such as set, costume, lighting, and music to emphasize the emotional impact of her work. This piece also show cases how Graham would often include the perspectives of women in her storytelling as she would often use the narratives of ordinary as well as notable women throughout her work.
Furthermore, the rise of modern dance and Graham’s technique coincided with the social and political change that was taking place during the 20th century. She became the first choreographer to regularly include both Black and Asian-American dancers within her works and a great number of her pieces drew inspiration from famous female figures throughout history or mythology. One of her most famous works is “Seraphic Dialogue” which tells the story of Joan of Arc’s spiritual journey. Graham originally created the work as a solo piece in 1951 under the title “The Triumph of St. Joan” before reworking it into a group dance in 1955.
“Seraphic Dialogue” is one of Graham’s most iconic works. In fact, a May 1971 article published in the New York Times recounts the experiences of an audience who had seen a performance of the dance, referring to it as a “spiritual experience” while also noting the wide reaching appeal of Graham’s work stating that “every generation seems represented in the audience” of her company’s performances. When discussing Graham’s dancers and the power behind the work itself, the article notes:
“The perfection with which they revealed the intensity and emotional expressiveness of the Graham vocabulary was both a tribute to the choreographer and to themselves.”
By the time this specific performance of “Seraphic Dialogue” occurred, Graham had officially retired from performing herself -- having done so in 1969. However, she remained a creative and revolutionary force within the dance world until her death as she never stopped teaching and choreographing after she stepped down from the stage herself. In 1976, she was the first dancer and choreographer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- an honor given to her by President Gerald Ford who declared her to be a “national treasure.” Another president, Ronald Reagan, would also honor Graham in 1985 when he named her to be one of the first recipients of the National Medal of Arts.
President Gerald Ford presenting Martha Graham with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.
Throughout her life, Graham constantly experimented within the realm of human movement in order to create an entirely new vocabulary of physical motions and techniques that is still widely used today. Having become familiar with Martha Graham during my own time as a dancer, I have a deeply personal appreciation for her work. I encountered modern dance during a time of life that’s confusing and challenging for anyone: high school. My experiences with modern dance gave me a license for personal exploration and a space in which to take risks without fear. It taught me to appreciate the strength that my own body was capable of and to embrace the space I take up in the world instead of cowering from it.
Martha Graham’s impact on American cultural history is still tangible today, whether or not you are familiar with her name. When it comes to the power behind her work, former director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, Christine Dakin, said it best:
“Martha said that dance is never a competition. You’re only in competition with the person you know you can become. So, it’s important to move big... and make big mistakes.”
You can learn more about Martha Graham and her work through this virtual exhibit on the Graham Technique via Google Arts & Culture as well as through the digitized Martha Graham Collection at the Library of Congress. Additionally, you can keep up to date with the Martha Graham Dance Company’s virtual events and more via their website.