Martha Graham

Martha Graham was not the first to rebel against 19th century ballet, but she definitely did. She is my hero.

Martha Graham (http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/ dance/martha.html)

Martha Graham was born in 1894 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and later moved to California with her family when she was 14. When she was about 17, she saw a Los Angeles dance recital by Ruth St. Denis. It was her first encounter with a dance performance and she loved it. In 1916 she joined Denishawn, the school and performing troupe that St. Denis co-led with her husband, Ted Shawn. Graham knew that dance had to be her destiny at age 22, a little late for an aspiring dancer. Eventually, she moved to New York where she opened her very own studio and taught fascinating stories through dance to her students. She decided to finally retire at age 75, but still taught and choreographed. She died in 1991.

To me, she was one of the best dancers of all time. I think she was really cool because she didn’t pay any attention to the harsh words of her critics.

Most people were used to the smooth, lyrical body motions of ballet dancers. This was not exactly the type of dance Martha liked. Martha believed that movement was created from the tension of a contracted muscle, continued in the flow of energy, and released from the body as the muscle relaxed. Her method of muscle control gave her, her dancing partners and students a hard, sharp, angular look that many people were not used to. In some of her very first reviews she was described as dancing in an “ugly” way. Her makeup was also very, well, “out there.” She had a pale white face, black holes for eyes and a dark red slash of a mouth.

Her very demanding dance methods are still taught today. I think she greatly helped free the art of dance. Martha Graham didn’t pay any attention to what others thought. In her words, “It’s not my job to look beautiful. It’s my job to look interesting.”