Essay about Martha Graham

Influenced primarily by cultural roots and incredibly opportunity, Dunham had the luxury of studying in the West Indies as well as anthropological study of other cultural style dances. The West Indian experience changed forever the focus of Dunham’s life and caused a profound shift in her career. This initial fieldwork began a lifelong involvement with the people and dance of Haiti. And, importantly for the development of modern dance, her fieldwork began her investigations into a vocabulary of movement that would form the core of the Katherine Dunham Technique. Though many of Dunham’s primary influences lies within her multicultural experiences, Mark Turbyfill also seemed to play a large role in her future dance career, giving her private lessons despite his doubt in the opening of her student company (Kaiso! 187). Katherine Dunham has been list as an influence to “everyone from George Balanchine to Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse and Twyla Tharp. American dance, including ballet, modern dance, Hollywood and Broadway, would not be the same without her” (Aschenbrenner 226).

Dance has come a long way since it first began, and that road has been paved by different styles and choreographers. Modern dance is one of the biggest contributions to dance today. It all began with the rebellion against classical ballet. If it wasn’t for Modern, many aspects and styles of dance would not exist today. Also, without choreographers we would have no dance. One of the most influential Modern choreographers is Twyla Tharp.

The world of contemporary dance is one that is constantly developing and pushing the boundaries of what makes dance more than just movement. However, it is questionable that it would be in this diverse state if it was not for a few revolutionary choreographers. Along with Martha Grahame is could be argued that Merce Cunningham was a pioneering, revolutionary choreographer who questioned given standards and procedures creating the diverse contemporary style that we know today. Revolutionary can be defined as something radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure and principles (Dictionary.com, 2017). In order for something to be revolutionary it has to be in relation to something else, this is certainly true for Cunningham’s

She later moved back to New York and resigned from Daly's theater company. She began performing on her own with limited success. In 1899, she performed Rubaiyat and shocked the audience with her skimpy costume (it showed her bare arms) and with the movement of her dance (Splatt 34). It was the beginning of her "new dance" and was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.

"I quit" (Copeland 34). Those were the first words out of Misty Copeland's mouth as she walked out of her first ballet class when she was only thirteen years old (Copeland 34). This quote illustrates just how hard Misty Copeland has had to work to achieve the greatness she has accomplished. If one would watch Misty Copeland today he/she may not believe this. The clean lines along with the stretched fingers would leave the viewer to think she has been doing this her whole life. Copeland, being black, has had to overcome many barriers the common ballerina would normally not have to deal with. With her being only thirty-four years old, she has worked many stressful hours to earn her spot in today's dance world. She was born on September 10, 1982 and grew up with six siblings (Biography.com). She moved often during her childhood due to her mother having multiple boyfriends and husbands. Although her family did not stay in one place long, the one constant thing in her life has always been dance. Dance, being her only outlet in her life, enabled her to focus extremely hard on her training. Every decision she made revolved around her dance career, even at the age of thirteen. Her unstable childhood and life events may lead the reader to question: what qualities did Misty Copeland obtain that enabled her to become a significant person in the dance

People can now be a talented dancer just like her by going to her dance studio and learning how to dance. People will give her credibility for teaching them how to dance.This gave her a historical credibility because when she died her dance studio will still be there and people will still going then as well. Also a dancer names Clarence Bradley went to her dance studio to start dancing and had a stage debut.People are going to her dance studio and are becoming icon and getter dancer like herself and Clarence Bradley. So no matter if she is still alive or not she will still be known as a dancing and having a dance studio that everyone goes

Who: One choreographer that draw my attention is Martha Graham. Particularly, when I watched her dance ‘HERETIC’, I was emotional.

From war orphan to star ballerina, Micaela Deprince has inspired millions of dancers across the world to follow their dreams. Becoming the first full African American female classical ballet dancer, she has changed the face of ballet. From her story to all of her big accomplishments, she is certainly looked upon by millions of young dancers, including me.

Secondly, Martha’s another strength was revolutionary choreographing skills. Martha Graham marked her peak in the 1930s when she was creating a unique American style of dance. She wanted to “explore some of the forces that have shaped American culture, expressing through dance what is was like to be an American and what America meant to her” (75). Her first piece, Frontier, was a huge success, and she lasted choreographing to the death. Afterwards, Martha created nearly fifty new dances during the 1930s. In addition, Erick Hawkins, the introduction of male dancers, joined Martha’s company in 1938, and gave a huge impact on both Martha’s dance style and personal life. Before Erick appeared in Martha’s life, there was a limitation on her work. However, Martha was able to “explore love, jealousy, ad sexual passion in her dances” (85) such as Every Soul Is a Circus, Letter to the World, and Punch and the Judy. Overall, Martha’s choreographing skills had created a revolution in 1930s.

After her father died in 1914, Martha finished college and began to study dance at Denishawn in Los Angeles. Here, she toured with the man that ran this school, Ted Shawn, and his company in a production based on an Indian legend. About 10 years later, Martha left the company to do solo dances for a company called the Greenwich Village Follies. She had her first independent concert in New York City during 1926. She performed 18 different dances with her and 3 other women.

“What I saw simply and irrevocably changed my life. I saw the dance as a vision of ineffable power. A man could, with dignity and towering majesty, dance… dance as Michelangelo’s visions dance and as the music of Bach dances.” These were the words spoken by José Limón as he witnessed his first dance program in the New York City in 1928. José Limón would come to be known as one of the most critical figures in the development of modern dance.

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.

This agitated modern dance technique image, ''Cunningham was among the first modern dancers to cross the ideological picket lines in order to study ballet with Geoge Balanchine'' (Copeland, 1983, 317). Ballet gave him something he could not find in Graham technique and vice versa, Merce Cunningham mentioned that: '' it was an interesting experience, working in the two different techniques and styles, the Graham work plummeting to the floor in varying ways and weights, the accents in torso; and the ballet class over to ballon, to a lightness and speeds, and to a dexterity in the legs'' (Cunningham, 1991,

Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894 in Allegheny, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She had two sisters, Georgia and Mary. Mary was the second oldest child born in 1896, and Georgia, who was sometimes called Geordie, was the youngest, being born in 1900. She had a younger brother, William Henry, but died from Scarlett fever before his second birthday. Graham's father, an alienist doctor, was 15 years older than his wife, Jennie. During her childhood, her father would play the piano and play songs for his children. Graham's nurse as a child, Elizabeth Pendergrass, had an attraction for the theater and would often help the children stage plays while she was watching them. Her great-grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland but he worked hard and became

Watching the video “A Dancer’s World” made me want to become a professional dancer. Martha Graham’s dancers showed how delicate, defined, sharp, smooth, and astatic a choreography can be. It illustrated how much hard word and dedication it’s needed, but the results will always be beautiful. Also Martha Graham explained how dancing with a partner can be. She also talked about males as dancers, but in her video she demonstrates how men danced with females using physical contact. The techniques and how the piece turns out to be. Both genders jumped a lot through out each piece of performed and that’s something loved. During a piece, there can be both gender dancing separately doing their own thing. The techniques are used differently by males