How did Martha Graham Influence Dance?
Introduction
Who was Martha Graham
Journey
Martha Graham once said,
"That which cannot be spoken, can be sung.
That cannot be sung,
can be danced."
" Martha Graham, the American dancer, and
choreographer, revolutionized the world of modern
dance. An electrifying performer and major artist of the twentieth century, she possessed a great gift for revealing emotion through dances she created, expressing beliefs and telling stories in way utterly new to the world of dance.", said Russell Freedman. Martha Graham created the Graham technique that started modern dance and choreographed over 200 pieces. She was internationally famous and was invited to dance all around the world. She taught famous pop stars like Madonna.
Hi my name is Keyana Alexis. For my passion project
I did a research on how Martha Graham influenced dance.
My global context is orientation in space and time because it means turning points in humankind, discoveries, and explorations. I felt this was relevant to my topic because Martha Graham discovered a new type of dance and it was a revolution in the dance world. I chose this topic because I am really passionate about dance and hope to dance professionally one day. Martha Graham sparked my curiosity about the creation modern dance. This is important to me because for many years I only danced ballet, and when I discovered modern, it opened new world of dance for me. Without Martha Graham that wouldn't be possible.
Contraction
Contracting
and
Releasing
Today I will focus
on the following:
Process
Answer
How I Chose my Product
Research
For my product, I chose a collage to answer my
question. I chose a collage to show everyone unfamiliar with Martha Graham, how she broke away from
ballet and changed history. The only way to completely understand her importance is to see it. I considered painting a portrait of a classical ballet dancer breaking away to a modern dancer. But I decided not to because I couldn't do it justice. During my research, I found an abundance of striking photos that illustrated
her contributions to dance. Martha Graham introduced
emotions and new techniques. I thought a collage would best depict her influence in the world of dance.
During the course of the year my question changed a lot. I am very passionate about both dance and social justice. In the beginning of the year I tried to connect dance and gay rights. My question changed when I was considering my product. Other ideas came to mind but none felt more interesting than Martha Graham. I had taken some Graham classes, and my modern teacher gave us a history lesson about her. I knew it would be an awesome topic for my passion project.
- Emotions
- Contraction
- and Release
- Use of floor
Martha Graham influenced dance by breaking away from classical ballet and creating new techniques which dramatically changed dance. Her choreography spoke to the audience and invoked a deeper meaning. She broke the rules of ballet and created a new language of dance. She used techniques of contracting and releasing, emotion and the use of the floor. She left an impression on everyone in her audience. Today, her techniques are used everywhere.
I have even taken a Graham class.
Final Product
I immediately took interest in how
Martha Graham broke all the rules of
ballet and showed a deeper meaning to
dance. I identified with her ability to create dances based on social injustice. In my research about her life, through the book "A Dancers Life" by Russel Freedman, I found she used dance to demonstrate social issues. This related to my previous question. I tried to connect her influence on dance, to Pablo Picasso's influence on art and Igor Stravinsky's influence on music. But I found myself being drawn more towards dance, so I decided to focus exclusively on
Martha Graham.
Conclusion
I spoke of Martha Grahams impact on
dance by creating techniques such as
showing emotion, contracting and release and use of the floor. But that's not all she did. She created stag jumps, spirals, and so much more. That's what made this project so fun, because there was so much to learn that was different and interesting. Martha Graham
was an amazing choreographer, but a even better dancer. That's how she wanted to
be remembered as, a dancer.
Contracting and releasing is a technique Martha Graham created. "To help reveal the 'inner world' of emotions and dreams Graham started a fundamental fact of life: the act of breathing.By observing the body's changes as a person breathes, she developes the principles of contraction. A contraction starts in the gut and could attain a whiplash intensity as it radiates out to the arms , legs, and head in a jeering or percussive motion (basically a gut clenching grip pushing the pelvis forward). Release is when the body turns to a
normal state." said Russel
Freedman.
Emotions
Lamentation
In traditional Ballet ballerinas are
meant to look as if ballet is easy while smiling, although ballet is extremely difficult. Martha Graham created a new technique where dancers were allowed to show their emotions, as well as how hard it was. Most pieces where built on deeper meanings. Martha Graham created pieces about issues going on around
the world during that time, like
poverty, and war.
Deliberately using gravity
Use of Floor
"Modern dance deliberately uses gravity. Whereas classical ballet dancers strive to be light and airy on their feet, modern dancers often use their weight to enhance movement. This type of dancer rejects the classical ballet stance of an upright, erect body, often deliberately falling to the floor.", says
Treva Bedinghaus.
This dance was choreographed to show the meaning of grief.