The dancer and educational pioneer, Martha Graham, revolutionized the world of dance in the 20thcentury. Not only did Martha Graham take the emphasis off the stiff and conscripted tradition of classical ballet and other dance forms, but also she allowed dance to express more than simple beauty. Her pieces expressed deep political ideas, which was a new thought for the times. Through her support of a number of schools and other educational programs for young dancers, the legacy of Martha Graham continues through today since she was the founder of so many projects and institutions. Although she got a late start since she did not begin dancing as a young girl, she made up for this lack of early experience by infusing dance with fresh energy—allowing it to move out of the confines of “fine art” and into the political and socially meaningful sphere.
Martha Graham was born in Pennsylvania but moved to California as a young girl. Her father was a domineering doctor whose religion eschewed dancing, thus Martha was not trained as a dancer from an early age. It was not until she was a teenager that she went to Los Angeles and saw the famous dancer Ruth St. Denis perform. As soon as Martha Graham saw this performance her fate was sealed—she knew she wanted to dance. She did not officially begin a dancing career until after the death of her father. Now that she was free to explore her passion, she quickly enrolled at the prestigious Denishawn. Amazingly, she was twenty-two years old at the time, which was a very late age to begin a serious career in dance.
Even though she was older, she worked hard and in 1925 she became a teacher of dance in New York for a time until she founded the Martha Graham Dance Company with her lover and future husband, Louis Horst in 1926. Part of what her school so unique was that she did not follow the strict conventions of classical ballet but rather emphasized freedom of movement. Her school of dance put the focus on interpretation and expression rather than stiff movements and this set her apart both as a dancer and a teacher.
Martha Graham’s contributions to the history of modern dance in America go far beyond her innovations in what ballet and dance in general was supposed to be. For instance, she put a great deal of effort into educational pursuits and in 1932, she created the first B.A. in dance at Bennington College. Instead of dance simply being a physical pursuit, she integrated the academic (historical and theoretical) elements as well so that a dancer would be well trained and well rounded in all aspects. As a sign of her further commitment to dance and education she was one of the first staff members of the department of dance at the famous Julliard.
Throughout her career in the education side of dance, she met the heiress Bethsabee Rothschild who went on to found a school of her own in Israel of which Martha Graham was a vital part. In sum, her commitment to education about dance (beyond the physical aspects of it) is just as long lasting and important to history as her revolutionary concept of movement. She was not only one of the most important figures in modern and interpretive dance, but she founded several important institutions that survive today. This combination of contributions have led her to be named “Dancer of the Century” by Time Magazine (1998) and one of the magazine’s “Most Important People of the 20th century” as well. It should also be noted that she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976, which was granted to her by President Ford. Her life was impressive, both because she got a late start yet was still able to succeed and have a long career, as well as because she created new opportunities for young dancers both in terms of act of dancing as well as learning about it.
Another reason Martha Graham was so influential was because she was not afraid to mix her politics with dance. At this time that was rather unheard of since dance was still, for the most part, associated with the formal classical style. Many of her important works had something to say about modern culture or even history and she relied on expression rather than plot to tell a story and express her meaning. Her performances included interpretations of the stories of famous historical women such as Emily Dickinson and Joan of Arc. She garnered a great deal of attention from other artists of the period such as Aaron Copeland, who wrote the famous “Appalachian Spring” specifically for her. This has remained one of her most famous and important works and it depicts a rather non-traditional subject—an interpretation of a wedding among a group of Quakers in America. Instead of being based on a strong plot and heavy oppressive choreography, she put the emphasis on emotion and expression.
When one considers that some of her earliest pieces were called Immigrant, Vision of Apocalypse, Revolt, and Lamentation, it is clear that she was not merely creating art for art’s sake. These were all heavy topics, especially at the time and her performances were more about functioning as social critiques rather than simply as pieces of art to be appealing to the eye. Her poses and movements were sharp and angular, sometimes even looking strained and uncomfortable as opposed to graceful and angelic. One of the most famous stories about Graham is that she was invited to Germany in 1936 to perform at the Olympic Games. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, she refused to take part since she felt that the country was treating people badly. Instead of going, she instead began one of her most famous pieces,Chronicle, which set about condemning imperialism and intolerance. It was also at this time that she did something else revolutionary—she began working with the dance traditions of other cultures. Until this point dance was, for the part, strictly a European tradition without direct influences from other cultures. Her work in multicultural dance almost predicted our current interest in other cultures and their artistic traditions and for this, among a host of other reasons, she was a woman who was far ahead of her time.
Like most artists who dare to go against the grain, not everyone accepted Martha Graham’s striking break with tradition. While she enjoyed success in America, a tour to Paris, France proved disastrous when she was booed off the stage on more than one occasion. After that she returned to the United States where she created another important piece called “Episodes” with George Balanchine which was performed by her company as well as the New York City Ballet. Although her success returned, she suffered a three bout with depression and health problems. She retired at the age of 76 but still took on a few side projects. Martha Graham died in 1991 aged 96 after living a full life.
Other essays and articles in the Arts Archives that are related to this topic include Biography of Dancer and Choreographer Marius Petipa The Influence of European Monarchs on Classical Ballet Biography : Overview of the Life and Contributions of Isadora Duncan*
