Through this 1957 video we can see Martha Graham talking about her own life experience of dancing and her understanding of "dancer". I totally agree with her opinion "dance is communication". In my another blog about Lamentation I have mentioned when she was dancing, she was also trying to communicate with world and try to deliver her emotion. This is the only video I could find in which we can see Graham's expression and temperament under the stage. And here are more pictures of her work.
From June the 8 until June 13 in 2014 the Martha Graham Dance Company presented eight performances at the Joyce theater featuring four remarkable programs, each combining new commissions with classics. Premiers include 'American Document' by Anne Bogart and 'Dance is a Weapon'. The season is called the company's "Political Dance Project".
Their slogan was "OLD TIMES FEEL LIKE OURS".
Artistic Director Janet Eilber said, “Modern dance took on the plight of the oppressed of all races and backgrounds. Dances were created as if ‘ripped from the headlines’ – with themes that aligned modern dance to the complex social concerns of the day including the financial crisis, civil rights, workers’ rights, and the rise of fascism in Europe. The performances at The Joyce will explore the issues of that time and how they reverberate today in the ongoing dialogue about who we are as a nation.”
I believe the project is meaningful because the project was similar as a dance museum of the soul woks of Martha Graham. By watching the performance people could see how ballet developed in the recent decades and how ballet transfer from "traditional" to "modern." The huge difference between classic ballet the modern dance, even Hip-pop, is not only caused by the discrepancy of ideology of the 20th and 21st century, but also shipped by the exploration and attempt of outstanding artists.
The haunting solo dance Lamentation was premiered by Martha Graham in 1930. Graham
recalled to the dance Lamentation, “One of the first times I performed it was
in Brooklyn. A lady came back to me afterwards and looked at me. She was very
white faced and she’d obviously been crying. She said ‘you’ll never know what
you have done for me tonight, thank you’ and left. I asked about her later and it
seemed that she had seen her 9 year old son killed in front of her by a truck.
She had made every effort to cry, but was unable to. But when she saw
Lamentation she said she felt that grief was honorable and universal and that
she should not be ashamed of crying for her son. I remember that story as a
deep story in my life that made me realize that there is always one person to
whom you speak in the audience. One.” I believe in the work Lamentation, Graham showed her true feeling of sorrow and regret. When she began to dance, she was not only acting, but also communicating with the world. For me, this is also the most impressive art work.
Different from Martha Graham’s other works, Appalachian Spring was a ballet created by the composition by Aaron Copland. Martha Graham danced the lead role when it premiered in 1944. Firstly the name of the music was called as “Ballet for Martha”, and it was Graham who suggested Appalachian Spring. The word Appalachian Spring was originally from the poem written by Hart Crane: O Appalachian Spring! I gained the ledge; Steep, inaccessible smile that eastward bends And northward reaches in that violet wedge Of Adirondacks! This work is also the first Martha Graham’s work I have seen which has a clear story. The story was about a celebration of the American pioneers after building a new farmhouse.
Errand into the Maze is a dance
premiered in 1947. I believe this dance showed the fear into people’s hearts.
The strong movements and the maze of rope reflects the dancer’s clutter mind.
Costumes were designed by Graham and the set was created by Isamu Noguchi. The
work was performed by Martha Graham and Mark Ryder. Walter Terry, writing for
the New York Herald Tribune (March 9, 1947) noted, "…the demon is fear,
the deity is courage. Aspects of the evil and the good, then, in humankind, are
given substance for us to regard in that pantheon which is Miss Graham's
theatre of dance…It is a distinguished and appealing work." Modern dances
is more about impression and psychology concepts compare to classical ballet,
and I believed if I catch the feeling of fair in the Errand into the Maze, it’s
not hard to perform the marrow of the dance. Video: Errand into the Maze
Martha Graham was an America modern dancer who also been termed as the
“Picasso of Dance.” Her dancing career was unprecedented. In 1926 when she was
32, she established the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary. She stated that
her peculiar dances was influenced by Denis Hawn. In that period her dance
focused on depression and influenced by the Wall Street Crash and the great
depression. In 1958 her company performed the ballet Clytemnestra, which is the only full length perform in her career. She
not only brought the modern dance into 20th century, but also
influenced the music and custom of modern dance. In the article The Harsh and Splendid Heroins of Martha
Graham, Sigel mentioned that Graham’s theater is priceless because her
theater “is more than a vehicle for her own performing power and intelligent,
more than her psychological insights or particular way she developed nonverbal
structures.” she was also the first dancer to perform at the White House
and received the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her works impressed me the most, compare to other pre-modern and modern artists.
