martha graham

MarthaGraham,1894-1991:TheMotherofModernDance

ByElizabethStern

25August,2012

STEVEEMBER:I'mSteveEmber.

BARBARAKLEIN:AndI'mBarbaraKleinwithPEOPLEINAMERICAinVOASpecialEnglish.

Today,atedalmost

luenceon

theworldofdancecontinuestoday.

(MUSIC)

STEVEEMBER:Inthebeginningofthetwentiethcentury,womenlikeIsadoraDuncanand

andSaintDenisfelt

dancewascreatedasarevoltagainstballet.

DancerFang-YiSheufromTaiwan,inwhitedress,performssketchesfrom

"Chronicle"inCologne,Germany,inJuly2006atthestartofaEuropeantourbythe

MarthaGrahamDanceCompany

MarthaGrahamwasoneofthemostfamousdancersandcreatorsofdance,called

ughtmoderndancetoanewlevelofpopularityinAmericanculture.

Shecreatedanewlanguageofmovementthatexpresdpowerfulemotions.

cludeexpressive

movementsofthebodytotelladramaticstory,specialmusic,lighting,stagedesignand

costumes.

BARBARAKLEIN:MarthaGrahamwasborninthesmalltownofAllegheny,Pennsylvaniain

arthaturnedfourteenyearsold,herfamilymovedtoSanta

Barbara,ravelingacrosstheMidwest,Marthaenjoyedthewide,open

e,

expressivemovementsofmoderndancewereclearlyinfluencedbythebeautyofnature

Grahamobrved.

ServicereleadnewstampshonoringMarthaGraham,

GeorgeBalanchineandtwootherAmericanchoreographers,AgnesdeMilleand

AlvinAiley

STEVEEMBER:Earlierinherlife,however,Marthadidnotknowthatshewouldbecomea

remembersofthe

,innineteenten,Martha'sfather

tookhertoeadanceperformancebyRuthSaintDenis,oneofthefirstmoderndancersin

wassixteenandshedecidedthenthatshewantedtobecomeadancer.

BARBARAKLEIN:RuthSaintDenisandIsadoraDuncanwereatthecenterofattentionin

mple,Duncan

wasfam

dieddancefrom

countriessuchasMexicoandEgypt,insteadoftheEuropeancountrieswhereballethad

Grahamtookanimmediateinterestinthisnewartform.

STEVEEMBER:Martha'sparents,however,

thistime,chotofollowherdream

ofdancing,inherearly

endedtheschool

createdbyRuthSaintDenisandherhusband,TedShawninLosAngeles,California.

AttheDenishawnDanceSchool,Grahamworkedveryhardtoimproveherabilitytodance.

Shetra

performedwiththeDenishawndancecompanyforveralyearsbeforemovingtoNewYork

,Grahamperformedinshowsbutshewantedtomakegreaterexperimentswith

dance.

BARBARAKLEIN:MarthaGrahamstartedteachingdanceattheEastmanSchoolofMusicin

Rochester,

begantochoreograph,rtoexpressherlffreely,she

teentwenty-sixshestarted

theMarthaGrahamCenterofContemporaryDance.

produced

adancecalled"Heretic"eallwhiteanddancedagainsta

begantoworkwithmusiccomporLouisHorst.

oncesaidthat,without

Horst,shewouldhavefeltlost.

STEVEEMBER:Innineteenthirty-six,Grahamcreated"Chronicle,"oneofhermostimportant

dances."Chronicle"wasinfluencedbycurrenteventsincludingtheGreatDepressionandthe

time,showingstrong

alsocreateddancesbadonancientGreektragic

storiesandfamousfemaleheroines.

Atfirst,peopledidnotreactwelltoGraham'erydifferentfrom

Europeanballet,'sdanceswerepowerful,with

themovementsinvolvedcontractingandreleasing

partsofthebody,

movementsarestilludinmoderndancetoday.

BARBARAKLEIN:Innineteenthirty-eight,PresidentFranklinRoovelt'swife,Eleanor

Roovelt,atedadancecalled

"AmericanDocument."GrahamlaterdancedattheWhiteHouforvenotherpresidents.

Innineteenforty-four,MarthaGrahamcreated"AppalachianSpring,"oneofhermostfamous

opland

compodthismusicfor"AppalachianSpring."

(MUSIC)

STEVEEMBER:Innineteenfifty-one,Grahamwasamongthepeoplewhoestablishedthe

illoneofthebestartsschools

edit"Clytemnestra,"andud

musicfromtheEgyptiancomporHalimEl-Dabh.

Gher

otaughtmovementtofamous

ingsingerMadonna,actressBetteDavisandfilmdirectorWoodyAllen.

BARBARAKLEIN:SomeofherdanceswerefilmedandmadeintoaDVDcalled"Martha

Graham:DanceonFilm."ThisisacollectionofthreeprogramsGrahammadeforAmerican

publictelevisioninthenineteenfiftiesandsixties."ADancer'sWorld"isanintroductionto

lsaboutherdancesandherdancegroupshowssomeoftheir

alsoincludesfilmsoftwoofherdances,"AppalachianSpring"and"Night

Journey."

STEVEEMBER:ain,shewasmet

rpeopleknewthatGraham

wasanimportantinfluencebuttheydidnotunderstandthemeaningbehindherdances.

antodrinktoomuchalcohol.

Shelaterwroteabookaboutherlf,called"BloodMemory."Inherbook,shewrotethatshe

performedforthelasttimeinnineteenventy,

tbacktoherdancecompanyto

aldanceshecompletedwascalled"MapleLeafRag,"which

oplincompodthemusic.

(MUSIC:"MapleLeafRag")

BARBARAKLEIN:MarthaGrahamreceivedmanyawardsduringherlifetime,includingthe

thefirstdancertoreceivethe

country'

nineteenninety-eight,Timemagazinelistedherasthe"DanceroftheCentury"andasoneof

thaGrahamDanceCompanystill

performsherdancesinNewYorkandaroundtheworld.

(MUSIC)

STEVEEMBER:roducedbyLawanDavis.

I'mSteveEmber.

BARBARAKLEIN:AndI'learnaboutotherinterestingAmericansat

ourWebsite,nextweekforPEOPLEINAMERICAinVOASpecialEnglish.