Martha Graham was a modern pioneer in which field of the arts?

Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her influence on dance has been compared with the influence of Picasso on modern visual arts, the influence of Stravinsky on music, and the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture.

She danced and choreographed for over seventy years. Graham was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said, in the 1994 documentary The Dancer Revealed, "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable."

Her style, the Graham technique, fundamentally reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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10 Comments

William Laughlin

John Espo Since only 8 have answered so far, I'm going to assume you are not among the 7 others and will probably see this comment to you. You probably never see the reactions of others to your comments after you post them. I just want you to know that when you praise EVERY submission as superb and fine, then your compliments ring hollow. If EVERYTHING is superb, then nothing is. If you give it a rest and offer praise to only the best submissions, then your praise might have some value. Do us all a favor and learn to gauge the quality of the questions and answers.

Peter de Loriol

She and my godmother, Harle Jervis, created this 'modern dance'. I Have all my godmother's papers relating to this. Have some wonderful pictures of both of them

Angeles Dembowski

Studied under one of her dancers and was able to go backstage and meet Ms. Graham.

earlepg

I knew nothing of her, however my wife took ballet lessons for many years and mentioned her name to me many times after we married.

Mic Fenst

Shelley Welch Dunivan, Tesla [backwards teslA] is real?

Pat Wells

William Laughlin, Maybe, just maybe, people are praising the efforts writers make when writing questions. I appreciate their efforts, so I hit like, even if the question does not meet the standards of others.