Many consider Martha Graham to be one of America's most famous and influential Modern Dance choreographers. Her work was powerful, steady and filled with both tension and release. Some say that she created a new form of language to express the complexities, passions and rage of humanity. In 1926, she formed the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance which is where the core of her students learned Graham's traditional and innovative technique. In 1936, Graham created her most famous work, "Chronicle", which exemplified American values like hard work but also it contained emotions of sadness and loneliness which reflected recent events such as the Great Depression and Spanish Civil War. Although many of her works, like "Appalachian Spring" (pictured below), were considered to be classically American, one can certainly see influences from Asian, Grecian and Middle Eastern cultures amidst her artistry. "Clytemnestra", an evening work created in 1958, was one of her largest-scale pieces that honed in on the mysteries of this Greek myth and legend.
This new era of dance that emphasized fluidity, movement freedom and a fully embodied performance art, was certainly lead by the works of Martha Graham. Graham believed firmly that her works should be seen in person, and was highly careful with the filming and photographing of her pieces. Her company still performs today both domestically and internationally. Later in this blog, we will examine the way in which the Graham Company, during the 1950s, was able to spread many American political messages of the time through the performance of her art, specifically during State Department sponsored tours.
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