"GRAHAM, MARTHA, THE EARLY YEARS" (MERLE ARMITAGE).   Term Paper ID:24831 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Reviews collection of articles from first decade of Amer. dancer's career.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Reviews collection of articles from first decade of Amer. dancer's career. Paper Introduction: The life story of any artist is of great interest to those who wish to gain a better understanding of the artist’s work. Don McDonagh has provided the means to understand the work of one great artist in his volume titled simply, Martha Graham: A Biography. Martha Graham was the oldest of the three daughters of George Greenfield Graham and Jane Beers Graham. She was born on May 11, 1894, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Her father was a physician whose practice provided a comfortable life for the family. In those days it was common for young girls to take an interest in the theater. Martha was no exception. One of her early attempts at costume design involved dressing up the family’s reluctant terrier in doll clothes. This episode is telling of her deep and lifelong interest in animals. She was espec Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Biracree,Sabin and MacDonald were so dedicated to Graham that they would gladly workfor expenses only. Overwhelmed by the experience, Marthaimmediately recognized her aspiration to become a dancer and realize inherself the vision that she saw in Ruth St. The primacy of these expressions, however, madeit difficult, if not impossible, to intellectualize the meaning of thecomposition. Unwilling to lose a paying pupil,however, Shawn took it upon himself to teach Graham. Within two years she would extricate herself from the follies. Reference McDonagh, D. On April 18, 1926,Martha Graham gave her first independent dance concert. With Shawn's guidance, her talent improved as the summerprogressed. After a search for agreeable places to relocate,they settled in Santa Barbara, California. Shetook a teaching position at the newly opened Anderson-Milton school, ownedand operated by George Eastman and Rouben Mamoulian. By 19 8, her health had degenerated to the degreethat the family decided to move to a climate that would not furtheraggravate her condition. In 1913, Graham went to Los Angeles to enter Cumnock Junior College.Cumnock was chosen for its emphasis on the expressive subjects of dance anddrama. A short, mixedreview appeared in the New York Times. One of her early attempts at costume design involved dressingup the family's reluctant terrier in doll clothes. In their place, she used more primalmotions that expressed the emotional vocabulary of the subconscious. Within a year, Graham would live in the studio and teach her own classes. New York: PraegerPublishers. Graham's formaltraining was limited to the classes she had taken at Cumnock. In 1915, the Denishawn School opened in Los Angeles. Denis and her husband, TedShawn, who was also a dancer of considerable talent. She was born on May 11, 1894, inAllegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1911, Graham's father took her to Los Angeles to see a concert byRuth St. Denis, who was then one of the greatest and most famous exoticconcert dancers in the world. Denis was forced to reconsider her assessment ofGraham's talent. It was home to substantial populations of Chinese,Latinos and African-Americans, each of which presented a unique culturalcomponent. It is still common for directors and choreographersin New York to schedule modern dance concerts in the spring and fall,exclusively. The comparison is accurate, for like Picasso andStravinski, she has molded her unique perception, instinct and talent intoa new and powerful vocabulary of expressive movement that revolutionized anentire art form. Santa Barbara was much morediverse than Allegheny. Again this can be traced back to Graham's habit of leavingthe city in order to escape the heat of the New York summer. In 1923, Graham was hired for the 5th annual edition of the GreenwichVillage Follies. She had no money,however, with which to pay her dancers or rent the theater. She abandoned those gestures that weremerely decorative or symbolic. One day in class she performed a Spanish dance with suchgenuine intensity that St. Martha Graham was the oldest of the three daughters of GeorgeGreenfield Graham and Jane Beers Graham. Martha Graham: A biography. This schoolwas the creation of Graham's idol, Ruth St. St. Gathering up hercourage, she enrolled in Denishawn's summer session. Graham would continue to refine her unique vocabulary of expressive movement. The receptive audience member left the theaterwith the feeling that he or she had just experienced something powerful butundefinable. This practice stems from the fact that,in Graham's day, the only time that most theater owners would rent to dancecompanies was Sunday, a relatively quiet day of the week for the morelucrative productions. Her artistic influence has been compared to that of Pablo Picasso andIgor Stravinski. The production went on a successful tour of thePantages vaudeville circuit and gave Martha a taste for stardom. She was, bycomparison, an unprepared and unpromising student of the dance. She began to use Graham as a demonstrator in her classes. It was in Santa Barbara that the 14-year-old Marthabegan to develop the broader sense of cultural awareness that would havesuch a strong influence on her life's work. Denistold Shawn that she could do nothing with Graham and that she did not wanther to remain a part of the class. Although teaching demanded much of her time and attention, Marthabegan actively exploring the dance with an eye to creating her own uniquerepertoire of expressive movement. She earned flatteringreviews, one critic favorably compared her to Ruth St. The message of Graham's dance could be fully grasped only asan unanalysed experience. It would be several years before financial success would follow. When sheformed her own dance company in 1926, it was with Thelma Biracree, EvelynSabin and Betty MacDonald, her three best students. Graham worked with a few gifted students who instinctively recognizedand responded to her fierce dedication and her emerging esthetic. In so doing she has earned a well deserved place in thepantheon of great 2 th century artists. It was the first dance performance of anykind that Graham had ever seen. The show consisted of 18 pieces set to the modern music of Satie,Debussy, Scriabin, Ravel and Rachmaninoff, to name a few. She worked harder than the other students to refine herskills. It tells the story of theseductive relationship between an Aztec emperor and the young girl for whomthe dance is named. In a remarkable act of faith, a friend who had neverseen Graham dance borrowed $1, at a high rate of interest in order torent the theater. Although she produced fewer than a dozen performances per year, her fans and critics soon began to recognize that the results of her innovative approach were the creations of a great artistic genius. When she returned toschool in the fall, she began a concentrated study of theater and dance. Her departure from the Follies and Broadway marked a turning point in hercareer. This episode is tellingof her deep and lifelong interest in animals. She did not enjoyteaching but the position provided her with a studio of her own and thetime to develop her new ideas about what dramatic dance movement should be. She was especiallyfascinated in observing the way they moved. Her father was a physician whose practiceprovided a comfortable life for the family. This successful show included the usual mixed program ofvaudeville acts, including comedy, drama and dance. At first, Graham's talent was not immediately apparent. It praised Graham's lyrical talentand her ability to create beautiful images but mildly criticized aperceived lack of power. She wasseveral years older than the other students, most of whom had begun totrain when they were between the ages of eight and twelve. But her singular devotion to her art leaves the observer with the impression that financial success was always a secondary consideration. Denis. Graham was now afinancially independent, professional dancer. Don McDonagh hasprovided the means to understand the work of one great artist in his volumetitled simply, Martha Graham: A Biography. The life story of any artist is of great interest to those who wish togain a better understanding of the artist's work. And Graham's performance established the basis forwhat would become a devoted following. In addition, there existed the traces of the original Native-American culture. In 192 , Shawn created "Xochitl" as a vehicle for Graham's obvioustalent, it was her first starring role. For example, it has become a common practice to schedulemodern dance concerts on Sundays. Martha was noexception. Graham's influence on the world of modern dance is so extensive thateven now it dictates those traditions which are not necessarily a part ofthe dance itself. The concert drew a large enough audience to payfor itself, however. Theuniversality of these gestures insured that they would leave a recognizableimpression on the viewer. In those days it was commonfor young girls to take an interest in the theater. She excelled in her studies during the three years that she spentthere. Denis. The work,however, did little to challenge her abilities and it quickly becameapparent that it would never sufficiently fulfill her esthetic aspirations. (1973). Graham's persistent determination compensated for her lack ofdeveloped talent. She was no longer a mere entertainer, she was developing intosomething else, a dedicated artist. Martha's sister, Mary, had been afflicted with chronic athsma formost of her young life. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.