Martha Grahams choreography

Martha whole wheat flours choreographyDiscuss how the choreography of Martha whole wheat flour or Merce Cunningham reflected the eer-changing contexts in which her/his compute was produced.Martha whole meal flour (1894-1991) was a truly inspirational and basal performer and choreographer by means ofout the 20th century. Her work was a great mould to people from all boldnesss of the arts, from famous stage actors to painters, composers, sculptors and of course choreographers. Over whole meal flours 70 year long c arer she created a great legion(predicate) integrity hundred and eighty one pieces. (States http//www.innovationpark.psu.edu/coolblue/events/martha-graham-dance-company-clytemnestra last accessed 05/01/2010) These were an master(prenominal) influence for numerous people. She changed the way many see and interpret dance. It was 1910 when Graham was sixteen that she prototypic laid eyes on an enthralling dance piece. It was seeing pathos St. Denis at a perform ance of her famous aviates The Cobras, Radha, Nautch and Egypta, in Los Angeles that caught her attention. Graham k bare-ass from this point on that this reinvigorated, defining apprehension of dance with bare feet and intrinsic flow is what she wanted to devote her life to. Due to her persistent and resolute nature, she ref characterd to conform to the social normalities of concert dance within contemporary dance. It was 1926 when Graham create the Martha Graham Dance Company. She veered off from the strict form of traditional concert dance and led the way for a new language of dance which was ground on her deliver principles of dance as an inner expression. With this ideology she focussed more on material movement than on unadulterated technique, the likes of which ballet demands. She loved the form of precise movements of the body and she was set to faade classical dance moves. She would go on to do this through her expressionistic work. legion(predicate) of her perfor mances would involve a rather racy theme, or something that was really idealistic for the period in which it was created. She also reflected what was going on around her socially. When discussing Grahams use of fillion and release, for which she was so well know, Susie Cooper (2009) states, Graham developed the movements of take a breath contraction and release as the basis for her movement vocabulary and technique. When gaolbreak down the dance of Graham I think Merle Armitage verbalize it bestThe dance of Martha Graham is neither literally (story telling in the allegorical sense) nor is it symbolic. It is a pure art of the dancea play of form which in itself is significant and provocativea language of its own, not a hand-maiden of another art form. mayhap it is the first uninfluenced American dance expression, wholly disarming in its simplicity but curiously pro ground in its complexity. (Armitage, M. 1969 Martha Graham the wee years. Da Capo Press, Inc.)Graham was great ly influenced by her father. Dr Graham was a physician who showed particular interest in the way people moved and use their bodies. This state of mind was passed on to his daughter and later on in her life she used to state his favoured dictum movement never lies.Graham was enliven by many different sources ranging from paintings and artwork to Hellenic mythology, Native American ceremonies and the American Frontier. Most of her truly memorable roles depict grand and significant women in history. Such as Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Medea, Phaedra and Joan of Arc.Lamentation is Grahams dance from 1930. It is a solo choreography which shows the struggle of human emotion and is a visual counterpart to the contemporary architecture that was beginning to dump the skyline of New York in a new and exciting way. Graham describes her piece asa solo piece in which I wear a long underpass of material to indicate the tragedy that obsesses the body, the ability to stretch in spatial relation yo ur own skin, to witness and test the perimeters and boundaries of grief, which is honourable and universal. (Graham, M. 1991 Blood shop An Autobiography. Doubleday world-class edition.) many another(prenominal) of her movements in this piece are from a grounded position and slowly contract and release to an upward position, much like the building and construction of a skyscraper. For example she is sitting on the edge of a bench and contracts from side to side and then arches into a high release which represents the rise of a building. As the dance progresses Grahams movements become a lot faster and angular. This shows the velocity and contemporary initiation that the buildings were being built.It seems safe to assume that her fundamental lay is to allow the power and energy of the living world to filter through and animate her work. (Armitage, M. 1969 Martha Graham the early years. Da Capo Press, Inc.)Chronicle (1936) brought upon a new period of contemporary dance. Completely danced by women, serious issues were brought to light for the first time. It is a preface to war, devastation, destruction and seclusion. It showed Grahams anti-war stance. It was a counterpart to events such as the great depression. It was an iconic step forward in modern dance. Clytemnestra (1958) was considered by many to be Grahams masterpiece. It was an evening long performance, her largest scale work that she ever produced. Composed by Halim El-Dabh. The piece is based on an ancient Greek story about Queen Clytemnestra. It involves love affairs and sacrifice of her daughter. This was a very symbolic piece, use of red material as clothe and props for the entrance to the Queens bedchamber. Graham had used material originally in Lamentation but not in a design way, so Isamu Noguchi incorporated it within the design. (Graham, M. 1991 Blood Memory An Autobiography. Doubleday 1st edition.)Graham collaborated with many artists and visionaries alike. (The following are just to name a few.) Many of whom influenced her work and she in turn influenced them. Isamu Noguchi was a famous sculptor and was a nice friend of Grahams and created many of her sets for her pieces. Graham was often compared to many famous artists by society. Her affect on dance was thought upon like Stravinskys music, Picassos paintings or straight-from-the-shoulder Lloyd Wrights architecture. One of the fore to the highest degree composers of the time, Aaron Copland, worked with Graham. Copland was known to incorporate jazz music and kinfolk music into his compositions, a revolutionary design for the time. This was then shown through Grahams pieces, for example, Appalachian Spring (1944), one of Grahams well known dances, had a brand new impinge on created for it by Copland. This was a revolutionary piece both in the style of the choreography and of the music. Appalachian Spring was Grahams piece based on a springtime celebration of the American pioneers of the 19th century afterward t hey build a new farmhouse. Other composers were William Schuman, who composed Night transit (1947) for Graham, Samuel Barber composed Frescoes (1978/79). Louis Horst was another of Grahams most valued composers, also known to be Grahams closest adviser on choreographic and creative issues. Graham collaborated with the famous designer Roy Halston Frowick, who created the costumes for some of her later works. He was one of the most proclaimed designers of the seventies. The first time Graham collaborated with Halston was on her work catch (1975), which starred Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Lucifer was a reference to the light bearer of scriptural times. When talking about this piece Graham statesMany people nourish asked me why I did Lucifer with Rudolf Nureyev. Lucifer is the bringer of light. When he fell from grace he mocked Gosh. He became half god, half man. As half man, he knew mens fears, anguish, and challenges. He became the god of light. Any artist is the bringer of light. Thats why I did with Nureyev. Hes a god of light.And Margot Fonteyn was such a glorious complement to him at it. aglow(predicate) as night. When I first saw Margot Fonteyn she was a great and sightly figure. The magic of Margots presence is an elusiveness of spirit that defies description (Graham, M. 1991. Blood Memory An Autobiography. Doubleday 1st edition.)Grahams final performance in which she danced was her work Cortege of Eagles (1967). It is one of her Greek mythology drawn pieces. It is about Hecuba reliving the massacre of the Trojan War. It is a very dramatic based piece focusing on the internal actions and ideals of Hecuba. It is not as investigative as her earlier Greek mythology drawn pieces. It has a focus to emotions and presence more than movement of Graham herself. Instead the actions are carried out by the chorus of dancers. As if they were playing out Hecubas memories.Martha Graham is still celebrated today as one of the most important performers and chore ographers of all time. Maple Leaf Rag (1990) was Grahams last choreographed work with a score by Scott Joplin and Calvin Kleins costumes. Graham was working on a piece called The sum of the Goddess before her death in 1991. It was her new ballet for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. So many of her students became choreographers and company leaders and took a certain aspect of her work with them. Merce Cunningham is a prime example, and this is one of the reasons why we still form to see a lot of her style of work today. Graham changed the concept of what we know as contemporary/modern dance. If not for her, many ideas of how we perceive dance would not exist in the present day. Some found Grahams work ugly and hateful others called it a revolutionary masterpiece.People provoke asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life. (Graham, M. 1991. Blood Memory An Autobiography. Doubleday 1st edition.)BibliographyB ooksHorosko, M. 2002 Martha Graham The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training. University press of Florida.Armitage, M. 1969 Martha Graham the Early Years. Da Capo Press, Inc. Graham, M. 1991 Blood Memory An Autobiography. Doubleday 1st edition.DVDs/Videoshttp//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEvcP-vXk4M (Last accessed on 13/11/09)http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgf3xgbKYko (Last accessed on 12/11/09)DVD Martha Graham in Performance. Kultur.http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFNsKeMbW20 (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//community.ovationtv.com/_Martha-Graham-A-Dancer-Revealed/video/251083/16878.html (Last accessed on 06/01/10)Websiteshttp//www.studio360.org/americanicons/episodes/2006/01/07 (Last accessed on 13/11/09)http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Graham (Last accessed on 13/11/09)http//www.cmi.univ-mrs.fr/esouche/dance/Lamentation.html (Last accessed on 12/11/09)http//www.dancehelp.com/articles/modern-dance/martha-graham.aspx (Last accessed on 13/11/09)http//www.pitt.edu/gillis/dan ce/martha.html (Last accessed on 26/11/09)http//www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/aaron-copland/about-the-composer/475/ (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/martha-graham/about-the-dancer/497/ (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/isamu-noguchi/about-isamu-noguchi/675/ (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Spring (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//www.studio360.org/americanicons/episodes/2006/01/07 (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//www.answers.com/topic/louis-horst-1 (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Schuman (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//marthagraham.org/resources/about_martha_graham.php (Last accessed on 19/12/09)http//www.innovationpark.psu.edu/coolblue/events/martha-graham-dance-company-clytemnestra (Last accessed on 05/01/10)http//www.nytimes.com/1985/04/06/arts/the-dance-martha-graham-s-cortege-of-eagles.html?pagewanted=1 (Last a ccessed on (05/01/10)http//www.exploredance.com/marthagraham2103.php (Last accessed on 05/01/10)http//www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/47790.Martha_Graham (Last accessed on 06/01/10)