Martha Graham (redirected from Martha Graham Dance Company)

Graham, Martha 

Born May 11, 1893, in Pittsburgh, Pa. American dancer and choreographer. Honorary Doctor of the Arts from Harvard University (1966).

From 1918 to 1923, Graham studied at the school of R. St. Denis and T. Shawn and danced in their company. Between 1926 and 1930 she appeared as a concert soloist. In the 1930’s she organized the Martha Graham Dance Company. Graham is one of the most talented exponents of the modern dance, which is most popular in the United States. She developed her own style of rhythmic plastic dance, distinguished by expressiveness and stage effectiveness. Graham has many followers. From the end of the 1940’s through the 1960’s her repertoire included the following productions: Barber’s Cave of the Heart (1947), W. Schuman’s Night Journey (1947), and Starer’s Phaedra (1962). The most eminent American composers wrote music for Graham, and her productions were designed by leading American artists. Her company, with which she danced until 1971, often toured Europe and Asia.

REFERENCES

Martha Graham: Essays on the Dance of Martha Graham Los Angeles, 1937.
Leatherman, R. Martha Graham, Portrait of the Lady as an Artist. New York, 1966.

E. IA. SURITS