Martha Graham's "Blood Memory"

Martha Graham has been recognized as one of the great artists of the 20th century. Through her unique vocabulary of movement and gesture she expanded the expressive possibilities of dance, virtually reinventing an art form. Numerous volumes have been written about her life, her creative genius and her significance within the world of dance. One of the most interesting of these literary offerings is Graham's own Blood Memory. Surprisingly, she writes very little about dance itself or what, through dance, she intended to express. In addition, Blood Memory is more a series of impressions, philosophical musings and anecdotes presented in roughly chronological order than a standard, objectively factual autobiography. As such, it provides an intimate, valuable and thoroughly delightful glimpse into the mind of a great artist.

Graham story begins where all autobiographies must, in childhood. She was born on May 11 1894, in Allegheny Pennsylvania, a town she describes as "completely bleak, and lacking in life, brightness and any discernible beauty" (Graham 1991, p. 18). Not only was Allegheny culturally drab, Graham's proper introduction to the theater had to wait for a family vacation in Atlantic City and dance concerts were non-existent, it was physically colorless as well. Located just across the river from the industrial city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny's economy was dominated by the coal industry. Coal dust and soot permeated the outdoor air and dirtied all of the house

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riculum that stressed the expressive arts of theater and dance. After three years at Cumnock, she enrolled at the newly opened Denishawn school, owned and operated by her idol, Ruth St. Denis and her husband, Ted Shawn. Graham admits that she was unprepared for Denishawn. Concerning her audition with St. Denis, she recalled, "I don't think she was very impressed by my interpretation of the music, and when the pianist stopped playing, she put me in her husband Ted Shawn's Care" (Graham, 1991, p. 61). Always tenacious, she would sneak into the studio at night to practice. It was against the rules, but she never felt that St. Denis and Shawn ever really believed in her and that one day they would send her away, so she would practice in the dark to avoid detection. Her persistence paid off. When one of the dancers scheduled to perform a Spanish dance in an upcoming concert fell ill, Graham performed the solo for Shawn. He was so impressed with the authentic ferocity with which she plunged into the piece that he gave her the role. Shawn's newfound respect for Graham's talent earned her several more roles and a burgeoning sense of stardom. Graham's selective recall of her career is clearly indicative of her relative fondnes

Category: Arts - M