Martha Graham single-handedly created the art form known modern dance. Many authors have written about her life, her art and her influence in order to provide some insight into her creative genius. One of the most intimate and extensive of these offerings is Agnes DeMilleÆs Martha, The life and work of Martha Graham.
DeMille met Graham in the early 1920s, just as Graham was gaining fame as a professional dancer. Her first impressions of Graham were of a woman whose presence was one of dignity, absolute fastidiousness in manners and speech, and a ready courtesy (DeMille, 1984, p. 13). Graham had a majestic stage presence that was due to the forceful intensity of her gestures. Offstage, however, she was, physically, almost tiny. Her spirit was immense. She had a unique awareness, an attention that seemed always receptive. She spoke with an authority that sprang from the depth of her observations. She was passionate and would not allow herself to be controlled by anyone.
GrahamÆs father had had a great influence on her. He was a physician and was used to looking at the human body for clues concerning a personÆs health. He once told her that she could never lie to him because her body language would tell him the truth, bodies never lie. Intrigued, she learned to study the movements of people and animals.
Graham was an excellent student who had a remarkable feeling for words and language. Her English teachers hoped that she would make creative literature her specialty. When she later discovered that she was going to be a dancer, she through herself into it, virtually abandoning her other interests. Her teachers mourned the fact that the world had lost a great writer.
Graham studied dance with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn at the Denishawn school. She idolized St. Denis and was very shy around her. St. Denis did not like her at first, however, and she refused to take her on as a student. Ted Shawn had ...