Martha Graham (1894-1991):

Martha Graham was an American dancer and choreographer, and one of the earliest founders of modern dance in the history.

Martha Graham born in Pennsylvania in 1894 at a doctor's family. She was attracted by the performances of Ruth St. Denis at the age of 16, then she determined to learn dance. After her Psychiatrist father died, she was 22 years old and she entered Denise, Tetsuo Dance Academy.

Seven years later, she traveled to New York alone, to teach dance. When Martha was 32 years old, she held her first work conference in New York. Graham founded his own dance company. She patiently explored pristine powerful dance expression, and the development of Graham-style dance techniques. In 1929, Graham’s "the heretic", wrote the Declaration of Independence for herself and modern dance.

In the 1930s, modern dance suffered plenty of criticisms, Martha bear the brunt, but she obsessed with her own creation. Her dance experiment began concern about the inner feelings of human, and she thought that the postures would change according to distinctive emotions, also she opposed to soft and weak action, which only emphasizes the beauty.

After 1940, Graham brought out one or two large dances each year, and began called these drama. In the 1950s, she has become a legend of twentieth-century dance. It was she that brought modern dance to Broadway. In addition, she was also invited to the White House to performances, and on behalf of the United States to performances overseas.

Nowadays, almost all the important modern dance choreographers are from Graham Dance Company.

 Musicians Louis Horst has been supporting her, and later became her husband, who loyal to her, but Graham married with 39-year-old member Hawkins on her age of 54, thus the marriage broke up.

My point of view:

Human body never lies; Graham developed a set of shrink and stretch as the basic skill. When humans inhale, they stretch, and when exhale they shrink down. Martha reinforced this state, exhale abdominal rapidly, flattening the abdomen when inhale, stretch the spine. Extend this principle, resulting in countless fallen and stand up for action. People affected by the gravidity and crushed down, struggling and stood up. Graham’s technique is the key to compression and stretching. With tidal breathing, body move when the dancers filled spasm. Basically, it is rooted in the instinct of human passion. She used said that desire was wonderful, the entire dance was born from it.

Nearly six decades of dance career, Martha Graham with determination, hard work and talent, established himself as a deity.