Martha
Graham is considered to be the mother of modern dance. She created the only fully codified modern
dance technique, choreographed more than
one hundred and fifty works during her lifetime, and has had a remarkable impact on the entire
field of modern dance.
Her technique’s deviation from
classical ballet, and its use of specific body movements such as the
contraction, release, and spiral, has exerted a profound influence on the
dancing world. Graham even went so far
as to create a movement “language” based upon the expressive capacity of the human body.
She
danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and during that time was the
first dancer to perform at the White House: the first dancer to travel overseas
as a cultural ambassador; and the first
dancer to receive the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. As the mother of modern dance, she will be immortalized for her intensely
emotional performances, her unique
choreography, and especially for her
homegrown technique.
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