117th Birthday's Martha Graham ~ Trip Advisor Pro

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

117th Birthday's Martha Graham

Do you like this story?

Google Doodle’s dancing animation celebrates Martha Graham
May. 11, 2011 (8:30 am) By: Matthew Humphries

Hereunder please find the 3 Top Reviews of

1 Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life

2 Acts of Light: Martha Graham in the Twenty-first Century

3 Martha Graham Dance on Film - (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martha Graham - An American Original in Performance

Martha Graham with Bertram Ross (1961)
Born May 11, 1894
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died April 1, 1991 (aged 96)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality American
Field Dance and choreography
Movement Modern dance
Awards Kennedy Center Honors (1979)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1976)
National Medal of Arts (1985)
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 — April 1, 1991) was an American dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Stravinsky had on music, Picasso had on the visual arts, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.[1]
She danced and choreographed for over seventy years. Graham was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the USA: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said, "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable."

Martha Graham Dance Company

See also: Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance
The Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest dance company in America and continues to perform, including at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in June 2008, a program consisting of: Ruth St. Denis' The Incense; Graham's reconstruction of Ted Shawn's Serenata Morisca; Graham's Lamentation; Yuriko's reconstruction of Graham's Panorama, performed by dancers from Skidmore College; excerpts from Yuriko's and Graham's reconstruction of the latter's Chronicle from the Julien Bryan film; Graham's Errand into the Maze and Maple Leaf Rag.

Reviews of Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life

Simple, and clear..., August 8, 2000
By Sebastien Sabatier Curial (New York)
This review is from: Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life (Hardcover)
I am a former Graham Dancer, and when I saw this book, I had some very intense emotions, it shows Martha in her best years, the pictures are beautiful, some of them are very rare to see, and if you want to see the beauty, or the drama, of that Incredible American Woman, this is the book you need to own. As a Graham Based Dance Teacher, I use this book to show some intentions in the movement, or I simply quote her, I wish you a wonderful Journey in the world of Martha Graham...

EXCELLENT!
This is a wonderful book and story. Being a dancer myself, I am very inspired. You'll enjoy Martha's "positive" attitude and wit throughout this story of the growth of...A Dancer's Life

a very captivating, discriptive book, December 12, 1999
By Lindsey Thomas (springfield, missouri)
This review is from: Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life (Hardcover)
Beautiful pictures and dates next to every event. decribes how martha was feeling when she wrote each dance and why she wrote them. It also decribes her life from when she was born until her death. I used it to write a report and a got an A.

Elegant Trio of Words, Pictures and Feelings, July 20, 2003
By Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) -
This review is from: Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life (Hardcover)
This book is a beautiful, concise study of her life. Studying Martha Graham's life is an awakening experience. Reading Graham's memoir "Blood Memory" simultaneously provides a beautiful counterpoint, knowing the subject will not observe herself in the same way as her biographer.
I dance away from this book with a definite appreciation for Graham's brilliance in creativity and willingness to navigate the many rough patches she encountered AND give such a gift to humanity at the same time.

The numbers of influential people she touched is amazing and enlightening.

I suggest this book for any creative thinker: there are applications for all of us.

Quotes from the public for Martha Graham - A Dancer's Life

"Dancer of the Century"
1998, TIME Magazine

Named as one of the Female "Icons of the Century"
1998, People Magazine

"Brilliant, young dancer"
1998, New York Times

"A National Treasure"
1976, President Gerald R. Ford

Some Reviews of Martha Graham besides...

Review of Acts of Light: Martha Graham in the Twenty-first Century

...a gorgeously photographed record of some of the Graham troupe's more recent dancers...One book serious dancegoers should not be without... -- The Westsider

...a living document of the Martha Graham Dance Company...beautiful, contemplative expressions of 18 ballets and images from...the school. -- Attitude: The Dancers Magazine

...mouth-watering colour portraits of members of the Martha Graham Dance Company costumed and in poses from some Graham modern masterpieces... -- The Toronto Star

...stunning images... -- Los Angeles Times

Reviews of Martha Graham Dance on Film - (The Criterion Collection)

Outstanding and Beyond Expectations, May 20, 2008
By Ivan D. Cortes (Miami FL or Santiago Chile)
This review is from: Martha Graham Dance on Film - (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)
This DVD was absolutely outstanding for me (unfamiliar with modern dance) and exceeded my wife's expectations (very knowledgeable and familiar with modern dance). The reasons for this very positive impression were: Martha herself narrates and explains the whole DVD, the film producer also provides insights into Martha's life and personality, and original dancers performing the original productions.

Very enjoyable either as an expert or as a beginner...review of http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SFJ4L8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=httpneomargoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B000SFJ4L8

Very good set of films, November 4, 2007
By Ted "Ted" (Pennsylvania, USA)
This review is from: Martha Graham Dance on Film - (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)
This release by the Criterion Collection is atypical of what they release but is very good. In it is a documentary by Martha Graham,"A Dancer's World" and two dance sequences that she choreographed. They are "Appalachian Spring" and "Night Journey". I have little knowledge of ballet and am not the best person to review them but given, Graham's prestige, I can assume that they are of high quality.

There are many special features on the two disc box set which are very good also.

Disc one contains the three films, a comparison of the version of Appalachian Spring presented here with an older version narrated by Deborah Jewett, an archival interview with Aaron Copland discussing Appalachian Spring, an audio essay by Nathan Kroll with a slideshow about Graham, a new interview with Ron Simon, head of Museum of Television and Radio, and interviews with editors, Eleanor Hamerow and Miriam Arsham.

Disc two contains a 1994 PBS documentary on Graham titled "Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed", interviews with six of the dancers from the films, senes from a 1975 dance demonstration narrated by Graham, and footage of Graham's company on a 1954 tour of Europe.

This is a must buy for the ballet enthusiast.

Martha Graham ประวัติ ผู้บุกเบิกท่าเต้นรำสมัยใหม่
วันนี้ (11 พฤษภาคม 2554) เป็นวันครบรอบวันเกิดปีที่ 117 ของ Martha Graham นักออกแบบท่าเต้นชาวอเมริกัน ผู้บุกเบิกการเต้นรำสมัยใหม่

จบการศึกษาจากโรงเรียนสอนเต้นรำที่ชื่อว่าเดนิสชอว์ ( Denisshaw ) จัดตั้งโดย รู๊ท เซนต์ เดนิส ( Ruth St. Denis )และสามีนักเต้นรำของเธอ เท็ด ชอว์ ( Ted Shawn )ซึ่งเป็นชาวอเมริกัน ในปี ค.ศ. 1914 ที่เมืองซานตา บาบารา รัฐแคลิฟอร์เนีย

มาร์ธาเกิดในมลรัฐเพนซิลวาเนีย ในครอบครัวของผู้ที่เคร่งในศาสนาคริสต์ฝ่าย โปรแตสแตนต์ ซึ่งใช้การปกครองโดยพระที่มีสมณศักดิ์เท่ากันหมดและเป็นผู้ที่เคร่งศาสนาในแบบเดียวกันกับคนอังกฤษ ที่ไม่เห็นด้วยกับวิธีการของศาสนาทางราชการในสมัยพระนางเจ้าอลิซาเบธที่ 1 ครอบครัวของเธอจึงได้ย้ายมาที่อเมริกา สิ่งนี้เป็นผลสะท้อนเอาความเข้มงวด ความเคร่งขรึมแสดงออกมาในงานของเธอ ความขัดแย้งระหว่างการรับผิดชอบชั่วดี กับความปรารถนาในอารมณ์แฝงอยู่ในงานหลายชิ้นของเธอ เธอได้สอดแทรกเอาอารมณ์ของความร้ายกาจอย่างขมขื่นกับการสะกดกลั้นความรู้สึกอันเกี่ยวข้องในลัทธิความเชื่อส่วนตัวของเธอไว้ในงานของเธออย่างแยบยล และที่สำคัญเธอยังได้พยายามแสดงให้คนดูเห็นหรือบอกความในใจถึงเรื่องจริงในชีวิตของเธอให้ปรากฏออกมาในงาน ซึ่งพ่อของเธอได้ให้คำยืนยันว่าเธอได้กระทำเช่นนี้ต่อเนื่องมาตั้งแต่เด็กแล้ว...อ่านต่อ