Interview With Martha Graham
Rachel
(interviewer): Hello, Martha. Today we are going to be interviewing you
about your life as a dancer and choreographer. Are you ready?
Martha (interviewee): Yes, let’s start.
Question 1
R: What was it like during the time and place you lived in?
M:
I
was born on May 11, 1894 in Allegheny City, which later became a part
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a very industrial city with many
churches, social organizations, factories, commercial areas, and packing
houses. It also had numerous job opportunities for German immigrants.
My family eventually moved to Santa Barbara, California when I was
fourteen. Whilst there, much renovation occurred at the Church, mostly
in the sanctuary. I saw my very first dance performance at the Mason
Opera House in Los Angeles, which is about 95 miles away from Santa
Barbara. I moved to New York in 1925 to attend the Eastman School of
Music, and that’s where I did a lot of my work.
There
was a depression in the 1890s, and because of that immigration rose
from 3.5 million to 9 million. Immigrants kept coming from Northern and
Western Europe, but we started receiving immigrants from Eastern and
Southern Europe, including Latin America and Canada. Immigration
eventually decreased in 1914 because of the war, and later in the 1920s
with its immigration restrictions. Speaking of the war, it was very hard
for everyone around the world. World War I was the first global war in
history and it put the central powers of Germany, the Ottoman Empire,
and Austria-Hungary against the allied forces of France, Russia, Japan,
Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. It finally ended on
November 11, 1918, when I was 24 years old. That was a great day.
Question 2
R: Did anything happen in your childhood that influenced your interest in dance?
M:
Like
I said before, I saw my very first dance performance at the Mason Opera
House in 1914. I saw Ruth St. Denis perform, and I was just so
interested in the way that she moved. Modern dance was a style quite
different from ballet, in fact, it pretty much broke the rules of it! My
father was a doctor, and he and my mother did not approve of me
becoming a dancer, so I joined the Cumnock School, which was a junior
college.
My
father died in 1914. Even though I know it’s mean to say, I felt free
to study dancing and to pursue my dream. After I graduated from Cumnock,
I began to study at the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in
Los Angeles, which was founded by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. I had
never had a dance lesson before in my life, and I was very nervous. But I
was determined, and I guess I impressed Ted Shawn, because I ended up
touring with his troupe in a production of “Xochit”. I stayed at the
school until 1923, leaving for two years of solo work with the Greenwich
Village Follies.
Question 3
R: Did you have any mentors that helped to utilize your talents and become the artist you are now?
M:
I
was very impressed by Ruth St. Denis. I was almost entranced by her, I
just loved the way she could create such beautiful art with her body.
However, my main teacher at the Denishawn School was Ted Shawn. Even
though I couldn’t dance a single step at first, he recognized the
potential I had, and became a mentor to me.
Shawn
channeled the dramatic power out of my shy, young body. He was the one
that guided me in the Aztec ballet “Xochitl”, which was a huge success.
Many of my performances in vaudeville and concerts were successful as
well. In 1922, I performed an Egyptian dance for a short silent film by
Hugo Riesenfeld. I danced alongside Lillian Powell, and Shawn guided us
both through the process. Even though I ended up rebelling against the
eclecticism of the Denishawn school, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
I wouldn’t be the dancer I am now without it.
Question 4
R: When you entered the dance world, was it much different from how it is now?
M:
Ballet
was very popular with the public. Before the turn of the century,
modern dance was unheard of. Pioneers such as Isadora Duncan, Loie
Fuller, and Ruth St. Denis helped to introduce this new style to the
people. When I first joined the dancing world, modern dance was not as
well developed as it is today. And if you were a modern dancer, that’s
all you did. If you were a ballet dancer, you did ballet and no other
styles.
In
the 1920s and 1930s, myself and other artists such as Doris Humphrey
and Mary Wigman essentially broke away from the traditional ways of
ballet. We choreographed expressive movements that were more about human
life, unlike most ballets. Eventually, some ballet choreographers took
on that sense of realism and created amazing pieces of art with everyday
themes. Now, modern dance has completely evolved and created even more
styles from it.
Question 5
R: How did the major cultural, economic and political situations of your time influence your work?
M:
I
used many of the problems that were happening in the world at the time
in my dance pieces. I found a way to take the pain, sadness, and anger
of certain events and change it into something beautiful. My work was
always infused with social, political, sexual, and psychological themes.
I made sure my dancers knew exactly how to express the emotion in a
scene, otherwise it wouldn’t connect with the audience, which was always
my ultimate goal.
In
1936 I was invited by Hitler to go and represent America at the
International Arts Festival, which was organized with the Olympic Games
in Berlin. I turned him down, because if I accepted, that meant that I
supported his regime, which was not the case at all. That same year I
created “Chronicle”, which was sort of my response to the rise of
fascism and the “unmatched power of the collective will”.
Question 6
R: What do you consider your greatest accomplishments and what dance methods did you create?
M:
I
started working at the Eastman School of Music in 1925. Rouben
Mamoulian and I created a short two-color film called “The Flute of
Krishna”, which featured some of the students of Eastman. I left shortly
after, and went on to establish the Martha Graham Center of
Contemporary Dance in 1926. My first independent concert consisted of 18
trios and solos that I choreographed myself. It took place in Manhattan
at the 48th Street Theatre. All of the pieces I showed that night were
influenced by Denishawn.
In
1936, I created a piece called “Chronicle”, which brought more serious
issues to the stage. It was influenced by the Wall Street Crash, the
Great Depression, and the Spanish Civil War. It focused mainly on
isolation and depression. I went on to produce many, many more shows and
stories on the stage. However, I never allowed my work to be filmed,
because I believe that live performances should only exist as they are
experienced. I also developed my own style, called the Graham technique.
It is based on “contraction and release” and is designed to make
dancers expressive and dramatic. Overall, I would say that my biggest
accomplishment is my company, the Martha Graham Dance Company.
Question 7
R: What were the key opportunities you had that created a turning point in your dance career?
M:
After
I performed as the lead in Igor Stravinsky’s premiere of “Rite of
Spring” in America, I got the opportunity to tour the United States in
the production “Electra”. During my tour, I became especially interested
in the American Indians of the Southwest. One of the first products
that I made out of this interest was “Primitive Mysteries”.
My
interest in the American past only increased. I created a piece based
off the lives of American pioneer women, called “Frontier”. It also
inspired my famous “Appalachian Spring”. In 1932, I became the first
dance to ever receive a Guggenheim fellowship, which is an award to
glorify artistic research and development. I got an opportunity to dance
for President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937, becoming the first dancer to
dance at the White House. That is still one of the best opportunities
I’ve gotten and one of the proudest days of my life.
Question 8
R: Were there any hardships or roadblocks you had to overcome to make it as a dancer?
M:
After
I saw the show Ruth St. Denis perform, I begged my parents to allow me
to study dance. They were strong Presbyterians, and told me no. Of
course, my parent’s disapproval of my dancing as a child discouraged me.
But I was so inspired and moved by dance that I refused give up. When
my father died, I basically saw it as an opportunity for me to begin my
dream job as a dancer. And when I did start, I hadn’t been dancing my
whole life, and there were times when I felt I’d never make it. But I
just kept working, and eventually everything came together.
When
I first started choreographing pieces for my company, many of the early
critics called my dances “ugly” or “strange”. I guess they just didn’t
understand that dance could be more than just tutus and pointe shoes. It
was so different from ballet that it just didn’t click with people at
first. Finally, they slowly started to realize just how great my work
was and respected the time and effort I put into them.
Question 9
R: Do you have any personal stories, or anecdotes, that really illustrate how you became so successful as a dancer?
M:
When
I first opened my company, I really enjoyed having my own students to
utilize. In 1929, I produced a dance called “Heretic”, where I danced in
all white against a wall of dancers with all black. I worked with music
composer Louis Horst up until his death in 1964. Without his music, I
surely would have been lost.
As
previously mentioned, when my dances first hit the stage, many people
were very taken aback. It was quite different from European ballet,
which was graceful and pretty. My dances were powerful and strong. They
included movements that were dramatic, such as contracting and falling
to the floor. Even though the critics sneered at what I did, I didn’t
despair. I knew they all would eventually discover the beauty of a dance
that’s not quite as perfect and pretty, but that tells a story.
Question 10
R: How did your work impact the world of art?
M:
My
impact on dance is often compared to that of Pablo Picasso’s on
painting. We both introduced a new style to our art form and changed up
the “traditional” ways of doing it. Basically everything I did was
completely against what female dancers had previously been taught. I
made a new technique so complex that it takes a full 10 years to master
and gave artists of color a chance, even though they were not regarded
as much.
I
have often been recognized as one of the most influential artists of
the 20th century. Dance would probably be very different today if it
were not for me and many other modern dance pioneers. New styles such as
contemporary and lyrical have evolved from that original modern style.
Nowadays, modern dance is kind of an oxymoron. It is no longer a new
form of dance. Even so, I hope that it will live on, just as ballet has.
Source List (Bibliography)
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/martha-graham-mother-of-modern-dance/1496645.html
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