Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
Martha Graham (1894-1991) referred to her dancers as "acrobats of God," but in truth it was she who seemed divinely inspired. Graham was a dancer, choreographer, and teacher for more than 70 years, and during that time she changed the landscape of dance forever. An unlikely candidate for a dance diva, she was shorter and more muscular than the principal ballet dancers of her time and she didn't start dancing until age 22--a flower long past her bloom in the eyes of most choreographers. Nonetheless, Graham managed to turn the dance world on its tutu with her innovative approach to movement and teaching and her clear understanding that feelings are not always graceful, but always intense.
Russell Freedman, who won the Newbery Medal in 1988 for Lincoln: A Photobiography and Newbery Honors for The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane (1992) and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (1994), has once again crafted a beautiful, intriguing biography. He traces Graham's remarkable life from a childhood filled with imaginative play, to her decision to attend dance school instead of college, through her departure from the Broadway Follies to pursue her own dance style, and onward through her late life, when she continued teaching and creating distinctive performance pieces. The fascinating biography is complemented by exquisite black-and-white photographs that reveal Graham's sense of beauty and her remarkable ability to translate pure, raw emotions into expressive movement. Freedman's lovely tribute makes us fully believe Graham when she says, "I did not choose to be a dancer, I was chosen." (Young Adult/Adult) --Brangien Davis
Martha Graham, the American dancer, teacher, and choreographer, revolutionized the world of modern dance. She possessed a great gift for revealing emotion through dance, expressing beliefs and telling stories in an utterly new way. Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman documents Martha Graham's life from her birth in 1894 to her final dance performance at the age of seventy-five and continued career as a choreographer until her death in 1991. Graham's own recollections as well as those of her dancers, students, friends, and lovers reveal Graham's unwavering dedication, her extraordinary sense of artistry, and the fierce intensity that left an impression on all who saw her perform. Original research based on interviews and a remarkable collection of photographs not widely reproduced give this biography a rare and unparalleled depth. Includes notes,a bibliography, and an index.
Blood Memory: An autobiography
Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training, revised edition
by MARIAN HOROSKO
from University Press of Florida
Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham
Martha Graham: Sixteen Dances in Photographs
by Barbara Morgan
from Morgan & Morgan, Inc.
Acts of Light: Martha Graham in the Twenty-first Century
by NAN DEANE CANO
from University Press of Florida
Drawing on essays, poetry, and excerpts from Graham's own notebook, Acts of Light considers the narrative, dramatic, and philosophical base for each dance, and offers reflections on its contemporary relevance for today's audience. Appealing to dance historians, professional dancers, students of dance, and those with interests in the performing arts, this book provides an insightful appreciation of the living influence of Graham as a 20th-century icon.
Goddess - Martha Graham's Dancers Remember: Hardcover
by Robert Tracy
from Limelight Editions
Telling a story from one point of view is so much easier than from two. Or five. Or, goddess forbid, 30. But there are some events and people that demand many points of view. Dancer/choreographer Martha Graham was utterly different to different people in different circumstances and at different times in her sweeping career. In Robert Tracy's oral history, Goddess: Martha Graham's Dancers Remember, Graham's passion and creativity are recalled by 30 of her dancers from the 1920s to the 1990s, including many who became international stars: Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Rudolf Nureyev, Anna Sokolow, and more. This Rashomon-style approach allows her many contradictions to stand out vividly, but all the respondents seek to analyze the spark that was the source of her creativity.
"Mr. Tracy knows what to ask Graham veterans, and he gets answers that will interest specialists and non-specialists alike. The range of emotions, of wit, of sensibility is especially dazzling: the inner life of a great dance era is concentrated in these people and is evoked on every page." -Arlene Croce Illustrated with 65 photographs
Martha Graham: Founder of Modern Dance (Book Report Biography)
Dance Was Her Religion: The Spiritual Choreography of Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Martha Graham
by Janet Lynn Roseman
from Hohm Press
Three dancers who changed the face of Modern Dance and liberated dancers from ballet's rigidity to glorify the human body as a scared vessel: Isadora Duncan, 1877-1927, Ruth St. Denis, 1879-1968, and Martha Graham, 1894-1991. From youth, each recognized an organic urge for ecstatic human expression. This book explores their pioneering approaches to spiritual choreography and reveals unkown aspects of their lives and work:
* each insisted upon her vision of dance as prayer
* each was a mystic
* each had a profound, personal devotion to the Virgin Mary
* each choreographed work in her honor
* each portrayed the Madonna in dance
* each felt herself to be a priestess of dance
* each worked to establish a school, where dance was the basis for an enlightened life
The book contains quotes about and interviews with these women, including rare materials, restoring the understanding of dance as religious expression and placing these women in their rightful places among spiritual philosophers.
Birds Eye View: Dancing With Martha Graham And On Broadway
by Dorothy Bird
from University of Pittsburgh Press
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