Martha Graham
From Wikiquote
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American dancer and choreographer regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, and is widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
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- We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance.
- "The American Dance", in Modern Dance, ed. Virginia Stewart (1935)
- There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
- Agenes de Mille, The Life and Work of Martha Graham, Random House, 1991, p. 264, ISBN 0-394-55643-7.
- de Mille precedes the Graham quotation with: "The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly, ... "
- Some of you are doomed to be artists.
- de Mille says "It was [Robert Edmond] Jones who used to say to his classes, ... Martha picked up this phrase and used it many times thereafter.
- de Mille, "The Life and Work of Martha Graham", 1991, p. 115.
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- Dance is the hidden language of the soul.
- Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to paradise of the achievement is not easier than the other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries, even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration there are daily small deaths.
- Movement never lies.
- Quoting her father.
