Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Martha Graham | |
|---|---|
Graham image by Yousuf Karsh, 1948 | |
| Born | May 11, 1894 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 1, 1991 (aged 96) New York City, U.S. |
| Known for | Dance and choreography |
| Movement | Modern dance |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Kennedy Center Honors (1979) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1976) National Medal of Arts (1985) |
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. 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, in the 1994 documentary The Dancer Revealed: "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." Founded in 1926 (the same year as Graham's professional dance company), the Martha Graham School is the oldest school of dance in the United States. First located in a small studio within Carnegie Hall, the school currently has two different studios in New York City.