Good biography on the of martha graham a pioneer in modern dance

As a child, Martha Graham was influenced by her father, a doctor who used physical movement to remedy nervous disorders. Throughout her teens, Graham studied dance in Los Angeles at Denishawn. In , she established her own dance company in New York City and developed an innovative, non-traditional technique that spoke to more taboo forms of movement and emotional expression.

Martha graham dance company

She danced well into her 70s and choreographed until her death in , leaving the dance world forever changed. Born in a suburb of Allegheny now Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, on May 11, , Graham was influenced early on by her father, George Graham, a doctor who specialized in nervous disorders. Graham believed that the body could express its inner senses, an idea that intrigued his young daughter.

After the show, she implored her parents to allow her to study dance, but being strong Presbyterians, they wouldn't permit it. Still inspired, Graham enrolled in an arts-oriented junior college, and, after her father died, at the newly opened Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded by St. Denis and her husband, Ted Shawn.

Graham spent more than eight years at Denishawn, as both a student and an instructor.

When did martha graham start dancing

Working primarily with Shawn, Graham improved her technique and began dancing professionally. Shawn choreographed the dance production "Xochitl" specifically for Graham, who performed the role of an attacked Aztec maiden. The wildly emotional performance garnered her critical acclaim. Graham left Denishawn in to take a job with the Greenwich Village Follies.

Two years later, she left the Follies to broaden her career.