Dance Artists Who
Have Informed Performance
Martha Graham
(1894 – 1991) The Graham Technique
‘The function of dance is communication… By communication is
not meant to tell a story or to project an idea, but to communicate experience
by means of action… out of this came a different use of the body as an
instrument, as the violin is an instrument. Body is the basic instrument,
intuitive, instinctive. As a result an entirely contemporary set of technics
was evolved.’ (Brown, Mindlin & Woodford, 1998, p50)
Martha Graham is described as the mother of modern dance, her
style and influence is still very much alive today, elements of which can be
seen within the current ISTD Modern Theatre syllabi. The Graham Technique is often
the centre of professional contemporary and classical dance training.
Graham developed an interest in the human body influenced by
her father, a doctor specialising in nervous disorders, he believed that the
body could express its inner senses which she found fascinating. Growing up she
was not permitted to dance and therefore enrolled in an arts programme at
college after her father’s death. She developed an original style incorporating
jerky, inverted and rigid movements which clearly apposed classical dance, a far
cry from the beautiful soft aesthetics of Ballet. The method of this movement requires
considerable physical strength to accomplish such lines, it was therefore
necessary for Graham to educate her students in the appreciation of strength. A
vocabulary of exercises was devised in order to train the body in this unique
manner and is still taught extensively today.
‘Since the purpose of dance is to translate emotional
experience in physical form, in the Graham technique every movement must have a
clear perceivable meaning.’(Mazo 1977, p189)
‘I wanted to begin not with characters or ideas, but with
movements. I wanted significant movement, I did not want it to be beautiful or
fluid, and I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning with excitement and
surge.’ (www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/martha-graham/about-the-dancer/497
8.11.15)
Graham’s work explores the darker depths of human emotion,
the relentless use of contraction I feel signifies inner turmoil and sorrow. The
signature ‘strike’ an angular arm line, as if shooting an arrow from a bow - strong
and warrior like, perhaps representing battles of such strife. The distinctive
‘pleading’ position - palms forward at the hips, conveying vulnerability and
desperation. Graham and her company dancers gave emotionally charged
performances fraught with intensity and solemnity. Her dances were created to
represent the current time – ‘Life today is nervous, sharp and zigzag. It often
stops in mid-air. That is what I aim for in my dances.’ (Mazo 1977, p161)
When I first discovered the Graham Technique as a first year
student I thoroughly disliked it, I found the lines ugly, impossible to get
right and I did not understand the concept, why were we being taught to move in
such a way? We had a guest teacher come in to teach us a piece from ‘Primitive
Mysteries’ we were to dance as Mary at Jesus’s crucifixion. This seemed odd to
me and truthfully a little boring (I was only sixteen!), however after learning
the complex components and spending the majority of the afternoon in a rigid
contraction I began to embrace its obscurity. At the end of the workshop I watched
everyone perform, it all made sense the movements embodied the yearning, sorrow
and emotional pain, it was truly moving to watch and indeed also to dance.
I use Graham’s influence extensively in my work when
choreographing lyrical or contemporary pieces of a more sombre nature, I feel these
types of movements portray those darker emotions effectively.
‘My dancing is not an attempt to interpret life in the
literary sense. It is an affirmation of life through movement.’ (www.biography.com/people/martha-graham-9317723
4.11.15)
An example of The Graham Technique and its meaning can be
seen in this youtube clip:
Margot Fonteyn
(1919 – 1991)
‘The most athletic is not necessarily the best, Fonteyn’s
artistry and discernment make her a dancer to cherish.’ (www.telegraph.co.uk/margotfonteyn
7/11/15)
Margot Fonteyn was a classical ballerina whose legacy has
gone down in history as a result of her charismatic and heart felt
performances. Her portrayal of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty was considered to
be the definitive of the era. Fredrick Ashton created many roles especially for
her outside of the traditional classical Ballets. Fonteyn was not a technical
virtuoso however she danced with passion, serenity and a unique softness, she
was a natural performer and a true storyteller. Such qualities lead to a
television career following her retirement from dance.
Her famous partnership with the equally brilliant Rudolf
Nureyev propelled her career further, despite being nearly twenty years his
senior, they complimented each other both technically and artistically. She
credited him with ‘giving her a new burst of energy’ while he claims she ’inspired
him and helped calm him’, he said of Fonteyn that they danced with ‘one body,
one soul’. They learned from one another and performed at their very best when
together.
Rudolf Nureyev (1938
– 1993)
‘Give your insides, blood! Perhaps something is dull? Do
something about it. Gamble. Make the performance pulsate.’ (http://nureyev.livejournal.com/5370.html?page=1
11.11.15)
Nureyev, a late comer to the world of dance did not enrol
into a dance school until the age of 17, at 23 he became famous after he defected
from the Soviet Union to the west to perform with the Royal Ballet.
His artistic skills as a performer allowed him to explore
the expressive side of dance, he was an individual artist and a nonconformist. He
redefined the role of the male ballet dancer, an artist in his own right no
longer serving purely to partner the women
He excelled predominantly in classical Ballet and later on
branched out into modern dance, proving his versatility. He later went on to
direct, choreograph and act, he even became a conductor in his final years
before he tragically died Of AIDS.
He attracted a new audience to the dance world, more than
any other dancer in history, if you ask the average Joe to name a dancer
Nureyev is sure to come up.
Later in his career he directed and choreographed
extensively for many companies as well as appearing in films, he was also
famously a guest star on The Muppet Show in the 1970s, which clearly demonstrated
his celebrity status.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUKmzKXNnSs (12.11.15)
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