Martha Graham: Movement
Never Lies
A PowerPoint Presentation
Created by: Karen M. Barako
Class Outline
Introduction (2 mins)
Antigone Summary/Exercise/Discussion (7
mins)
Video Clip: “Night Journey”/Discussion (4
mins)
Martha Graham Intro/Review/Innovations (7
mins)
Noguchi/Copland Background (2 mins)
Video Clip: “Appalachian Spring”/Discussion
(4 mins)
Discussion (4 mins)
Class Aims
To discover general background information
on Antigone,Martha Graham and her
innovations, Isamu Noguchi, and Aaron
Copland.
To make connections between literature,
sculpture, music and the body in motion.
To analyze gestures and other art forms that
convey emotions, and the level of
effectiveness at which those emotions are
conveyed.
Key Terms/Concepts
To be reviewed soon…
Antigone by
Sophocles
Martha Graham
“Contraction and
release” method
Isamu Noguchi
Aaron Copland
Synthesis of arts
Antigone by: Sophocles
**Characters**
Antigone—daughter of
Oedipus and Jocasta
Ismene—sister of
Antigone
Kreon—king of Thebes,
brother of Jocasta
Haiman—son of Kreon
and Eurydice, fiancé of
Antigone
Teiresias—the prophet
Eurydice—wife of Kreon
Sentry
Messenger
Koryphaios—chorus
leader
Chorus—of elderly
Theban nobles
Attendants, armed
slaves, boy
Antigone (2):
A Brief Overview
Antigone confesses to her sister, Ismene, that she
will bury her brother, Polynices, despite the edict
issued by King Kreon stating that he is not to be
buried on account of betraying his country. Antigone
believes it is not a matter of the mortals to decide
what happens to either of her brothers’ bodies. She
is caught burying Polynices and is sentenced by
Kreon to be burned alive, despite her betrothal to his
son Haimon. When Teiresias convinces Kreon that
the gods are on Antigone's side, he changes his
mind, but it is too late. He goes to bury Polynices and
finds Antigone has hanged herself. Haimon then
attacks Kreon and kills himself. When the news of
their death is reported, Kreon's wife, Eurydice takes
her own life, leaving Kreon all alone.
Antigone (3)
**Improv Exercise**
Volunteers!!!
Turn to p. 62-3
WHAT KIND OF
EMOTIONS DID
TEIRESIAS EVOKE
THROUGH HIS/HER
MOVEMENTS???
Since it was written in 441 B.C.,
Antigone by: Sophocles has been
a symbol for individual conscience
against unjust laws.
Video Clip—Martha Graham’s
Night Journey
Let’s see what Martha Graham’s
Teiresias does…
Discussion Questions
What kind of emotions do Teiresias and
Jocasta convey in Martha Graham’s
dance?
How do the dancers convey these
emotions?
Possible Answer
Through their urgent
and semi-jarring
movements, the
dancers convey
emotions of alarm,
warning and very
strong dismay.
Martha Graham’s Lamentations
Martha Graham
Born May 11, 1894 in
Allegheny, PA
1916--Joins Denishawn
dance troupe
1923—Took a job with
Greenwich Village
Follies & taught dance
1929--Launches her
own company in NYC
1930s—Identifies new
system of movement:
“contract and release”
1935-Establishes
school of modern dance
at Bennington College
Review Question
What impact did Martha Graham’s
“contract and release” method have on
her dancers?
How did this compare with other
dancers such as Isadora Duncan or
Ruth St. Denis?
Answer
This method of muscle
control gave Graham’s
dancers a hard, angular
look.
This was very unfamiliar
to dance audiences
used to the smooth,
lyrical bodily
movements of Duncan
and St. Denis.
Some of the first
reviews of her dancing
called it “ugly.”
Martha Graham (2)
Early 1930s—work
based on emotional
themes (Lamentation)
1944--Choreographs
Appalachian Spring as
part of American history
theme; works with
Isamu Noguchi and
Aaron Copland
1968--Gives last stage
performance at age 74
1976--Receives the
Presidential Medal of
Freedom
1991--Dies on April 1 in
NYC
Martha Graham (3)
**Innovations**
Some important works:
Graham’s movement system
and her theory of contraction
and release are central to the
development of modern dance
in the U.S.
Graham was the first modern
dance choreographer to fully
use collaborations with other
modern artists to create her
dance theatre masterpieces.
Her collaboration with Isamu
Noguchi and Aaron Copland in
“Appalachian Spring,” for
example, remains one of the
dance’s great masterpieces.
Isamu Noguchi
Sculptor, designer, architect, craftsman
Born in Los Angeles in 1904 to Irish-American father
and Japanese mother
Interested in Surrealism and abstract sculpture—
earned himself a Guggenheim Fellowship
Interested in the way people live and thrive in their
environments—explored this through set design for
Martha Graham
Died December 1988 at age of 84
Aaron Copland
Classical composer—
incorporated jazz and folk
into his compositions
Some important works:
Born in Brooklyn in 1900
Learned piano from his older
sister; studied in Manhattan until
the age of 20 when he left to
study in Fontainebleau, France
Late 1920s--turned his attention
to the music of other countries,
especially Mexican folk music
Composed ballets (inc. Martha
Graham) and movies, as well as
conducted, taught and wrote
Died in New York in 1990
Video Clip—Martha Graham’s
Appalachian Spring
Let’s check out a clip of Martha, Isamu,
and Aaron in action together!
Discussion Question
Why is Martha Graham’s collaboration with
Isamu Noguchi and Aaron Copland so notable?
Possible Answer
Graham was the first choreographer to fully collaborate
with other modern artists.
Graham, Noguchi and
Copland’s collaboration is
notable because not only
were her spastic movements
revolutionary, but the sparse
scultped backdrops
revolutionized set design,
and Copland’s music was
Pulitzer Prize winning for it’s
neo-classical form
All three were premier artists
of their time who based their
knowledge on the classical
but pulled away to further
express emotions
Concluding Questions
What is the overall connection
between dance (the body in
motion) and literature, sculpture
and music?
Why, for example, would
Graham choose to dance “Night
Journey” when a person could
read the stories?
Is one combination of arts more
effective than the others? Why
or why not?
Is this combination only present
in Modern dance like Graham’s,
or is the synthesis of arts
present in all dance?
Works Cited
 “Aaron Copland.” American Masters.
http://www.pbs.org.wnet/americanmasters/dat
abase/copland_a.html 1-2.
 “Isamu Noguchi.” American Masters.
http://www.pbs.org.wnet/americanmasters/dat
abase/noguchi_I.html 1-2.
 “Martha Graham.” Ch.3 The Modern Dancers.
http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/martha.html
1-3.
 Martha Graham: In Performance. Dance
Series. Kultar:NewJersey. 93 mins.
Works Cited (2)
 Sophocles. Antigone. New
York:Oxford. 1973. 1-101.
 “Sophocles:Antigone.” The Classics Page.
http://www.users.global.co.uk/~loxias/antigon
e.htm 1.
 Teachout, Terry. “The Dancer Martha
Graham.” Time.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profil
e/graham.html 1-3.
The End!!!
THANK YOU!!!