This is such a wonderful compilation of Graham's work. I was a classical ballet dancer and never had the opportunity to study her work, but as a Pilates teacher, I can see how greatly Joe Pilates and Martha Graham influenced each other. Like George Balanchine, Martha studied with Joseph Pilates and sent her dancers to him. What makes this film extra special is Martha's commentary. Martha and Joe talk about breathing and spinal articulation in a very similar way. Here it is a contraction and in Pilates it is a C-curve. We even count a lot of our movements in six beats, too. I recognize so many movements in this film footage, as they have been transferred to the Pilates world. I'm grateful that my Pilates background helps me appreciate Graham Technique in a way that I wouldn't have been able to do with only my classical ballet background.
Many years of this in my cellular memories..alot of Graham Technique in My Training since 1976. It was Graham Floor that Rehabilitated me after 2 12 hour Surgeries on my Spine in 2014 when the Surgeons didn't know if I'd Walk again.
True pleasure and treasure to see this. So valuable to dancers and dance musicians. Thank you for finding, digitizing so beautifully, and sharing!(exclamation marks!!)
Thanks for posting this, I needed a refresher course for the classes I'll be teaching soon. I took 5 classes with Martha Graham in NYC, she taught by talking, anecdotes and poetic analogies.
She was a revolutionary art to the Avant-Garde movements. Pure genius, pure art. The Tai' Chi of Modern Dance and dance itself. Pleasure to see these films of her lifes work.
00:36 Contraction and Release 02:31 The Contraction Prone 03:27 Undercylinders 04:26 New Vibration 08:21 Exercises Across the Floor 08:32 Walking 11:59 Traveling Form 12:19 Traveling Into Space 14:44 The Back Fall Related topics
In the early Modern Dance years (1930s-1950s) dancers trained in only one technique, and not generally in ballet -- just, in this case, Graham technique. So her choreographies were so arresting and intense, in a way I do not find them in the newer performances. You can imagine, training daily in these moves, with Graham's voice exhorting you, hypnotizing you, how deeply it was driven into your being. It wasn't just the mechanics of the movements, it was the total commitment of the psyche.
For me this is Ballet inside out upside down and released... we were given this at the Central School of Ballet (Euston)by William Luther, Bob Cohen and Jane Dudley R.I.P both Martha Graham and William Luther
it is NOT the 'new vibrations', it IS the 'knee vibrations', but it has nothing to do with vibrating the knee, it is merely a fanciful name it acquired, perhaps because of the pulsation of the standing leg, pressing to rise, allowing to sink, and pressing up again (the whole exercise is in plié, but not a static plié, rather a rebounding plié) - this exercise is one of the most difficult, and dangerous, when incorrectly approached. yes, for those who didn't know this, M Graham's voice might seem here to misarticulate, but every graham dancer i knew knows it as the knee vibrations. it is from Mary Hinkson's role of Medea in Cave of the Heart. you should have seen her! that would have taken your breath away. to call it as it is here named is senseless. please don't repeat a silly mistake.
(tw bad english) i'm not a big fan of dance but Martha Graham gives me antoher point of view of what dance is. i think this is interesting in its own way.
En esos tiempos si existia la vocacion por el arte, y no como hoy que en su gran mayoria lo practican por un estatus social mas alto, estilizar partes del cuerpo( Danza ) , dinero. Nada se compara a los talentos de esas epocas maravillosas... transmiten cosas que uno no logra entender ... cosa que no pasa hoy en dia .
טכניקה של מרתה גרהם לא מלווה עם מוסיקה ספציפית לכל תרגיל ותרגיל עם כלי נגינה כלשהו כמו סילובוס של תרגילים בשיעורים של בלט קלאסי. גם ב "שיעור חופשי" בבלט קלאסי יש מוסיקה מובנית לאופי התרגיל. יתכן שבארץ שלא כמו בסרט הזה לא היה ליווי מוסיקלי ושיטת גרהאם כן היתה בליווי מוסיקלי. (6.2.2021) איילת ציונוב אשר
more learning of history on the subject will fill in some knowledge for you. one of the most important things - do NOT confound ballet, or its training or methods or ethos with Graham. certain aspects of each can enhance the other, but they are not interchangeable; they have different well-springs and different destinations, and different ways of getting there. you may as well try studying german and thinking it should be like chinese; cantonese or mandarin, your choice, either is wrong. as for the music - although this may seem counter-intuitive, dancers need to learn not to follow the music, but to predict it, to force it into being. this is not the same as skipping ahead. one has to find and learn the beat and the pulse of rhythm within the body, not out there somewhere. one is on-the-beat, with-the-beat. in this form of dance, the dancer's intent and impetus forces the music into being; we are not some pretty accompaniment to lovely music for the complacent eyes of an overly well-fed and bored public. much of Graham's dances were made before the music was ever heard, or finished and com-posed. i am imagining if you have studied from a good teacher you are used to strong critique more than 'oh, that's lovely, dear'. and - i am sorry i cannot offer you more here- space constraints, and sort of this thing - "you had to be there". my first year of study had no music whatsoever, and i was well-trained through that in the beginning. but my teacher then was also a genius - Koert Stuyf and Ellen Edinoff, Amsterdam, then i went to LSCD and had to learn to ignore one 'teacher' named jane. the rest were very good, and Cohan and most guest teachers were brilliant. in case you want to know something of why i dare speak like this, and you would have every right to wonder. many dancers, many choreographers, learn to use music as a crutch. that is so boring. we are not part of the orchestra (god love them), we are the reason the orchestra is even there. we make the reason for the music. the music giving us reason to be there is kinda turning us into puppets. that is not what i spent my time dancing to become, and i would hope that you may find this too. my severity is for the art, not against you. all the best for you in your efforts.
אם אני הייתי תלמידה של מרתה גרהאם הייתי שואלת אותה למה בקונטראקט בישיבה רביעית אין פלקס גם ברגל האחורית, התשובה היא אולי בגלל הקורדינציה עם היד שניכנסת למרכז בזמן הקונטראקט למרכז- השליטה צריכה להיות feet hand and stomack עם משקל קדימה כהכנה לאטיטיוד בישיבה רביעית. אני לעיתים מוסיפה פלקס ברגל האחורית ב-היי רליס ופויינט כשעדיין נישארים ב -היי רליס ואז חזרה למרכז ולקונטראקט (23.8.2021) איילת ציונוב אשר
do you have thighs too big from this, (your suggestions) as well? i think you are going to damage your knees. i would suggest there is something lost in your translation or to your understanding. i am going to assume that 4th yeshiva is 4th position (turns around the back, back leg extensions). if you were a student, you should have had a teacher good enough to explain this; if your teacher was someone who saw the company once and decided they could teach it too, well, there you are. just as in ballet and every other worthwhile dance technique there is, you are going to seriously injure yourself if you do not have a good teacher, and if you are teaching (may the heavens forfend ) you will injure others. in the beginning it may be co-ordination that one has to learn, but as one progresses, they find it is in the way the body moves in its natural way, and there is nothing about some exterior co-ordination about it. every little movement has a meaning, NOT every little movement has a look. doing Graham for its exterior appearance will get you nowhere, except a trip to the frustration clinic, and probably reduce the dance to some form vaguely resembling ballet of jazz. my apologies - i would want you to succeed at what it is, not at what it looks like. i am afraid there are not enough 'teachers' who understand this at all. their students can hardly be blamed, unless they go about trying to teach that same thing. to your point, if it is the back leg extensions (on the floor) that you are asking about - it is partly because between the two heels, just as if one were standing, there is the extension out through the heels from the center. keeping the back leg straight correctly, this takes away from the twist that will occur in the back knee joint, just like what one wants to avoid in standing, and all other weighted positions - not that it's ok to twist the knee at any other time. this is not something simple to copy. you need a great teacher for Graham, not just a god one. otherwise, do jazz, or folk, or just go out and throw yourself around to big music in the loud dark and have fun. my explication on its own is not enough to give you proper correction.
This is how I imagine Greek statues would dance if they came to life. Incredible
This is such a wonderful compilation of Graham's work. I was a classical ballet dancer and never had the opportunity to study her work, but as a Pilates teacher, I can see how greatly Joe Pilates and Martha Graham influenced each other. Like George Balanchine, Martha studied with Joseph Pilates and sent her dancers to him. What makes this film extra special is Martha's commentary. Martha and Joe talk about breathing and spinal articulation in a very similar way. Here it is a contraction and in Pilates it is a C-curve. We even count a lot of our movements in six beats, too. I recognize so many movements in this film footage, as they have been transferred to the Pilates world. I'm grateful that my Pilates background helps me appreciate Graham Technique in a way that I wouldn't have been able to do with only my classical ballet background.
Many years of this in my cellular memories..alot of Graham Technique in My Training since 1976. It was Graham Floor that Rehabilitated me after 2 12 hour Surgeries on my Spine in 2014 when the Surgeons didn't know if I'd Walk again.
I believe you. I'm 66 (learned from Jane Dudley, Juliette Fisher and others at LSCD), and STILL doing it, moving with a healthy spine...
True pleasure and treasure to see this. So valuable to dancers and dance musicians. Thank you for finding, digitizing so beautifully, and sharing!(exclamation marks!!)
The year I discovered Martha! Her work instilled an intensity in movement and emotion that cannot be verbalised just danced.
Exceptional Beauty and Teacher
I am so happy that I found her today 💕 💗 💓. Strange I never heard about her before.
❤🎉❤🎉 incredible Beauty 👏
Fabulous to see everybody. Janet, Peggy, Elissa, OMG what a treasure of history and to hear Martha's voice.
Thanks for posting this, I needed a refresher course for the classes I'll be teaching soon.
I took 5 classes with Martha Graham in NYC, she taught by talking, anecdotes and poetic analogies.
She was a revolutionary art to the Avant-Garde movements. Pure genius, pure art. The Tai' Chi of Modern Dance and dance itself. Pleasure to see these films of her lifes work.
Her dance films are in the Library of Congress
00:36
Contraction and Release
02:31
The Contraction Prone
03:27
Undercylinders
04:26
New Vibration
08:21
Exercises Across the Floor
08:32
Walking
11:59
Traveling Form
12:19
Traveling Into Space
14:44
The Back Fall
Related topics
Thanks, very helpful.
She was a great lady Martha her works taught us to remove the conditioning in every field of your living
Coming here after reading “some day dancer” the children’s book. The strength that it takes to do these moves amasses me
In the early Modern Dance years (1930s-1950s) dancers trained in only one technique, and not generally in ballet -- just, in this case, Graham technique. So her choreographies were so arresting and intense, in a way I do not find them in the newer performances. You can imagine, training daily in these moves, with Graham's voice exhorting you, hypnotizing you, how deeply it was driven into your being. It wasn't just the mechanics of the movements, it was the total commitment of the psyche.
soo enjoyed watching this!...thank you for posting this....always inspiring to watch Martha Graham's videos
For me this is Ballet inside out upside down and released... we were given this at the Central School of Ballet (Euston)by William Luther, Bob Cohen and Jane Dudley R.I.P both Martha Graham and William Luther
I started taking Graham classes this year and Im literally in love with this technique
Coming here from reading about it in the book Mastery. This is lovely
Same :)
Same
Same
Same, great fucking book!
Same!
What a wonderful find!
These exercises are extremely beautiful
That fall on ONE oozed like oil...viscous...Absolutely Outstanding. I LOVE Graham technique❤
One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen :)
How wonderful to see the earlier company members. Feel different in a good way when I see the old school a graham...
Her voice and her thoughts I feel like she hypnotize me, but in a good way
I only remember Robin Williams in 'The Birdcage' with his "Martha Graham' dance interpretation.
I wish I did this, dance choregraphy!
Son posiciones de yoga pero continuadas de extensiones entrelazadas, genial, nada desaprovecho de la cultura madre lo tenemos que recalcar.
I ll start tomorrow morning with these exercises I don't have an excuse for not doing them, now that I am having all the information
it is NOT the 'new vibrations', it IS the 'knee vibrations', but it has nothing to do with vibrating the knee, it is merely a fanciful name it acquired, perhaps because of the pulsation of the standing leg, pressing to rise, allowing to sink, and pressing up again (the whole exercise is in plié, but not a static plié, rather a rebounding plié) - this exercise is one of the most difficult, and dangerous, when incorrectly approached. yes, for those who didn't know this, M Graham's voice might seem here to misarticulate, but every graham dancer i knew knows it as the knee vibrations. it is from Mary Hinkson's role of Medea in Cave of the Heart. you should have seen her! that would have taken your breath away. to call it as it is here named is senseless. please don't repeat a silly mistake.
0:18-1:19
8:25-
9:27-9:40
SAMUKA😂😂😂
Wished I had her as teacher. I had the contrary: don't move!
(tw bad english)
i'm not a big fan of dance but Martha Graham gives me antoher point of view of what dance is. i think this is interesting in its own way.
you spelled another wrong but grammar and everything else is on point! :)
Not bad English!
may i know the lists of movements shown in the video? its for educational purposes only, hope there's someone will notice this.
Sameee
En esos tiempos si existia la vocacion por el arte, y no como hoy que en su gran mayoria lo practican por un estatus social mas alto, estilizar partes del cuerpo( Danza ) , dinero. Nada se compara a los talentos de esas epocas maravillosas... transmiten cosas que uno no logra entender ... cosa que no pasa hoy en dia .
🎂Martha Graham 05-11-2022 💃
Best technique film ..period. (I am biased)
😆👍🏾❤
❤🧡💛
Nandito ako para sa mapeh
hopefully im not the only one who knows all the movement
@@susankennedy5739 thats so true
Nope :)
😭omg in a past life I was actually friends with Martha Graham
🥺
??
how did you know? 🫢
2:57
Pretty sure martha was an airbender
pretty sure you weren't there, maybe nowhere
"the deep demonic use of the body" say what??!
Interesting
טכניקה של מרתה גרהם לא מלווה עם מוסיקה ספציפית לכל תרגיל ותרגיל עם כלי נגינה כלשהו כמו סילובוס של תרגילים בשיעורים של בלט קלאסי. גם ב "שיעור חופשי" בבלט קלאסי יש מוסיקה מובנית לאופי התרגיל. יתכן שבארץ שלא כמו בסרט הזה לא היה ליווי מוסיקלי ושיטת גרהאם כן היתה בליווי מוסיקלי. (6.2.2021) איילת ציונוב אשר
more learning of history on the subject will fill in some knowledge for you. one of the most important things - do NOT confound ballet, or its training or methods or ethos with Graham. certain aspects of each can enhance the other, but they are not interchangeable; they have different well-springs and different destinations, and different ways of getting there. you may as well try studying german and thinking it should be like chinese; cantonese or mandarin, your choice, either is wrong. as for the music - although this may seem counter-intuitive, dancers need to learn not to follow the music, but to predict it, to force it into being. this is not the same as skipping ahead. one has to find and learn the beat and the pulse of rhythm within the body, not out there somewhere. one is on-the-beat, with-the-beat. in this form of dance, the dancer's intent and impetus forces the music into being; we are not some pretty accompaniment to lovely music for the complacent eyes of an overly well-fed and bored public. much of Graham's dances were made before the music was ever heard, or finished and com-posed. i am imagining if you have studied from a good teacher you are used to strong critique more than 'oh, that's lovely, dear'. and - i am sorry i cannot offer you more here- space constraints, and sort of this thing - "you had to be there". my first year of study had no music whatsoever, and i was well-trained through that in the beginning. but my teacher then was also a genius - Koert Stuyf and Ellen Edinoff, Amsterdam, then i went to LSCD and had to learn to ignore one 'teacher' named jane. the rest were very good, and Cohan and most guest teachers were brilliant. in case you want to know something of why i dare speak like this, and you would have every right to wonder. many dancers, many choreographers, learn to use music as a crutch. that is so boring. we are not part of the orchestra (god love them), we are the reason the orchestra is even there. we make the reason for the music. the music giving us reason to be there is kinda turning us into puppets. that is not what i spent my time dancing to become, and i would hope that you may find this too. my severity is for the art, not against you. all the best for you in your efforts.
omg hi guys
אם אני הייתי תלמידה של מרתה גרהאם הייתי שואלת אותה למה בקונטראקט בישיבה רביעית אין פלקס גם ברגל האחורית, התשובה היא אולי בגלל הקורדינציה עם היד שניכנסת למרכז בזמן הקונטראקט למרכז- השליטה צריכה להיות feet hand and stomack עם משקל קדימה כהכנה לאטיטיוד בישיבה רביעית. אני לעיתים מוסיפה פלקס ברגל האחורית ב-היי רליס ופויינט כשעדיין נישארים ב -היי רליס ואז חזרה למרכז ולקונטראקט (23.8.2021) איילת ציונוב אשר
do you have thighs too big from this, (your suggestions) as well? i think you are going to damage your knees. i would suggest there is something lost in your translation or to your understanding. i am going to assume that 4th yeshiva is 4th position (turns around the back, back leg extensions). if you were a student, you should have had a teacher good enough to explain this; if your teacher was someone who saw the company once and decided they could teach it too, well, there you are. just as in ballet and every other worthwhile dance technique there is, you are going to seriously injure yourself if you do not have a good teacher, and if you are teaching (may the heavens forfend ) you will injure others. in the beginning it may be co-ordination that one has to learn, but as one progresses, they find it is in the way the body moves in its natural way, and there is nothing about some exterior co-ordination about it. every little movement has a meaning, NOT every little movement has a look. doing Graham for its exterior appearance will get you nowhere, except a trip to the frustration clinic, and probably reduce the dance to some form vaguely resembling ballet of jazz. my apologies - i would want you to succeed at what it is, not at what it looks like. i am afraid there are not enough 'teachers' who understand this at all. their students can hardly be blamed, unless they go about trying to teach that same thing. to your point, if it is the back leg extensions (on the floor) that you are asking about - it is partly because between the two heels, just as if one were standing, there is the extension out through the heels from the center. keeping the back leg straight correctly, this takes away from the twist that will occur in the back knee joint, just like what one wants to avoid in standing, and all other weighted positions - not that it's ok to twist the knee at any other time. this is not something simple to copy. you need a great teacher for Graham, not just a god one. otherwise, do jazz, or folk, or just go out and throw yourself around to big music in the loud dark and have fun. my explication on its own is not enough to give you proper correction.
mmmh its good though
Hellen Keller brought me here