Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life

by Russell Freedman

Overview

Martha Graham, the American dancer, teacher, and choreographer, revolutionized the world of modern dance. She possessed a great gift for revealing emotion through dance, expressing beliefs and telling stories in an utterly new way. Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman documents Martha Graham's life from her birth in 1894 to her final dance performance at the age of seventy-five and continued career as a choreographer until her death in 1991. Graham's own recollections as well as those of her dancers, students, friends, and lovers reveal Graham's unwavering dedication, her extraordinary sense of artistry, and the fierce intensity that left an impression on all who saw her perform. Original research based on interviews and a remarkable collection of photographs not widely reproduced give this biography a rare and unparalleled depth. Includes notes,a bibliography, and an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395746554
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	04/28/1998
Edition description:	None
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1130L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Russell Freedman received the Newbery Medal for LINCOLN: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY. He is also the recipient of three Newbery Honors, the Sibert Medal, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and was selected to give the 2006 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Mr. Freedman lives in New York City.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The subjects of Freedman's photo biographies range from his 1988 Newbery Medal-winning Lincoln and his two Newbery Honor Books, Eleanor Roosevelt (1993) and The Wright Brothers (1991), which was also Booklist's Top of the List for youth nonfiction, to his stirring The Life and Death of Crazy Horse, a 1996 Booklist Editors' Choice. This is his first book about an artist, and, as always, he writes with eloquence and grace about the private person and her revolutionary public role. Martha Graham herself said that her life was her work, as dancer, teacher, and choreographer; and Freedman's focus is on how she created a thrilling new modern dance language that connected movement with emotion, how she made visible "all those feelings that you have inside you that you can't put words to." He connects her artistic breakthroughs with the social and cultural history of her time, the political and artistic rebellion that challenged the role of women and the formality of ballet. In discussing individual dances, he shows how her themes of the outsider and the lonely rebel changed to complex psychological portraits of people like Emily Bronte and Emily Dickinson. The electrifying black-and-white photographs are an integral part of every chapter: you read Freedman's lyrical description of a performance and feel you must see a picture of it; turn the page, and there is a photo of Graham in flaming action. Full documentation in chapter notes at the back shows the routes of Freedman's research: books, articles, and tapes that readers can search out, and also his own extensive personal interviews with those who knew and worked with Graham. Another great YA title that will appeal to adults as much as to teens." Booklist, ALA

"Illustrated with stunning black-and-white photographs, this book deserves not only a place in the reading repertoire of those who desire to dance, but in the hands of all young people." NATE-Language Arts

Editorial Reviews

"The subjects of Freedman's photo biographies range from his 1988 Newbery Medal-winning Lincoln and his two Newbery Honor Books, Eleanor Roosevelt (1993) and The Wright Brothers (1991), which was also Booklist's Top of the List for youth nonfiction, to his stirring The Life and Death of Crazy Horse, a 1996 Booklist Editors' Choice. This is his first book about an artist, and, as always, he writes with eloquence and grace about the private person and her revolutionary public role. Martha Graham herself said that her life was her work, as dancer, teacher, and choreographer; and Freedman's focus is on how she created a thrilling new modern dance language that connected movement with emotion, how she made visible "all those feelings that you have inside you that you can't put words to." He connects her artistic breakthroughs with the social and cultural history of her time, the political and artistic rebellion that challenged the role of women and the formality of ballet. In discussing individual dances, he shows how her themes of the outsider and the lonely rebel changed to complex psychological portraits of people like Emily Bronte and Emily Dickinson. The electrifying black-and-white photographs are an integral part of every chapter: you read Freedman's lyrical description of a performance and feel you must see a picture of it; turn the page, and there is a photo of Graham in flaming action. Full documentation in chapter notes at the back shows the routes of Freedman's research: books, articles, and tapes that readers can search out, and also his own extensive personal interviews with those who knew and worked with Graham. Another great YA title that will appeal to adults as much as to teens." Booklist, ALA

"Illustrated with stunning black-and-white photographs, this book deserves not only a place in the reading repertoire of those who desire to dance, but in the hands of all young people." NATE-Language Arts

From the Publisher

Freedman (Lincoln; Eleanor Roosevelt; Franklin Delano Roosevelt) once again animates American history through biography; here he adds culture to the mix as he chronicles the inspiring life of legendary dancer Martha Graham. The venerable author hooks readers in immediately with his description of young Martha learning to move her body by watching a lion pace from one side of its cage to the other. Freedman then seamlessly charts the fiery, passionate Graham's rise from a 19-year-old "homely, overweight" dance student to principal dancer to teacher to the creator of modern dance. The biography points up Graham's commitment to a "uniquely American style of dance," focusing on such works as Frontier, an homage to her ancestral roots, and Appalachian Spring, for which she collaborated with composer Aaron Copland. Freedman acknowledges that the dancer's sources of inspiration and consolation came from other American artists: writer Emily Dickinson (the source of Graham's work Acts of Light) and composer Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag was her last complete work), among them. Her passions were not circumscribed to her work; she also took stands on tough political issues, both in her dance (e.g., Deep Song, 1937, which "expressed her anguish over the brutal Spanish Civil War") and in her lifeshe refused to perform at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin ("How could I dance in Nazi Germany?"). But Freedman does not paint an unblemished picture. His abundant sources, including unpublished transcripts of an interview with Graham's longtime companion Louis Horst, as well as his own interviews with Graham's former dancers, colleagues and friends, make clear the shadow side of her passionate nature. What emerges from these pages is a multilayered view of a genius who danced and choreographed, and designed her own costumes and lighting, but who was also humana woman who laughed and cried, hoped and feared, and who unflinchingly followed her dream. Stunning photographs, arrayed chronologically, demonstrate the dramatic changes Graham wrought upon dance as a discipline. Four at the close of the volume, showing Graham in what appear to be a dance sequence, are particularly spectacular. This outstanding biography speaks not only to dancers but to anyone interested in the arts, history or the American entrepreneurial spirit. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) (PW best book of 1998)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The reader is captivated right from the start of the first chapter of this biography, which provides an overview and insight into this world-renowned dancer and choreographer. From the time she was a child, Martha always wanted to go on stage. Freedman recounts the major events of her life, the important and influential people she knew, and the growth and development of her dances. One sees her admirable qualities as well as her shortcomings. Freedman's eloquent style allows the reader to understand Graham's passion for her art and how she came to signify modern American dance. Readers will pore over his choice of black and white photos, abundant throughout the book. Known for his fine research, Freedman includes the sources of the quotes and an annotated bibliography. There is also an index. Adults will enjoy this biography as much as children.

Children's Literature - Sharon Salluzzo

Graham was complex, daring, temperamental, inventive and passionate about dance. She fused the art of dance with the emotions and imbued it with a social conscience. The photos are stunning portrayals of Graham in her own handmade woolen shroud, in swirling skirts, in poses that test the suppleness of the human body. She worked with such famous artists as Isamu Noguchi who designed many of her sets and Aaron Copeland who wrote the Appalachian Suite especially for her company. To read her story is to live through the twentieth century as a dancer. Graham died in 1991 at age 96. Freedman is a genius at writing photo-biographies. He makes the subject dance off the page.

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

The award-winning author presents a heroine of dance. Words gathered from Graham, her friends, dancers, and lovers describe how she stretched the barriers of movement and expressed her passion for life and dance. Freedman adds his own words until he turns nonfiction into story. Abundant, stunning black and white photographs show Graham's intensity and the way she embraced cultures and art forms as varied as African masks to sets by sculptor Noguchi. Add an excellent bibliography, index, and fine notes and you've got an amazing children's coffee table book.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

Martha Graham's name is recognized by almost anyone over the age of twenty and anyone who is into dance. She died in 1991, known as a dancer and choreographer who changed the face of modern dance in America and the world. Martha invented a new language and style for dance. She wanted to present body movements that expressed all of the emotions: love, anger, hate, joy, and all the passions that make up each of us. Her genius enabled her to connect the right moves to illustrate and make visible the feelings that are inside. In Pittsburgh in 1894, Martha was born to a father who was a doctor with an Irish background and a mother who could trace her ancestry back to the Mayflower. Martha had two younger sisters, Mary and Georgia. In 1908 the family moved to Santa Barbara where the three girls thrived. In 1911, Martha's life was changed by one event-seeing a performance of Ruth St. Denis. Modern dance was changed by Graham who still performed into her seventy-fifth year and created new and innovative dances until she died just short of her ninety-seventh birthday. This is a wonderful and warm biography about a difficult and dedicated woman. Photographs fill the pages, many of which have rarely, if ever, been seen. Martha's recollections combine with memories of her students, close friends, and family to create a portrait of an amazing woman. While she was not always likeable, her artistic sense shines in award-winning biographer Freedman's words. This well-written life story belongs in middle, junior, and high schools as well as public collections and wherever dance is loved. Index. Photos. Biblio. Source Notes. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

VOYA - Janet Mura

Gr 4 UpThe renowned dancer, choreographer, and teacher is a fascinating subject. Graham was a woman who defied the oddsshe did not start dancing until she was 19, she did not have a traditional tall, lithe dancer's physique, and yet through sheer will power and perseverance, she became the most important name in modern dance. A living legend, she performed until she was 75, created 181 dancesthe last at age 95. The personal cost of such fame was high indeed. She would be the first to admit that she lived to dance. Freedman has done an extraordinary job of conveying that passion and of presenting Graham's complex personality as viewed through multiple perspectives. It is evident through his careful notes and annotated bibliography that he did his research. As in his previous books, the format utilizes generous margins and a wealth of sharply reproduced black-and-white photographs depicting the many faces and poses of Graham dancing, teaching...always performing. This book has more detail and photographs than Trudy Garfunkel's Letter to the World: The Life and Dances of Martha Graham (Little, Brown, 1995). Recommend it to students looking for a great woman's biography, as well as to dance fans or, for that matter, any aspiring artists. A remarkable look at a remarkable talent.Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO

School Library Journal

Once again, preeminent biographer Russell Freedman proves the art of nonfiction. Inspired by Martha Graham, his graceful prose soars, capturing the spirit of the dancer. Mindful that Graham discarded the old vocabulary of dance to literally invent a new language of dance, "modern" dance as she alone conceived it, Freedman stretches to conceive a vocabulary that will complement her innovative artistry. Nowhere does the drama of Martha Graham's long and legendary life dim: even when the stage lights are not directly shining on her as performer, Freedman catches the passion of her dedication. His text opens with Graham's visits to the Central Park Zoo in New York, where she spent hours "fascinated by the elemental power of the lion's great padding steps, by the purity of its movements." His poetic words receive additional layering from Graham: "Finally, I learned how to walk that way...I learned from the lion the inevitability of return, the shifting of one's body." From beginning to end, Freedman underscores this daring dancer and choreographer's life with salient details, often in her own words. Other voices (her dancers; her lifelong friend and collaborator Louis Horst; her lover and husband Erick Hawkins) and stories from other important figures of the twentieth-century with whom Graham interacted round out Freedman's account. Photographs of startling imagery further illuminate the finely honed text. Freedman concludes Graham's story with the only uncaptioned pictures in the book: four consecutive photos dramatically reveal dancer Graham realizing a single role in poses of emotional and physical spectacle; a fifth picture plays final tribute to the woman with a soul-searching portrait of remarkable thoughtfulness. No reader, whether interested in dance or not, will want to miss Graham's extraordinary story, Freedman's remarkable achievement.

Horn Book Magazine

In a biography as elegant as its subject, Freedman (Out of Darkness, 1997, etc.) delves into the life of the dance pioneer who not only revolutionized modern dance but married it with theater, music, literature, and art in a dazzling and emotional way. Graham began her serious dance study already too "old" (at age 19), according to prevailing standards; despite critics and a public who didn't initially understand her work, Graham was so fiercely dedicated to her art that she became one of the 20th century's most important influences on modern dance. Freedman discloses Graham's intensity in work and relationships, and explains her techniques and dances in lively, theatrical language; he doesn't canonize Graham, however, but portrays her as a passionate woman, with a fiery temperament, whose every aspect of life was reflected in her art. Extraordinary black-and-white photographs coalesce with the clear and stimulating chronicle of her life and art, until a complete picture of a genius emerges from the pages of this enlightening, liberating volume. (Biography. 10-15)

Kirkus Reviews