Zitate von Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Geburtstag: 11. Mai 1894
Todesdatum: 1. April 1991
Andere Namen: Marta Graham
Martha Austin Graham war eine US-amerikanische Tänzerin, Choreografin und Tanzpädagogin. Graham gilt in der Fachwelt als eine Innovatorin des Modern Dance. Wikipedia
Zitate Martha Graham
I Am A Dancer (1952)
Kontext: Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to paradise of the achievement is not easier than any other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries, even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration, there are daily small deaths. Then I need all the comfort that practice has stored in my memory, a tenacity of faith.
„I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do.“
New York Times interview (1985)
Kontext: I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do. One can always lament, you know — but to laugh in the face of life, that's very hard. And for me the great tragedian should also be a great comedian.
A phrase she often used, which she credited to her father.
Misattributed
New York Times interview (1985)
As quoted in "About Martha Graham" at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance http://marthagraham.org/resources/aboutgraham.
„I believe that we learn by practice.“
I Am A Dancer (1952)
Kontext: I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. in each it is the performance of a dedicated set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes the shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes in some areas an athlete of God.
„Some of you are doomed to be artists.“
Though often used by Graham, she credited this to Robert Edmond Jones. Agnes de Mille states in "The Life and Work of Martha Graham" (2010), p. 215: It was Jones who used to say to his classes, "Some of you are doomed to be artists." Martha picked up this phrase and used it many times thereafter.
Misattributed
New York Times interview (1985)
"The American Dance", in Modern Dance, ed. Virginia Stewart (1945).
I Am A Dancer (1952)
Variante: Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.
New York Times interview (1985)
„To me, the body says what words cannot.“
New York Times interview (1985)
Kontext: To me, the body says what words cannot. I believe that dance was the first art. A philosopher has said that dance and architecture were the first arts. I believe that dance was first because it's gesture, it's communication. That doesn't mean it's telling a story, but it means it's communicating a feeling, a sensation to people.
Dance is the hidden language of the soul, of the body. And it's partly the language that we don't want to show.
