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Martha Graham was born in Allegheny (now Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania on May 11, 1894.
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After moving to California at the age of 10 due to her sisters asthma problems, she became interested in studying dance at the age of 17. Her interest and passion stemmed from watching Ruth St. Denis perform in Los Angeles in 1914. Both of her parents did not approve of her being a dancer, so she enrolled in a junior college.
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With Graham’s Father death in 1914, she felt free to pursue her dream as a dancer. After graduating from the junior college at about the age of 22, she enrolled in the Denishawn Studio. This school was run by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, who was her original inspiration. Up until this point in her life, Graham had never had a dance lesson. She was just following her dream.
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After working hard and touring with Shawn in the “Xochitl”, she decided to leave Denishawn in 1923 to take a job with Greenwich Village Follies. However, two years later she took a teaching position at the Eastman School of Music and Theater in Rochester, New York where she started to develop her style of dance.
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In 1926, Graham established the Martha Graham Dance Company. The style of modern dance she created ignored other Western dance forms. It was instead based on the expression of spiritual and emotional undercurrents through the physical movement of dance. Grahams movements followed the concept of contraction and release that was based on the principle of tension and relaxation or opposing forces.
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In 1930, Martha Graham did a solo performance called the Lamentation. This dance premiered in her theatre. This unique dance was known for the underlying story based on grief and her interesting costume of a tube-like shroud that left only her face, feet and hands showing. She performed this dance on a low bench, demonstrating the unbearable sorrow and grief.
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In 1932, Graham was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship award as the first dancer to receive one of these awards. This award is appointed on the basis of achievement in the past and exceptional promise for the future.
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In 1935, Graham as the choreographer, partners with Isamu Noguchi who was her sculptor and set designer. Together they created one of her first famous pieces the “Frontier” which Graham performed by her self.
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In 1944, she choreographed and danced “Appalachian Spring”. Another one of her famous works, she based the dance off of newlyweds building their first farmhouse that evoked a simpler time. This dance was performed at the Library of Congress, making it an upmost important piece.
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Throughout her career, Graham took pride in using her new dance technique to tell a story. She explored the concept of what it meant to be American and started incorporating certain cultures into her work to capture the soul of the American people.
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In 1970, Graham announced her retirement as a dancer but still continued to create and teach dance.
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In 1976, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Martha Graham choreographing 181 performances that ranged from solo dances to large-scale programs based on human conflict and emotion. She was the first to create a style that was significantly different then classical ballet.
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In 1990, Graham choreographed her last performance one year before her death. The Maple Leaf Rag was a show that featured costumes by Calvin Klein.
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Martha passed on April 1st, 1991 at the age of 96. She was known as the mother of modern dance as she was one of the twentieth century’s revolutionary artists. Martha Graham made modern dance what it is today.
