Martha Graham


Book Description

Explores the development of Martha Graham's dance theory and training.




Martha Graham's Cold War


Book Description

Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--Columbia University, 2013, titled Strange commodity of cultural exchange: Martha Graham and the State Department on tour, 1955-1987.




Beginning Modern Dance


Book Description

Beginning Modern Dance With HKPropel Access introduces undergraduate and high school students to modern dance as a performing art through participation, appreciation, and academic study in a dance technique course. In the book, 50 photos with concise descriptions support students in learning beginning modern dance technique and in creating short choreographic or improvisational studies. For those new to modern dance, the book provides a friendly orientation on the structure of a modern dance technique class and includes information regarding class expectations, etiquette, and appropriate attire. Students also learn how to prepare mentally and physically for class, maintain proper nutrition and hydration, and avoid injury. Beginning Modern Dance supports students in understanding modern dance as a performing art and as a medium for artistic expression. The text presents the styles of modern dance artists Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and José Limón, Katherine Dunham, Lester Horton, and Merce Cunningham along with an introduction to eclectic modern dance style. Chapters help students begin to identify elements of modern dance as they learn, view, and respond to dance choreography and performance. Related materials delivered online via HKPropel include 38 interactive video clips and photos of dance technique to support learning and practice. In addition, e-journal and self-reflection assignments, performance critiques, and quizzes help students develop their knowledge of modern dance as both performers and viewers. Through modern dance, students learn new movement vocabularies and explore their unique and personal artistry in response to their world. Beginning Modern Dance supports your students in their experience of this unique and dynamic genre of dance. Beginning Modern Dance is a part of Human Kinetics’ Interactive Dance Series. The series includes resources for ballet, modern, tap, jazz, musical theater, and hip-hop dance that support introductory dance technique courses taught through dance, physical education, and fine arts departments. Each student-friendly text has related online learning materials including video clips of dance instruction, assignments, and activities. The Interactive Dance Series offers students a collection of guides to learning, performing, and viewing dance. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is not included with this ebook but may be purchased separately.




Ballet for Martha


Book Description

Tells the story behind the creation of "Appalachian Spring," describing Aaron Copland's composition, Martha Graham's intense choreography, and Isamu Noguchi's set design.




Acts of Light


Book Description

The breathtaking images in Acts of Light are the result of John Deane's unprecedented access as a promotional photographer for the Martha Graham Dance Company. The first book to comprehensively survey Graham's dances in full color digital photography, it also features personal interviews with this new generation of Graham interpreters, who reflect on their own lives, the meaning each dance has for them personally, and the Graham technique in frank and touching style. Dancers reveal how they approach now-classic works and personalize their interpretations, coming to them with a new sensibility and unique life experiences. The 18 featured works range from the Greek cycle and biblically inspired ballets through abstract studies of tragedy and hope, considerations of loss incurred in wartime, and literary speculations like Deaths and Entrances, a recently revived work on the Bronte sisters. Deane and Cano give special consideration to the beloved American masterwork Graham created in collaboration with composer Aaron Copland--Appalachian Spring.




Introduction to Modern Dance Techniques


Book Description

Each unit contains core ideas, a series of journaling and discussion topics, improvisation experiments, biographical sketches of the choreographers, and a presentation of-class material. At the end of each chapter, questions and experiments offer basic ideas that you can use to further your understanding of the choreography presented. --




The Essential Guide to Contemporary Dance Techniques


Book Description

The Essential Guide to Contemporary Dance Techniques explores the multifaceted learning processes and underlying principles behind the technical skills and abilities of a contemporary dancer. The depth and complexity of this challenging sensorial, intellectual, reflective and creative process is presented with clarity, to support every training dancer in achieving the most from their learning experiences. Insights into three major technical forms: Graham technique, Cunningham technique and Release-based technique, reveal the distinct approaches, processes and experiences possible in contemporary dance training. Essential technical and performance considerations are covered, including: breath; alignment; core activation; connectivity; dynamic qualities of motion; use of the body; use of space; action and finally, relationships to the audience. With personal contributions from respected teachers at top dance institutions, this practical guide offers a unique insight into the expectations and processes of professional training classes as well as the success you can achieve with them. With images from real-life technique classes and dynamic performances, this is an essential companion for all contemporary dance students.




What Makes That Black?


Book Description

We all can name some of the Africanist aesthetic-structures that fuel African American and American art ... Syncopation, Improvisation, Call and Response, Cool, Polyrhythm, or Innovation as an ambition- But there are many, many more. What Makes That Black? The African-American Aesthetic identifies and defines seventy-four elements of the aesthetic through text and illustration. Using the magnificent camerawork of R.J. Muna, Sharen Bradford, Jae Man Joo, Rachel Neville, James Barry Knox, and more- as they point their cameras at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and jazz artists such as Cécile McLorin Salvant and Wynton Marsalis- a specific artistic consciousness or sensibility visually unfolds. Luana even joins the camera crew as she shoots Oakland Street Graffiti.




Modern Bodies


Book Description

Traces the evolution of modern dance, noting the contributions of such performers as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Ted Shawn while revealing the social dynamics that shaped American modernism and how it challenged conventional roles. Simultaneous. (Performing Arts)