16 Quotes From Dance Legend Martha Graham
Martha Graham was unique. Iconoclastic. She was driven and focused, and beyond all she was eminently creative. Rather than use dance as a display of decorative, graceful movements, she sought to express, via choreography, fundamental, often raw human emotions and experiences. At first, she was ridiculed, but she almost singlehandedly brought about a new era in dance, taking classical ballet and imbuing it with a more visceral aesthetic, with forceful, angular movements — often creating a heightened sexual tension in her dances. “I did not want it to be beautiful or fluid,” she later explained, “I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge.”
The style, which was called the “Graham technique,” was the first modern dance technique to be properly codified. And in 1926, Graham established the Martha Graham Dance Company, providing a solid platform for contemporary dance. The same year, she opened the Martha Graham School in New York City; still open today, it’s the oldest professional school of dance in the United States.
Graham’s career spanned more than 70 years, and for her services to dance and the arts in general she received many accolades. She was the first dancer to perform at the White House, she holds the Key to the City of Paris, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction — the highest civilian award in the U.S. Through her interviews and her own writing, she also left us with many words of wisdom, covering everything from human movement to the perils of nostalgia and the judgment of others.
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. What people in the world think of you is really none of your business. Looking at the past is like lolling in a rocking chair. It is so relaxing, and you can rock back and forth on the porch, and never go forward. 
