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A Dancer's World

  • TV Movie
  • 19571957
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 31m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
196
YOUR RATING
A Dancer's World (1957)
  • Documentary
  • Music
Dancer, Choreographer, and Teacher Martha Graham offers insight into her theories about dance while the members of her world famous troupe display a number of their dance techniques in perfo... Read allDancer, Choreographer, and Teacher Martha Graham offers insight into her theories about dance while the members of her world famous troupe display a number of their dance techniques in performance.Dancer, Choreographer, and Teacher Martha Graham offers insight into her theories about dance while the members of her world famous troupe display a number of their dance techniques in performance.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
196
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Peter Glushanok
  • Writers
    • Martha Graham
    • LeRoy Leatherman
  • Stars
    • Lillian Biersteker
    • Robert Cohan
    • Miriam Cole
Top credits
  • Director
    • Peter Glushanok
  • Writers
    • Martha Graham
    • LeRoy Leatherman
  • Stars
    • Lillian Biersteker
    • Robert Cohan
    • Miriam Cole
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 4User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    A Dancer's World (1957)
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    Top cast

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    Lillian Biersteker
    • Selfas Self
    Robert Cohan
    • Selfas Self
    Miriam Cole
    • Selfas Self
    Martha Graham
    • Selfas Self
    Mary Hinkson
    • Selfas Self
    Gene McDonald
    • Selfas Self
    Helen McGehee
    • Selfas Self
    Bertram Ross
    • Selfas Self
    Ellen Siegel
    • Selfas Self
    Ethel Winter
    • Selfas Self
    David Wood
    • Selfas Self
    Yuriko
    • Selfas Self
    • Director
      • Peter Glushanok
    • Writers
      • Martha Graham
      • LeRoy Leatherman
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Even though she had spent much of her life performing for large audiences and had been filmed before, Martha Graham still found herself too afraid of the camera to speak to it when she was being filmed in her studio. After losing a day of shooting when Graham locked herself in her dressing room and refused to come out, producer Nathan Kroll came up with the idea to film Graham as she was in her dressing room dressing for a performance. This idea worked, as Graham was able to occupy herself with her make-up and costumes as she delivered her lines, making her significantly less nervous.

    User reviews4

    Review
    Top review
    The Dance As Art
    If you have a chance to see this short documentary you should do so. Agnes De Mille is considered one of the masters and innovators of American choreography. Primarily devoted to ballet, she is also known as a choreographer in musical theater, beginning with Oklahoma in 1943 and more than a dozen other Broadway shows including, Carousel, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, so when she tries to explain a dancer's world to us, we are wise to listen.

    She is seen preparing her makeup and costume for a performance and with this beginning she explains the role of preparation in the creation of art. She is already 63 years old by this time so she is not really going out to dance, but she looks good enough that she might have. She is primarily trying to make the case that ballet truly is an art. Her point is that art requires tremendous preparation and discipline but that sufficient preparation and discipline leads to "freedom" because the personality finally merges with the art.

    She ends with a quotation from Saint-John Perse, the winner of the 1960 Noble Prize for Literature, that, "(art is) the privilege of the instant, but you have so little time to be born to the instant."

    This takes place against the backdrop of her dancers performing in a practice studio and the dancers drive the point home by being disciplined, graceful and sublime. I thought it was inspirational.
    helpful•1
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    • ACarringford
    • Jan 22, 2019

    Details

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    • Release date
      • 1957 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Production company
      • WQED
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      31 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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