A Dancer's World (1957)

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.

Director:

Peter Glushanok

Writers:

Martha Graham, LeRoy Leatherman

Stars:

Lillian Biersteker, Robert Cohan, Miriam Cole

Cast

Credited cast:
Lillian Biersteker	...	Self
Robert Cohan	...	Self
Miriam Cole	...	Self
Martha Graham	...	Self
Mary Hinkson	...	Self
Gene McDonald	...	Self
Helen McGehee	...	Self
Bertram Ross	...	Self
Ellen Siegel	...	Self
Ethel Winter	...	Self
David Wood	...	Self
Yuriko	...	Self

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

dance | dancer | choreographer | dancing | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Short | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

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 Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1957 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

WQED

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Mono)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1