Critique of I Am a Dancer
I AM A DANCER
Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died on April 1,
1991. She was a modern dancer, instructor and icon of her time. In this article Graham speaks
in a philosophical and spiritual sense about the meaning of dance in her life, about what it takes
to be a dancer, and about her profession or calling in general. She feels that dance is a special
form of art in which movements and gestures help one make the effort to communicate with
others. For Graham, art is eternal because it reveals the soul of man. She also uses her own
experiences as a student, a performer, an instructor and a choreographer to give us her opinion
regarding these and other subjects related to dance . Graham compares a dancers necessity to
dance with a tree that persists in living and growing toward the light and which carries the scars
of its journey within. In order to do this we need to take care of our mind, our bodies and our
spirit. She tried to instill this philosophy in her students. For Graham dance is the result of a
necessity to create, to communicate and to express feelings in hopes of finding and defining life,
instant by instant.
Graham believes that we learn everything in life through practice. As a consequence of this
we learn to dance by dancing just as we learn to live by living. She affirms that it takes about
ten years to make a mature dancer. First, study and practice; Second, shaping the body and
third the cultivation or personal life growth of the dancer. It is true that there are several
different stages to becoming a mature dancer and that it does take time. Then she goes on to say ,
"I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that you live all your life." She believes in destiny and
that each of us has been chosen to fulfill a certain role in this life. This is a reflection of her own
faith and of
Martha Graham was born on May 11, 1894, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died on April 1,
1991. She was a modern dancer, instructor and icon of her time. In this article Graham speaks
in a philosophical and spiritual sense about the meaning of dance in her life, about what it takes
to be a dancer, and about her profession or calling in general. She feels that dance is a special
form of art in which movements and gestures help one make the effort to communicate with
others. For Graham, art is eternal because it reveals the soul of man. She also uses her own
experiences as a student, a performer, an instructor and a choreographer to give us her opinion
regarding these and other subjects related to dance . Graham compares a dancers necessity to
dance with a tree that persists in living and growing toward the light and which carries the scars
of its journey within. In order to do this we need to take care of our mind, our bodies and our
spirit. She tried to instill this philosophy in her students. For Graham dance is the result of a
necessity to create, to communicate and to express feelings in hopes of finding and defining life,
instant by instant.
Graham believes that we learn everything in life through practice. As a consequence of this
we learn to dance by dancing just as we learn to live by living. She affirms that it takes about
ten years to make a mature dancer. First, study and practice; Second, shaping the body and
third the cultivation or personal life growth of the dancer. It is true that there are several
different stages to becoming a mature dancer and that it does take time. Then she goes on to say ,
"I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that you live all your life." She believes in destiny and
that each of us has been chosen to fulfill a certain role in this life. This is a reflection of her own
faith and of
Bibliography: Carter,Alexandra and Janet O 'shea.The Routledge Dance Studies Reader. 2nd ed.Abingdon: Routledge, 2010, pp. 95-100.