Martha Graham Floor Exercises

The martha graham technique is one of the most thorough and systematic contemporary dance techniques to emerge from the 20th century.

Martha graham floor exercises.

Evolved over 80 years of consistent practice and teaching at the martha graham center in new york city and at dance centers arts high schools and college and university dance departments globally the floor work grounds mobilizes and strengthens the body s core. These are images from the martha graham 1894 1991 technique. Many of the exercises in the graham syllabus require the dancer to fall powerfully into the floor and these movements are seen repeatedly throughout the graham repertory. The graham technique believes that the fall is the acknowledgment of the power of gravity.

Breathings contraction and release spirals deep stretches turns around the back graham plies with contractions and. However the notions that are most commonly practiced in graham s floor work are the bounces breathings turns around the back and spirals. A series of short films demonstrating the physical techniques and dance moves developed by legendary american choreographer and dancer martha graham beautifully illustrated by young dancers from. Martha graham is all about performance.

The deepest contraction needs the floor to coil into from the beginning the quality of your work will be affected by the working relationship you establish with the floor. The floor plays an integral part as every movement is taken. Straight away you can tell that we weren t pushing ourselves during the floor exercises at the beginning as we managed to do all 7 exercises without feeling exhausted. Here s a list of the basic vocabulary of the martha graham s dance technique.

Two levels of programming are designed for teachers who are new to graham level i november 2 6 as well as veteran graham instructors level ii november 9 13. The martha graham school offers two intensive five day workshops for instructors who wish to deepen their understanding of the graham technique. When teaching a master class to students who are unfamiliar with graham dakin sometimes adjusts exercises to hone in on one concept at a time.