Martha Graham Floor Exercises

While graham s is a codified technique with a set series of seated floor exercises standing exercises and across the floor sequences there are various ways of presenting material from the syllabus.

Martha graham floor exercises. Here s a list of the basic vocabulary of the martha graham s dance technique. The graham technique believes that the fall is the acknowledgment of the power of gravity. 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. Yes we ached and our leg muscles really hurt especially during the pliés that followed.

An introduction to floorwork in a martha graham technique class 1. 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. 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. 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. 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 technique is one of the most thorough and systematic contemporary dance techniques to emerge from the 20th century. 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.

However the notions that are most commonly practiced in graham s floor work are the bounces breathings turns around the back and spirals. The martha graham school offers two intensive five day workshops for instructors who wish to deepen their understanding of the graham technique. These are images from the martha graham 1894 1991 technique.