Martha Graham in Imperial Gesture

Martha Graham in Imperial Gesture.

 

Martha Graham was one of the main representatives of modern dance, a type of concert dance born in Germany and the United States between the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. It incorporated different dance approaches and techniques that often focused on the torso and expressivity. It also struggled to be considered an art form, as it moved away from the concept of dance as entertainment, like ballet and vaudeville. New York was one of its main centres but finding spaces where to perform was not easy as many theatres housed plays or musicals during the week. That is why many modern dance concerts began to take place on Sunday, the “dark night”, the night during which theatres were supposed to be closed by a city law (it was also known as the Sabbath code).