Often called the Picasso, Stravinsky, or Frank Lloyd Wright of the dance
world, Martha Graham revolutionized ballet stages across the globe.
Using newly discovered archival sources, award-winning choreographer and
dance historian Mark Franko reframes Graham's most famous creations,
those from the World War II era, by restoring their rich historical and
personal context. Graham matured as an artist during the global crisis
of fascism, the conflict of World War II, and the post-war period that
ushered in the Cold War. Franko focuses on four of her most powerful
works, American Document (1938), Appalachian Spring (1944), Night
Journey (1948), and Voyage (1953), tracing their connections to Graham's
intense feelings of anti-fascism and her fascination with
psychoanalysis.
Moreover, Franko explores Graham's intense personal and professional
bond with dancer and choreographer Erick Hawkins. The author traces the
impact of their constantly changing feelings about each other and about
their work, and how Graham wove together strands of love, passion,
politics, and myth to create a unique and iconically American school of
choreography and dance.
