Question

According to "Dance, Modernity, and Culture," what are three differences between ballet and Martha Graham's technique and dancers.

Answer 1

The fundamental principles of Martha Graham's technique for choreography are based on

• the contraction and liberation of the body, a technique that was developed as a stylized representation of the breath and, depending on the context, symbolized the dancer's surrender to the emotions.

• the displacement of the body, considering the fall and the recovery, manipulating the body's center of gravity to control the moment and direction of a fall.

• the spirals, which consist of rotating the spine about 45° around its vertical axis, so that a dancer facing the front of the stage aligns his shoulders with the "Via Triumphalis", an imaginary line parallel to a corner of the stage.