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Martha Graham

Martha Graham Quotes

Choreographer

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Famous Martha Graham Quotes

“How many leaps did Nijinksy take before he made the one that startled the world? He took thousands and thousands and it is that legend that gives us the courage, the energy, and arrogance to go back into the studio knowing that while there is so little time to be born to the instant, you will work again among the many that you may once more be born as one. That is a dancer's world.”

WorldGivingMayLittlesMadeEnergyBornKnowingStudiosInstantArroganceDancerLeapLegendsLittle Time
Book:Blood Memory
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“It takes about ten years to make a mature dancer. The training is twofold. There is the study and practice of the craft in order to strengthen the muscular structure of the body. The body is shaped, disciplined, honored, and in time, trusted. The movement become clean, precise, eloquent, truthful. Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it. This might be called the law of the dancer's life, the law which governs its outer aspects”

YearsSoulStatesBodyMightLawLyingOrderPracticeStudyMovementTenTrainingAspectStructureCleanWeatherCraftsDancerMatureTruthfulTrustedPreciseHonoredEloquentNever LieBarometer
Author:Martha Graham
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“I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.”

BelieveMeanFacesSpiritDesireI BelieveVisionPrinciplesPracticeLearningShapesAchievementIntellectualAreasPerfectionExperiencePerformancesDancingDanceAthleteSatisfactionObstaclesLive ByDedicatedPreciseInvitingDance Performance
Author:Martha Graham
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“It is difficult to see the great dance effects as they happen, to see them accurately, catch them fast in memory. It is even more difficult to verbalize them for critical discussion. The particular essence of a performance, its human sweep of articulate rhythm in space and in time has no specific terminology to describe it by.”

HumansHappensDifficultMemoriesSpaceEffectsParticularEssencePerformancesDanceCriticalRhythmDiscussionTerminologyGreat Dance
Author:Martha Graham
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