Quotes by Martha Graham

About Martha Graham:

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on the modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life.

Martha Graham

I feel that the essence of dance is the expression of man--the landscape of his soul. I hope that every dance I do reveals something of myself or some wonderful thing a human can be.

Martha Graham

You can be Eastern or Burmese or what have you, but the function of the body and the awareness of the body results in dance and you become a dancer, not just a human being.

Martha Graham

At the time I started in ballet they were dancing 'The Spirit of Champagne' on pointe, in Paris. I thought, 'I don't want to dance the spirit of champagne, I want to drink it!

Martha Graham

I have heard stories that it was love at first sight for both of us, that we disappeared to a guest room at Merle's house, had our meals sent up, and didn't emerge for several days. This is absolutely untrue. I would never behave like that as a guest...

Martha Graham

'Age' is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years.

Martha Graham

To me, a building - if it's beautiful - is the love of one man, he's made it out of his love for space, materials, things like that.

Martha Graham

The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.

Martha Graham

You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost.

Martha Graham

Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.

Martha Graham

First we have to believe, and then we believe.

Martha Graham

Nothing is more revealing than movement.

Martha Graham

Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart.

Martha Graham

Misery is a communicable disease.

Martha Graham

Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place.

Martha Graham

Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.

Martha Graham

The only sin is mediocrity.

Martha Graham

The body says what words cannot.

Martha Graham

Censorship is the height of vanity.

Martha Graham

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and ...

Martha Graham

Author Bio

  • NameMartha Graham
  • DescriptionAmerican dancer and choreographer
  • BornMay 11, 1894
  • DiedApril 1, 1991
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionDancer; Choreographer; Artist; Music Educator
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship; National Medal Of Arts; Presidential Medal Of Freedom; National Women's Hall Of Fame