The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
A dancer must listen to his body and pay homage to it. Behind the movement lies this terrible, driving passion, this necessity. I won't settle for anything less.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the deep connection and respect a dancer must have for their own body in the creative process.
Martha Graham highlights the essential relationship between a dancer and their body, suggesting that true expression in dance comes from an intense and passionate understanding of one's own physicality. This quote reveals the dedication and commitment required to achieve artistic excellence, as well as the idea that a dancer's movement is fueled by a profound inner necessity that goes beyond mere technical skill.
In practice
This quote can inspire dancers during rehearsals to connect deeply with their movements.
The body says what words cannot.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it.
What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.
No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a strange, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.
Sometimes I long so much to do landscape, just as one would go for a long walk to refresh oneself, and in all of nature, in trees for instance, I see expression and a soul.
Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.
We're a very expensive group; we break a lot of rules. It's unheard of to combine opera with a rock theme, my dear .
When you start with a portrait and try to find pure form by abstracting more and more, you must end up with an egg.
What lists and awards don't measure - and I feel this strongly - is the lasting value of any work of art. They're a snapshot of a moment, and one should always consider their judgments in that context.
People love fashion exhibits because they can fantasize. They can respond to a dress even if they can never wear a dress like that.
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