The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the beauty and strength found in the small, often overlooked details of life, particularly in art and dance.
Martha Graham's quote speaks to the inherent beauty and strength that exists in the subtle and seemingly insignificant aspects of life, embodied in the art of dance. It emphasizes the reverence a dancer has for their own body, specifically for the 'small beautiful bones' that offer both grace and power, reminding us to appreciate the delicate intricacies that contribute to the larger picture of art and existence.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of appreciating fine arts, this quote can underline how details matter.
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.
At Sarah Lawrence, I realized that everybody was already what they were going to be. The painters were painting, the writers writing, the dancers dancing. And nobody wore any makeup. The art was uppermost.
There is nothing harder to estimate than a writer's time, nothing harder to keep track of. There are moments—moments of sustained creation—when his time is fairly valuable; and there are hours and hours when a writer's time isn't worth the paper he is not writing anything on.
I am sure that as a woman I can do a very good skyscraper.
If you are a new, upcoming designer, you've got to think of new, cool ways to make the industry look at you. Don't just get stuck in a rut, show your clothes, and be like, 'You should like this.'
If I go three days without vocalizing, the voice is gone.
Being an artist is this kind of occupation in which you have to make people care about your obsession.
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