The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.
Interpretation
Great dancers succeed not just through skill but through their deep love for dance.
This quote emphasizes that the true essence of greatness in dance comes from an individualβs passion rather than solely their technical skills. Passion fuels creativity, dedication, and the ability to connect emotionally with the audience, making it a crucial element of artistry.
In practice
In a dance competition, a judge reflected on how passion shines through performances.
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.
You have to make sure you have the characters you want. That's really the most complicated part.
Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones.
I think the blues is the best literature that we as blacks have created since we've been here. I call it our 'sacred book.' What I've attempted to do is to mine that field, to mine those cultural ideas and attitudes and give them to my characters.
The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself.
Like so many other nerdy, disaffected young people of that time, I dreamed of becoming an 'artist', i.e., somebody whose adult job was original and creative instead of tedious and dronelike.
If all your life means to you is water running over rocks, then photograph it, but I want to create something that would not have existed without me.
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