The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
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.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the beauty and significance of the human foot in dance, celebrating both its functionality and the artistry it brings.
Martha Graham highlights the often-overlooked wonder of the human foot, which, despite being a small part of the body, supports our entire weight and enables movement. The act of dancing is portrayed as a joyous celebration of this miraculous ability, where every step becomes a tribute to the capabilities of our bodies.
In practice
Using this quote during a dance recital to inspire performers.
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.
Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature.
Anecdotes don't make good stories. Generally I dig down underneath them so far that the story that finally comes out is not what people thought their anecdotes were about.
As a language, Garbo's singularity was of the order of the concept, that of Audrey Hepburn is of the order of the substance; the face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn, an Event.
Football is the ballet of the masses.
There are no limits to what kind of bodies, which types of people, which genders, or what races can do amazing drag, and I think the audience is clamoring fighting with each other more and more to see drag represented as fully as it possibly can be.
I'm a much better filmmaker than painter. But studying it did make me visually acute and taught me lessons like being economic: Say something once and you don't have to say it again.
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