The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
Wherever a dancer stands is holy ground.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the sanctity and significance of a dancer's presence and expression in any space.
Martha Graham's quote reflects the idea that a dancer brings beauty, spirituality, and intentionality to their environment. When a dancer performs, the space transforms into a sacred place, filled with artistry and emotion, underscoring the profound impact of dance on both the performer and the audience.
In practice
In a discussion about the influence of art, one could reference this quote to highlight the emotional power of performance.
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.
It has been the office of art to educate the perception of beauty. We are immersed in beauty but our eyes have no clear vision.
Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.
But if a stranger in the train asks me my occupation, I never answer "writer" for fear that he may go on to ask me what I write, and to answer "poetry" would embarrass us both, for we both know that nobody can earn a living simply by writing poetry.
I can never get over when you're on the beach how beautiful the sand looks and the water washes it away and straightens it up and the trees and the grass all look great. I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.
We do not go to the theatre like our ancestors, to escape from the pressure of reality, so much as to confirm our experience of it.
I'm more comfortable writing traditional protagonists. But 'Steve Jobs' and 'The Social Network' have antiheroes. I like to write antiheroes as if they're making their case to God about why they should be allowed into heaven. I have to find something in that character that is like me and write to that.
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