Martha Graham School

Martha Graham School
Name	Martha Graham School
Established	1926
Type	Dance school
Location	New York City, United States
Founder	Martha Graham

Martha Graham School is a premier institution for modern dance founded in 1926 by Martha Graham in New York City. The School has been closely associated with the Martha Graham Dance Company and has trained generations of dancers who went on to influence American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center, Juilliard School, and The Juilliard School. Over its history the School intersected with major cultural institutions such as Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, and international venues including Royal Opera House and Teatro alla Scala.

History

From its founding by Martha Graham, who created works like Lamentation (Graham), Appalachian Spring, and Errand into the Maze, the School evolved alongside the Martha Graham Dance Company and the modern dance movement. Early collaborations linked the School with choreographers and composers such as Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Isamu Noguchi, and Aaron Copland. During the 1930s and 1940s the School grew amid exchanges with institutions including Bennington School of the Dance, Curtis Institute of Music, and performance venues like Radio City Music Hall, while touring with presenters like Sol Hurok and appearing in programs at Carnegie Hall. Postwar decades brought association with arts funders such as the National Endowment for the Arts, foundations like the Guggenheim Foundation, and partnerships with companies such as American Ballet Theatre and theaters like New York City Center.

The School weathered leadership transitions involving protégés and directors who maintained Graham technique and repertoire, connecting with cultural movements represented by figures like John Cage, Graham Greene (writer), and artists from Abstract Expressionism circles, with showings at venues including Museum of Modern Art and festivals such as Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Spoleto Festival USA.

Training and Curriculum

The curriculum centers on the codified Graham technique developed by Martha Graham and transmitted through faculty tied to the original company, integrating elements from works like Chronicle (Graham), Diversion of Angels, and Night Journey (Graham). Students study alignment, contraction and release, floorwork, and repertoire reconstruction in classes that reference choreographers and pedagogues such as Merce Cunningham, Alwin Nikolais, Hanya Holm, Lester Horton, and José Limón. Complementary coursework often engages collaborations or guest residencies with institutions like The Juilliard School, New York University, Columbia University, and conservatories including Boston Conservatory and Royal Academy of Dance.

Training includes performance practice drawn from scores and designs by collaborators including Isamu Noguchi, Hannah Weiner, and composers such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Igor Stravinsky, and Philip Glass. Pedagogical methods reference somatic research linked to practitioners such as Alexander Technique proponents and physiotherapists associated with companies like National Ballet of Canada.

Notable Faculty and Alumni

Faculty and alumni lists encompass leading modernists, company dancers, choreographers, and teachers connected to names like Martha Graham (founder), Merce Cunningham (peer), Paul Taylor (contemporary), Twila Tharp (alumna), Mikhail Baryshnikov (collaborator), Gelsey Kirkland (alumna), Miriam Mahdaviani, Elliot Feld, Teresa Rebeck, Mark Morris (influenced), Pina Bausch (contemporary), José Limón (influence), Doris Humphrey (precedent), Isamu Noguchi (designer), Aaron Copland (composer), Samuel Barber (composer), Philip Glass (composer), Jerome Robbins (contemporary), Anna Sokolow (colleague), Meryl Tankard, Eartha Kitt (performer crossover), Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Graham Metrinko, Eva Le Gallienne, Sasha Waltz, Deborah Jowitt, Arnie Zane, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Loie Fuller, Hanya Holm, and generations of international dancers recruited from companies like Royal Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, and Sankai Juku.

Alumni pursued careers at companies and theaters including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Royal Opera House, Sydney Dance Company, and in film and television projects tied to Hollywood studios and festivals like Cannes Film Festival.

Performances and Tours

The School’s performance programs historically premiered works at venues such as Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, and festivals including Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal International Jazz Festival where students appeared in mixed bills alongside companies like Batsheva Dance Company and Nederlands Dans Theater. Tours were organized with presenters like Sol Hurok, and cultural diplomacy engagements ran through organizations such as the United States Department of State and international partners like British Council and Alliance Française.

Repertory reconstructions have been staged in collaboration with museums and archives such as Library of Congress, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Smithsonian Institution, and research centers associated with Columbia University and Harvard University.

Facilities and Organization

Based in studios located in Manhattan, the School shares historical ties with rehearsal and performance spaces including Graham Studio, Harkness Theater, City Center of Music and Drama, and partnerships with universities like New York University and conservatories such as Julliard. Administrative and non-profit governance aligned the School with boards and funders including National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, private foundations like Rockefeller Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and philanthropic families linked to arts endowments such as the Ford Foundation.

Operational collaborations extended to unions and guilds such as Actors' Equity Association and professional organizations like Dance/USA, while pedagogical accreditation and exchange programs involved institutions like Bates College and international conservatories including Paris Opera Ballet School.

Legacy and Influence

The School’s legacy is evident across modern dance, theater, and visual arts through influence on choreographers and institutions including Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and educational programs at Juilliard School and NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Its repertory and technique informed stagecraft and design conversations with figures like Isamu Noguchi and composers such as Aaron Copland and Philip Glass, and contributed to curricular models adopted by conservatories across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia—including programs at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Scholarly assessment appears in archives at Library of Congress, studies at universities like Columbia University and Harvard University, and retrospectives at museums such as Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscoring the School’s continuing role in shaping twentieth- and twenty-first-century performance culture.

Category:Dance schools in the United States