Martha Graham quotes

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern dance. Her innovative movement style and expressive choreography changed the course of dance in the 20th century. She inspired generations of artists and remains a powerful influence in the world of contemporary dance. Here are 117 of her quotes:

Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body. (Martha Graham)

To me, the body says what words cannot.

Martha Graham

No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It is just that others are behind the time.

Martha Graham

Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.

Martha Graham

Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.

Martha Graham

You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost.

Martha Graham

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.

Martha Graham

The only sin is mediocrity.

Martha Graham

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.

Martha Graham

When you start with an idea, or something hits you, then you have to follow that through to the end, and it's the following through to the end that makes the pattern. That, for me, is choreography.

Martha Graham

I love words very much. I've always loved to talk, and I've always love words - the words that rest in your mouth, what words mean and how you taste them and so on. And for me the spoken word can be used almost as a gesture. (Martha Graham)

I've always regarded eroticism as a beautiful word. I'm not ashamed to be linked to it. I would be ashamed to be linked to flamboyant sexuality; that's a part of life, but it isn't all of it.

Martha Graham

I did not want to be a tree, a flower or a wave. In a dancer's body, we as audience must see ourselves, not the imitated behavior of everyday actions, not the phenomenon of nature, not exotic creatures from another planet, but something of the miracle that is a human being.

Martha Graham

Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery - what it all means...

Martha Graham

Misery is a communicable disease.

Martha Graham

The main thing, of course, always, is the fact that there is only one of you in the world, just one, and if that is not fulfilled then something has been lost. Ambition is not enough; necessity is everything.

Martha Graham

The next time you look into the mirror, just look at the way the ears rest next to the head; look at the way the hairline grows; think of all the little bones in your wrist. It is a miracle. And the dance is a celebration of that miracle.

Martha Graham

I am absorbed in the magic of movement and light. Movement never lies. It is the magic of what I call the outer space of the imagination.

Martha Graham

The body is a sacred garment: it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honour, and with joy and with fear as well. But always, though, with blessing.

Martha Graham

People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose: I was chosen to be a dancer, and, with that, you live all your life.

Martha Graham

We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance. (Martha Graham)

'Age' is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years.

Martha Graham

The body never lies.

Martha Graham

The reason dance has held such an ageless magic for the world is that it has been the symbol of the performance of living.

Martha Graham

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.

Martha Graham

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Martha Graham

Martha Graham - Image

Photo: Los Angeles Daily News, CC BY 4.0

Occupation: American Dancer
Born: May 11, 1894
Died: April 1, 1991
Quotes count: 117
Wikipedia: Martha Graham

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