Blood Memory: An Autobiography

by Martha Graham

The innovative choreographer describes her childhood, her days with the Denishawn Dance Company, her tragic marriage, her own company, and her work with such artists as Chaplin, Louise Brooks, Aaron Copland, and Margot Fonteyn

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, Art, Biography Memoir, Womens

279 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

Martha Graham was an American dancer and choreographer regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, and is widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Graham invented a new language of movement, and used it to reveal the passion, the rage and the ecstasy common to human experience. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and during that time was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, the first dancer ever to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and the first dancer ever to receive the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable."

Reviews

[Abbyofgail · Rating 3 out of 5]

this should be required reading for anyone who is seriously studying dance (especially dance history). martha graham is one of the most important people in dance history, and being able to peek into her mind is exhilarating. i felt like i was a kid listening outside a door to a very adult conversation--like i didn't belong there but unable to move out of fascination.
even though sometimes you have no idea what the hell she's talking about (especially when she's describing the motivation behind her dances---yeeikes), it actually helps you understand her better when you don't understand her (if you understand me). i enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book much more than the last third, at that point it got pretty convoluted. she also didn't spend very much time on subjects that i would have loved to hear more about (what really went down between her and erick hawkins, her relationship with halston). and although i loved the fact that she included dozens of pictures, they didn't correspond with the biography (pictures from the 1940s were in the end of the book when she was in her 70s).
but damn. it's martha graham. you gotta read it, just because it's martha graham.

[Dr Chandra Shekhar Bhatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Lady Martha, innovative dancer it was a feeling inside while watching her dancing on tigers footsteps.I enjoyed her videos and the books at American center at Mumbai. It gave me an insight to probe my own way of thinking as i had read in school times.All beings who wants to be aware of the CONDITIONINGS of the conventional world and flow freely in freedom must read her book and see her films thanks to American center library.

[Katerina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Эта книга (пер. В. Щелкиной, лит. ред. М. Афанасьевой) позиционируется как первая книга по-русски о великой Марте Грэм, но увы, по-русски книг про Марту Грэм по-прежнему нет. Есть дичайший набор абзацев и предложений, по которым можно преподавать курс "Основы пиздецового перевода":

- "я была избрана стать танцовщицей, и с этим живешь всю жизнь"
- "его образ жизни был скорее европейским, но он стал американцем"
- "он глубоко чувствовал страсть и те прекрасные вещи, которые индейцы могли нам дать"
- "Рут Сен-Дени была божественной фигурой и глубоко религиозным существом, но еще она была артисткой"
- [Хелен Келлер] "была великой леди и очень забавной"
- Они хотели уйти еще до антракта, но Фредерик повернулся к ним и сказал: "Она в порядке. Просто она театральна"
- "Я снимала костюм и грим после выступления, когда в дверь постучали"

Ну, и так далее. Не упрощает задачу то, что Грэм писала "Память крови", когда ей было 96 лет, и даже Азарий Плисецкий по сравнению с ней может показаться блестящим мемуаристом.

Вот краткая выжимка, что я с горем пополам смогла выделить про Марту:

- Родилась в 1894 году в маленьком шахтерском городке в Пенсильвании;
- Очень любила греческие мифы и животных;
- Училась в ЛА в школе Рут Сен-Дени и Теда Шоуна "Денишоун";
- НЕ училась у Мэри Вигман и не хотела ставить на европейские сюжеты, сосредоточившись на всем американском; исключением стала работа о Марии Стюарт;
- не поехала с гастролями в Германию, потому что там притесняли евреев;
- Эрик Хокинс был первым танцовщиком-мужчиной в труппе Грэм, а впоследствии и ее мужем, а после развода она уже до конца жизни была одинока;
- не имела детей, потому что хотела полностью посвятить себя танцу;
- в последний раз станцевала в "Орлином кортеже", ей было 76 лет; уходить со сцены было очень тяжело, поэтому сначала она пыталась адаптировать хореографию к возможностям своего стареющего тела, но потом поняла, что делать это до бесконечности невозможно;
- в "Весне в Аппалачских горах" вместе танцевали Барышников и Нуриев;
- если выбирать, какой свой балет показать ребенку 6-8 лет, Грэм выбрала бы "С вестью в лабиринт".

Выписала в блокнотик названия других ключевых работ, а "Лабиринт" нам уже Диана Вишнева привозила.

[Лайма · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first couple of pages led me to believe it was going to be a rather pretentious memoir, full of ruminations about art and the nature of dance. However, it quickly got sidetracked and, for a book about someone so involved in dance, filled with everything else, but dance itself. The tone of Graham's narration was incredibly dry and cold, as if she wasn't invested in anything that she was talking about. I didn't get a clear picture of why exactly she is this monumental figure in modern dance. She described various visits to the First Ladies of the US, trips to temples and her interactions with birds, and it all was very disjointed and pointless. When she did talk about dance, it was pretentious, but not in a good way, and also weirdly spiritual and connected with Christianity, which I didn't appreciate. In the end, she is still as much a mystery to me as she was before my reading the book.

[Judah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate autobiography from an amazing woman. Recommended for anyone who wants an inside look at what drives the creative desire...not for dancers alone!

[marine ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

25/03 : re-read for a class project

I’m new to reading non-fiction books and not sure how I’m supposed to rate them… I won’t rate the plot because who am I to rate and judge a life ?

So I think I’ll just rate the writing. I usually don’t enjoy reading autobiography books, and I read this one for my studies, but I have to admit I fell in love with it it was soooo good I loved the writing and even though I don’t share every of Graham’s ideas I still loved reading this book and I learnt a lot of things

[Liralen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doris's book The Art of Making Dances became a great success and I was glad for her, but a little put off with some of its concepts. The chapter that just did me in was entitled "The Center of the Stage." To Doris, it was a geographic place in the middle of things. When I saw it I thought, "But the center of the stage is where I am." (69)

Graham must have been a force to be reckoned with. She describes a largely conventional childhood, but one in which her parents encouraged self-expression and largely set her free to be the artist she was born to be.

Blood Memory isn't the most cohesive of stories—much of it involves anecdotes, many of them with very little context. But if nothing else it gives you a tremendous sense of Graham's voice and drive and stubbornness.

I want the dancers in my company not to be like me. I want them to have studied with me, of course. I want them to be themselves and I encourage them to do that. I want the dancers to learn the dance physically, strongly, and then put their own meaning into it, if they can dare to do that. I don't believe in having stereotyped mes running around. What a horrible thought. They should bear the marks of my work while feeling free to be the individuals they are. (243)

Graham wrote this late in her life—in fact, it was first published a few months after her death. But gosh, what a life lived before then.

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from my dance teacher. Two chapters in I looked it up on Amazon and ordered my own copy. I knew it was one I would go back to over and over again. It is so much more than the autobiography of a dance legend. It is a book about life: life as dance and dance as life, creativity linked to the life of the soul. It changed my world.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read this because Martha Graham is quoted in BTS’ music video for Black Swan. The quote: “a dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful” turned out to be the peak of her writing. This is only worth reading if you have a great passion for modern dance - which I do not.

[Maria]

You will laugh but I read this after recognizing Martha Graham in a poster included in a childrens' book : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
And I'm glad I did. She won my respect through how much love and dedication she had for her art. I felt she really understood her "why" and lived by it.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The autobiography of one of the most intoxicatingly intense women who ever lived, it is a testament to talent and to passion, and to the unflinching certainty that being oneself is best.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An almost stream of conscious memoir looking over 94 years of the life of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

[Veronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il s'agit essentiellement d'une succession d'anecdotes qui ont constitué la vie de Martha Graham. Elles n'ont pas une grande valeur littéraire et m'ont un peu laissées sur ma faim: ces grands moments disent assez peu du quotidien. Mais il y a aussi quelques pages essentielles.
Céline Minard aurait-elle lu ce livre ? : "... les dons du funambule. Comme lui, nous avons tous un jour ou l'autre, marché en équilibre sur le fil des circonstances.Nous connaissons comme lui la force d'attraction de la pesanteur. Son sourire est là parce qu'il pratique l'art de vivre à l'instant du danger. Il choisit de ne pas tomber. Parfois, j'ai peur de marcher sur ce fil, peur de m'aventurer dans l'inconnu. Mais cela fait partie de la création et aussi de l'exécution."

[Ekaterina Okuneva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Обрывочно и путано изложенные истории, у которых нет ни начала, ни конца, ни логики. Однажды Марта Грэм куда-то поехала, она там танцевала, потом всем дарили подарки, и в подарке лежал апельсин, и... нет, это конец истории. Потом 2 страницы рандомных движений, и это не описание методики и не пересказ балета. Потом абзац, как Марте Грэм что-то предложили, а она молча вышла из помещения, потому что не на помойке себя нашла. И так 200 страниц.
И потрясающий справочный аппарат, как я люблю, если выбрать из этого неймдроппинга одно имя, которое видишь впервые в жизни, то конечно же его в указателе не будет. Еще там нет Барышникова и Нуреева, но есть Каннингем. Фонтейн тоже нет. Нипочему, просто так, как и весь этот текст.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martha Graham lived quite an interesting life; actually reading her autobiography makes it seem like she's lived several lives. Just the number of people with whom she interacted, encountered, or collaborated over the span of several decades bears this out. But the more interesting portions of this book are when she describes her initial experiences with dance and movement and her later choreography. I also found it quite interesting the number of Asian influences - Japan, Burma, India - that affected both her thinking and her style. I can see why she's such an important touchstone for dancers worldwide.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My favorite role is the one I’m dancing now. You do t build on security. You risk. Everything is a risk. You use every part of anything you remember as part of the present, the now.”

This memoir is episodic and meandering in structure and I’m here for it. I took notes the entire time I read it, because her writing about dancing translates so well to *all* art-making. There’s so much earned wisdom here.

(She absolutely pontificates and her ego is front and center in this book, but as I say, she has clearly earned the right to name drop and boast as much as she wants.)

[Leila Kern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting although I did not think Martha Graham a very good writer. She drifted from subject to subject and I couldn’t always follow her thought process. That being said, Martha Graham was a free spirit and led a very interesting life. I love what she said about blood memories; it is indeed true that one carries such memories from relations through their lives (at least I’ve found that to be true). Even if you are not interested in dance, this is a good read.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not normally the type of book that I read but it was on my shelf so I thought I’d give it a try. This was a beautifully written autobiography and I really enjoyed reading about her life even though I have never really heard of Martha Graham before. I enjoyed this, it was very interesting, and wonderfully written.

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Des mémoires plutôt prétentieux et vides de sens, Martha Graham raconte des anecdotes diverses et variées sur des moments de vie avec peu de cohérence. Elle y expose son CV sans aller dans les détails.
Quelques passages plus intéressants, mais c’est un livre peu convaincant dans l’ensemble. Sa technique est plus pertinence à regarder ou pratiquer qu’à lire.

[Mary-ann Owens]

I danced a lot as a young person. There is a technique in the book near the end. Also, Martha Graham's life is so rich. She knew so many talented people so it is fun to read for this reason. Also, anyone involved in dance or art would enjoy the richness of her creative process.

[Callie DiNello · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing read, but one that bunnyhops around with little flow

[Aditi Mishra]

I don't know how to rate a book, but this one was really really beautiful for me.

A book with a soul, I would say.

[kaliyah]

I had to read this for a dance research paper and I’m so behind on my goal so I’m adding it ‼️‼️‼️

[Héctor David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into the life and wisdom of one of the most important figures of the XX century.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must-read book for every dancer out there.

[Angelea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martha Graham is probably the most well-known name among today's modern dancers. She existed from 1894-1991, but will undoubtedly be remembered forever. When I saw that she had written an autobiography, I had no choice but to dive right in. Videos of her dancing can be found all over the internet and I couldn't wait to put a personality to the figure. I have no regrets.

In Blood Memory, Martha spills her guts. She tries to completely reveal her insides through powerful words. Her purpose of writing this was probably to get it all down and quench the thirst of thousands of inquisitive minds. Most people who know of her clearly see her unbelieveable talent and flair, but without her very own words to explain what goes on within the dancing masterpiece, we could never be 100% positive of who Martha Graham really was.

Martha Graham was an intricate little creature. She felt so passionately and was able to transfer that ireeplaceable magic into her memorable choreography. She knew that dance was a way of life expression, not just another sport or hobby. Dance is art, and Martha conveyed these principles more than anyone else I have come across. She says, "..art is eternal, for it reveals the inner landscape, which is the soul of man." (page 4) I fully believe in this statement. Throughout her book, she compares dance to life, saying at one instance, "Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same." (page 3)She writes, "Many times I hear the phrase 'the dance of life'. It is an expression that touches me deeply, for the instrument through which the dance speaks is also the instrument through which life is lived-the human body." (page 4)She makes it crystal clear how completely she has thrusted herself into the life of dance and how she stays true to this passion straight through to her core.

As the quotes above reveal, Blood Memory was mosly written as a description. Her perfect and intriguing word choices only draw her audience in further. I think she really does an excellent job of protraying herself and her innermost thoughts.

I disregarded only a couple parts in this book, only because I honestly do not care who said what and all that jazz in Martha's life. I care about what she alone did and the workings of such a brilliant mind and body. Overall, I loved this book so much. At times, I felt like my very soul was spilling over onto the paperback in front of me. This sounds so cheesy and I really can't explan it, but it is true. Martha Graham was able to put into the words the very feelings and thoughts that flood my mind every day. Her spirit and passion are undeniable. Pertaining to her dance life, Martha states, "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." (page 5) Such were the bold and intense thoughts of fabulous Miss Martha Graham.

[Bodies in the Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometime last year I attended Write & Shine’s online workshop on dance and Gemma Seltzer highlighted Martha Graham’s memoir Blood Memory.

Absolutely stunning piece of writing that I read in one day straight. Fascinating to read of her early life, including taking the train West with her family to start their new life in Santa Barbara, her progress through dance companies, realisation of her ambition to perform her own work, establishment of one of the foundational companies in modern American dance, and, much later, need to slow down as she aged.

Creating dance = storytelling with and by the body and I found myself talking lots of notes that resonated with the books I’ve read about writing techniques.

Blood Memory was published in 1991 and is well worth reading if you are interested in creativity. It’s so great, I’m counting it as my artist date this week.

Three word review: American dance invented.

[Lily Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished today. If you take it for what it is, knowing Martha's racial/socio-economic background, you can take what speaks to you and leave the rest behind. Don't remember the last time I read an autobiography/memoir but there's only so much me-ism I can tolerate before it gets to be too much. Still there are quite a few gems of insights about dance and parallels to life. She was quite a woman of her time.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first part of this book. Reading about her childhood influences, Her time with Ruth St. Denis and Ted, and her early evolution as a dancer. However, I felt the book started to become an trip through name dropping more as it progressed. Not that there weren't gems and inspiration to be found later in the book, but I would have probably ranked it higher if the second half was more like the first.