![[Graham, Martha. (1894–1991) & Cunningham, Merce. (1919-2009)] Halsman, Philippe. (1906 - 1979) Martha Graham & Merce Cunningham ("Letter to the World"), 1940](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Halsman_Martha_Graham_Letter_to_world_23267.jpg?v=1722190730)
[Graham, Martha. (1894–1991) & Cunningham, Merce. (1919-2009)] Halsman, Philippe. (1906 - 1979). Martha Graham & Merce Cunningham ("Letter to the World"), 1940. Gelatin silver print. 11 x 14 inches (28 x 35 cm), titled and dated (incorrectly, 1946) in pencil on the verso, with the photographer's ink stamp. A touch of wear to corners; else fine.
The legacy of Martha Graham in dance of the twentieth century is without parallel. Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day, and her groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.
American dancer and choreographer, Merce Cunningham began his career in Martha Graham’s company in 1939 and spent six years as a member there, the second male member to join the all-female enclave after Erick Hawkins (who became Graham’s husband). Their paths diverged in cultural history-making ways in the mid-forties. Widely considered to be one of the most important choreographers of all time, Cunningham's approach to performance was groundbreaking in its ideological simplicity and physical complexity: he applied the idea that “a thing is just that thing” to choreography, embracing the notion that “if the dancer dances, everything is there.”
The premiere of Graham’s important ballet ‘Letter to the World’ took place on 11 August 1940, at the Bennington College Theater in Vermont. Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, and Jane Dudley were the original performers. The ballet was accompanied by the spoken poetry of Emily Dickinson; the title of the ballet is taken from a Dickinson poem which begins, "This is my letter to the World/ That never wrote to Me..." .’
[Graham, Martha. (1894–1991) & Cunningham, Merce. (1919-2009)] Halsman, Philippe. (1906 - 1979). Martha Graham & Merce Cunningham ("Letter to the World"), 1940. Gelatin silver print. 11 x 14 inches (28 x 35 cm), titled and dated (incorrectly, 1946) in pencil on the verso, with the photographer's ink stamp. A touch of wear to corners; else fine.
The legacy of Martha Graham in dance of the twentieth century is without parallel. Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day, and her groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.
American dancer and choreographer, Merce Cunningham began his career in Martha Graham’s company in 1939 and spent six years as a member there, the second male member to join the all-female enclave after Erick Hawkins (who became Graham’s husband). Their paths diverged in cultural history-making ways in the mid-forties. Widely considered to be one of the most important choreographers of all time, Cunningham's approach to performance was groundbreaking in its ideological simplicity and physical complexity: he applied the idea that “a thing is just that thing” to choreography, embracing the notion that “if the dancer dances, everything is there.”
The premiere of Graham’s important ballet ‘Letter to the World’ took place on 11 August 1940, at the Bennington College Theater in Vermont. Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, and Jane Dudley were the original performers. The ballet was accompanied by the spoken poetry of Emily Dickinson; the title of the ballet is taken from a Dickinson poem which begins, "This is my letter to the World/ That never wrote to Me..." .’