The Martha Graham Project

Part of Bedford Interactive’s plans for some years have involved a multi-disc Resource Pack based on the test piece Motif & Variations. This is a big project with Three major parts.

First, the establishment of a subset of Graham Technique Exercises which deal with all the crucial movements and motifs of the piece

Secondly, the learning of the piece itself, to deliver  a quality sufficient for success in the examination for which it is often used.(U.K.GCSE Dance )

Thirdly, the using of the moves from the Graham Technique in new compositions by students

It suddenly occurred to us that as we already had all the necessary Martha Graham Exercises in-the-can we should go ahead and RELEASE that disc as soon as possible. The following is a sampler of these resources.

Martha Graham Technique

The range of standard exercises for  Graham Technique are very well known in contemporary dance circles, or at least everyone seems to have heard of them. But, they are usually seen second-hand, that is performed by teachers who have not necessarily had the rigorous training that is the regime of the professional dancer.

It was decided therefore to present an appropriate set of the exercises demonstrated by experts..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exercises were composed of the following categories

Martha Graham

Some Standard Technique Exercises

-Skips                                                                                                                           

  -Marching                                                                                                         

    -Torso Actions                                     

      -Jumps                                                                                                         

        -Floor work

          -Turns around back     

            -Walking Techniques

              -Walking with arm movements

                -Walking with turns

                  -Foot Techniques

                    -Brush Strokes

                      -Travelling Circles

 

It was crucial to shoot the classic set of Martha Graham exercises performed by dancers highly trained in the field. Luckily we had Lauren Potter, and Thea Barnes. The formers credentials were well established with us over many years and a series of projects, and Thea had been in the Martha Graham Company (in the U.S.) for 11 years.

An added bonus that came from having them both soon became very clear. Without departing from the necessary content, they were in many ways very different in their performance of the routines. This indicates that although both intended to do what is CRUCIAL in the exercises, there was (and is) opportunity for dancers to be themselves while carrying out the content to the letter.  Also it was possible in certain static exercises to have both dancers performing together, but representing different sides, or views, to the camera simultaneously.

	Skips…… Lauren

	Skips.. Thea.
	Marching
	Torso Actions
	Jumps
	Floor work

These stills captured from our video footage are only a tiny fraction of the full set of exercises that will be contained in the MARTHA GRAHAM EXERCISES  disc that we will release soon. More images from the same shoot are available in the Gallery on this Site.

Latest News:    The project is now finished and ready for sale.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY - Click here

 

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