ABSTRACT
Heterogeneity was not only a salient characteristic of the modern dance movement, but also of the work of the individual artists. Graham, for example, as Martin (1967) pointed out, was always a ‘constant surprise’, and the ‘tradition of the new’ (Rosenberg 1962), as discussed above, requires just such an effect. Once Graham had removed ‘all extraneous substances’ from her movement, Martin (1933b) reported in his weekly column that she continued in a vein of ‘incessant and almost restless variation of manner and method’. The scope of her dancing ranged from the psychological expressionism of such works as Lamentation (1930) to works of pure dance movement such as Celebration (1934) and to the primitivism of dances such as Primitive Mysteries (1931), inspired by the ritual practices of the south-west Amer-Indian Christian sects. In addition to these, Graham went through a Greek period in which she created works such as Bacchanale (1931) and Ekstasis (1933), which explored the notion of ecstasy inherent in Greek religion. It is important to note, however, that these dances had little in common with Duncan’s Greek inspired dancing. Graham ’s asymmetrical, angular percussive style would have been anathema to Duncan. Although Graham was viewed as the most morbid of the morbid moderns, she also created humorous works like Harlequinade (1930), and Satyric Festival Song (1932) which, according to dance critic Mary Watkins (1932), ‘really brought the house down’.
