Kirjahaku

Between 1926 and 1991, the year of her death, Martha Graham choreographed close to one hundred masterpieces. She changed how dancers were perceived onstage, devised new ways of moving, and pioneered a revolutionary dance technique. Along the way, Graham engaged with the debates, ideas, and events of the twentieth century - creating dances of social comment and human experiences. Graham, the first dancer and choreographer to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and named Time’s “Dancer of the Century,” was a visionary artistic force. Hers was the iconic face of what came to be called modern dance. In Errand into the Maze, the legendary dance critic Deborah Jowitt gives us the definitive portrait of this great American artist. Beginning with Graham’s childhood and early work in theatrical productions, and touching on her offstage adventures, this elegant, empathetic biography places Graham’s works and creations at the heart of her story. Her dances, brimming with emotional intensity, are intimately linked with their creator, and she was foregrounded in many; she was the heroine in almost all the dances she choreographed, portraying figures like Jocasta, Clytemnestra, and Judith. In this volume, Graham is center stage once more, and Jowitt casts a bright and brilliant spotlight on her life and work.

In this authoritative biography, Deborah Jowitt explores the life, works, and creative processes of the complex genius Jerome Robbins (1918-1998), who redefined the role of dance in musical theater and is also considered America's greatest native-born ballet choreographer. This meticulously researched and elegantly written story of a life's work is illuminated by photographs, enlivened by anecdotes, and grounded in insights into ballets and musical comedies that have been seen and loved all over the world.

Over her sweeping career, she founded what is now the oldest dance company in the country and produced nearly two hundred ballets, many of them masterpieces. And along the way, she engaged with the major debates, events, and ideas of the twentieth century, creating works that cut to the core of the human experience. Time magazine’s “Dancer of the Century,” and the first dancer and choreographer to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Graham was a visionary artistic force and an international cultural figure: hers was the iconic face of what came to be known as modern dance. From the renowned dance writer and former longtime critic for The Village Voice Deborah Jowitt, Errand into the Maze draws on more than a decade of firsthand research to deliver the definitive portrait of this titan. Beginning with Graham’s childhood in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and her early studies at the Denishawn School; weaving in her offstage adventures, including her relationship with her dancer and muse Erick Hawkins; and chronicling her retirement from dancing at age seventy-five and her remarkably productive final years, this elegant, empathetic biography portrays the artist in all her passionate complexity. Most important, Jowitt places Graham’s creations at the heart of her story. Her works, brimming with raw intensity, are intimately linked with their creator, who played the heroine in almost all that she choreographed: Joan of Arc, Jocasta, Clytemnestra, and Judith, among others. In this volume, Graham is center stage once more, and Jowitt casts a brilliant spotlight on her life and work.