Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring Part 1/4

Part 1/4

Appalachian Spring
Premiered 1944
Choreographed by Martha Graham
Original Score by Aaron Copland

This part contains the following movements of the piece:

1st movement: Very slowly. Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.

2nd movement: Fast. Sudden burst of unison strings in A major arpeggios starts the action. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.

3rd movement: Moderate. Duo for the Bride and her Intended scene of tenderness and passion.

Dancers in this film:
The Bride: Martha Graham
The Husbandman: Stuart Hodes
The Revivalist: Bertram Ross
The Pioneer Woman: Matt Turney
The Revivalists' Flock: Yuriko, Helen McGehee, Ethel Winter, Miriam Cole

Film Directed and Photographed by Peter Glushanok, Produced by Nathan Kroll, Presented by WQED Pittsburgh. Filmed in 1959.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Martha Graham
• Appalachian Spring
• Aaron Copland
• Modern Dance

[JesusgavemeHolySpiri]

Thumbs up if google brought you here... :)

[Khymy]

How wonderful to see the whole of it with Graham herself who must have been 60 at least. A monumental work of american art. thankyou

[thorpe789]

This brings back so many happy thoughts, being in dance school watching this for the first time.

[AndrewRudin]

I just love how the 4 women are "a group" but they're also individualized. The way it plays in and out of this is so marvelous.

[AndrewRudin]

This is one of the most beautifully photographed of all dance films. The wonderful Noguchi set, so beautifully lit.... the editing and camera angles so meaningfully conceived, fully understanding the choreography, yet not just a static "fishbowl" view as is so often done for archival purposes. And the original 13-instrument version of the music IS so much more in character with the simple modest character of the piece. Wonderful all around.

[niceguy504277]

This literally brought a tear to my eye.

[gjvalent]

Fantastic and amazing. The set is identical to the version filmed in 1944. But complete and clear. According to the IMDB, Martha Graham was born in 1894, which would have made her 64 at the time of this performance. Portraying a woman in her late teens or early twenties. Superb. An American ballet if there ever was.

[BananaChong]

Thank you! Speechless!

[AnotherSpecialEdMom]

It is so wonderful that we can see Martha dance her own choreography -- to actually see her vision, not someone elses' interpretation more than 50 years after she performed it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing us this gift.

[Reggie1010101]

I saw this once many years ago and I thought it was just great. Today I found it here and was just blown away with it. True, I admit I'm not cultured enough to understand everyrthing in the dance but, I just loved the misic, the movements and the dancers themselves. This, in my mind, is an absolutely brilliant piece of work and i will enjoy it over and over again for some time to come. The preacher did a great job and was my favorite.

Thank you for bringing this to me!

[maxreger100]

@tommyrall3

Fascinating observation. Many people disliked Graham (and still do) for the jerkiness of her choreography--but if you watch this all, you can see that there is still so much ballet in what she does.

[verstengenericks]

@SuzyCheeseSteak Congratulations on your bold wondering! josjuajeffery above gives a good answer. About the only thing you need to start to appreciate it is have a sense of, "This is cool, I want to get it!"... Ask yourself the question, if I wanted to show feelings, joy, trepidation, etc., about marriage and relationship but all I could do is have people move around on a stage, how would I have them move to convey those feelings and meanings to the audience...Ms. Graham gives one answer...