Graham, Martha

1894 - She was born on the 11th day of May this year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father was a doctor.

1908 - Her family moved to Santa Barbara, California.

1911 - She saw a performance of Ruth Saint-Denis and decided to become a dancer.

1913 – She studied theater and dances at the University of Cumnoch and graduated in 1916.

1916 – She joined the Denishawn School in Los Angeles (school of Ruth Saint-Denis and Ted Shawn). There she danced several important roles, including Shawn's Xochtil in 1920. She met the composer Louis Horst.

1923 – She left the Denishawn with Horst and in 1926 she taught at the Eastman School of Rochester. She gave her first recital in New York

1927 - Opening of the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Her pieces in that period often dealt with social problems.

1929 – This year, she had her first non-solo ballet “Heretic”.

1930 – Because of some financial problems, her ballets had no sets, and she made most of the costumes herself.

1936 – She refused to go the Olympic Games in Berlin.

1938 - She was invited by Mrs Roosevelt at the White House, and created American Document (dealing with American Independence and Abraham Lincoln).

1948 – This year, she married Erick Hawkins.

1954 – Her company had their first tour to Paris, and in 1955 Paul Taylor entered her dance company.

1956 – She won the Dance Magazine Award.

1959 – She created Episodes with Balanchine, (ballet danced by her company and the New-York City Ballet).

1970 – She stopped dancing due to depression and health problems, before creating new ballets again.

1973 – She created Lucifer and The Scarlet Letter for Rudolf Nureyev and Margpot Fonteyn.

1984 - Rudolf Nureyev invited her company at the Paris Opera, and she was given the Légion d'Honneur by the French government.

1991 – She died on the 1st day of April this year.