In 1989 during the early days of Bangarra Dance Theatre, they performed an innovative interpretation of Martha Graham Lamentation called Butterfly Dreaming choreographed by Raymond Robinson for dancer Sylvia Blanco Green. Words and Photos of Butterfly Dreaming by Mark Anning ©.
Martha Graham is a name synonymous with modern dance—a revolutionary artist whose influence on the world of dance remains unparalleled.
Bangarra Dance Theatre was founded in 1989 by Rob Bryant, African American Carole Johnson, and Cheryl Stone, a southern African Kalahari, who went to extraordinary lengths liaising with First Nations elders to develop a national Aboriginal Islander dance troupe.
Introducing young Bangarra dancers and students to Graham’s work and to the Graham Technique was an important foundational lesson in modern dance as taught by one of the world’s leading choreographers and practitioners.
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Martha Graham: The Mother of Modern Dance and Her Influence on Bangarra Dance Theatre
Born in 1894 in Pennsylvania, Graham transformed dance into a vehicle for profound expression, forever altering the art form with her groundbreaking techniques and emotional depth.
Graham’s early years were shaped by her father’s belief that “movement never lies.” This idea became a cornerstone of her philosophy.
After being inspired by a performance of Ruth St. Denis, Graham began her studies at the Denishawn School, where she honed her skills before breaking away to develop her own, more visceral style.
In 1926, she founded the Martha Graham Dance Company in Manhattan, where she introduced the world to her innovative ‘Graham Technique’ centered around contraction and release.
The Impact of Lamentation (1930)
One of Graham’s most iconic works is Lamentation (1930), a solo piece that has become a symbol of her profound emotional and artistic expression. In Lamentation, Graham sits on a bench, enveloped in a tube of stretchy fabric, which she uses to explore the depths of grief and mourning.
Her movements are confined, yet powerful, conveying the internal struggle of grief with stark simplicity. The piece’s power lies in its minimalism—Graham’s contorted shapes within the fabric evoke a visceral sense of suffering and loss, creating a powerful emotional impact on the audience.
Lamentation is often studied for its innovative use of space, fabric, and the human body to convey deep emotional states. The symbolism of maternal birthing is also obvious, the struggle of birth, fighting for breath against the confines of the fabric encasing. It is a powerfully visual work, even more powerful because the concept is so simple.
Martha Graham said “I wear a long tube of material to indicate the tragedy that obsesses the body, the ability to stretch inside your own skin, to witness and test the perimeters and boundaries of grief.”
It remains one of Graham’s most influential works, a touchstone for dancers and choreographers exploring the intersection of movement and emotion, and is one of the few original works by Graham still in the Martha Dance Company repertoire.
The symbolism in Lamentation is rich and layered. The fabric that envelops the dancer is both a physical barrier and a representation of the emotional barriers that grief erects around an individual.
The dancer’s movements, though confined, are powerful and speak to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming sadness. The struggle to move, to express, and to escape from the constricting fabric mirrors the internal struggle of someone experiencing profound loss.
The emotional impact of Lamentation lies in its simplicity and the universal nature of its theme. By stripping away extraneous elements and focusing solely on the body, Graham allows the audience to connect directly with the raw emotion being portrayed.
The piece does not tell a specific story; instead, it evokes a feeling, a mood, and a shared human experience. The mood is palpable, as the anecdote on Martha Graham’s website relates a story of woman who recently witnessed the death of a child coming to terms with the emotion of grief.
This abstraction allows each viewer to bring their own experiences of grief to the performance, making Lamentation a deeply personal and cathartic work.
Graham’s Influence on Bangarra Dance Theatre
The influence of Martha Graham’s work extended far beyond the United States, reaching the shores of Australia and inspiring the early development of the Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1989.
Bangarra, founded by Carole Johnson and Cheryl Stone sought to fuse contemporary dance with the rich traditions of Indigenous Australian culture. One of the most notable early choreographers associated with Bangarra was Raymond Robinson, who choreographed the piece Butterfly Dreaming for dancer Sylvia Blanco Green.
Robinson drew direct inspiration from Graham’s Lamentation in creating Butterfly Dreaming, a piece that explores themes of transformation and resilience through the metaphor of a butterfly.
Much like Graham’s work, Butterfly Dreaming used the body and movement to convey deep emotional and cultural narratives. Where Lamentation is performed almost entirely from a seated position, Butterfly Dreaming grows into a standing performer contorting and emphasising the contours of the dancer’s body.
The pain of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon is a profound metaphor for transformation and growth. As the butterfly struggles to break free from the confines of its chrysalis, it endures a process of intense effort and discomfort, necessary for strengthening its wings.
This struggle, while painful, is essential for the butterfly’s development; without it, the wings would be too weak to sustain flight. The emergence symbolizes the idea that growth often comes with hardship, and that pain can be a necessary part of gaining freedom, strength, and a new form of beauty.
Premiere of Lamentation: January 8, 1930 – Maxine Elliot’s Theatre, New York City
Choreography by Martha Graham Costume by Martha Graham Music by Zoltán Kodály
Martha Graham
Martha Graham’s impact on the world of dance cannot be overstated. Often called the “Mother of Modern Dance,” her work broke barriers and challenged the norms of her time, paving the way for future generations of dancers and choreographers.
Graham created 181 ballets for dancers including Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Margot Fonteyn. As a faculty member at The Neighborhood Playhouse, she taught movement and dance to actors such as Gregory Peck, Liza Minnelli, Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Anne Jackson and Madonna.
Martha Graham collaborated with a variety of artists from other artistic fields, including Aaron Copland who won a Pulitzer Prize for their work on Appalachian Spring in 1945, actor and director John Houseman, and fashion designer Calvin Klein. Amongst her many accolades was the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.
Graham Technique
Her ‘Graham Technique’, which emphasized the expressive potential of the human body, revolutionized dance and influenced countless artists, including those at Bangarra Dance Theatre.
The Graham technique is a foundational modern dance method that emphasizes the use of contraction and release to create powerful and expressive movement. This technique focuses on the core of the body, utilizing the breath to initiate movement and exploring the body’s relationship to gravity.
It also incorporates dramatic tension, sharp angles, and spiraling motions, allowing dancers to convey deep emotion and narrative through their movements. The Graham Technique has had a profound influence on modern dance, shaping the way dancers express themselves physically and emotionally.
Graham once said, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul,” and through her life’s work, she brought that hidden language to the forefront of cultural consciousness.
As we reflect on the enduring impact of Lamentation and its ripple effects across the dance world, including its inspiration for works like Butterfly Dreaming, it becomes clear that Graham’s legacy is not just about dance—it’s about the courage to redefine art itself.
Photographer’s notes
I often shared a studio in Woolloomooloo with Cheryl Stone’s brother, Bauxhau Stone, who conducted the indigenous liaison at Nimbin’s first Aquarius Festival in 1973 where Australia’s first Welcome to Country ceremony for whites was performed.
I also photographed and made a video on the night Cheryl organised for Lady Blacksmith Mambazo to come and do cultural exchange performances with Bangarra during the Paul Simon Graceland’s tour of Australia. Bangarra was being run out of Cheryl’s loungeroom at that time.
Stevie Wonder put $10,000 in to start Bangarra. My employer, Australian Associated Press, sponsored Bangarra to the tune of $100,000 a year for ten years, which took them up to the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. Story coming soon.
Photos on an Olympus OM-2n camera on 400 asa film, lens was probably a Vivitar 70-210mm zoom. No flash was used to allow some blurring to hint at the movement of the dance.
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